And Then There Were Two

Sage has been taking riding lessons through the summer and is turning into a full-on horse crazy kind of small person. She really loves Whisper, though it's hard for her to do much more than talk to Whisper while she's eating. Brushing is out since Whisper still finds it impossible to stand still in cross ties and I don't feel she is safe for the kids to be around.

Sage's little sisters are also taking an interest in wanting to brush and pet horses.The prospect of that many kids in riding lessons was scary, the expense for them to ride would be huge.

Enter Ben. Ben came to the barn by way of a fellow boarder, Julie. Julie used to take care of Ben at her former barn and when she left he was fat and happy. A season under someone else's care and Ben was emaciated. Completely neglected. Obviously denied food for at least 2 months.

Though Ben's not a spring chicken at over 20, Julie tells me he was used as a kid's horse before she left. After going through an emaciated horse with Promise, it was important to me to know who he was when healthy since it's clear all starved horses are sweet, and her assurance helped. Two weeks in, he was already looking better.

He still has some weight to add and should be in great condition when it comes time for us to load Whisper and him for our upcoming move Tennessee. 

Chris and I had talked a lot about who to take with us since Whisper can't live alone and we plan to keep her on property with us when his job moves us. With it requiring us to completely move anyway, Chris wanted to give me some new options like the ability to work out of the house boarding a few horses for extra income (one promising property we viewed yesterday came with 2 boarders in place). Promise was the first obvious choice. Going out to see a happy, fat, walking with her little limp in the field with Pirate; Promise, took her off the list for me. She is doing fine, very happy, settled, retired, and frankly she doesn't like kids at all. It makes the most sense to leave her and help another.

Now if we can just find our new home and decide on a sign design...

Whisper demanded to be front and center for the sign, after all she is the cover photo for OTTB Designs and the reason we all got back to a farm life in the first place.