They always say, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." However, if you're going to have to feed it and cover their vet bills for the next number of years, you better make sure it's a good fit. So, I checked the mouth, his feet, temperament, confirmation, and gaits. And, he had to be cute, too.
One early September day after school, the kids and I drove down the the South Bay to see a woman about a horse. A pony, that is. An Amish-breed painted pony, 12.2 hands and about 7-years old. I didn't want to like the pony because I wasn't sure that we were really ready. I had tried to get a friend to give lessons on her pony first to make sure the girls were ready. They had been clamoring for months about wanting to learn to ride independently on a horse more their size. But, my friend's pony had been lent out and leasing one was more expensive than owning one. We arrived and met "Checkers." He was a little taller than I wanted, but the upside was that the girls wouldn't out-grow him. He'd also been trained to pull a cart, so that could be fun in the future, too. Each girl rode him fine and liked him. I spent some time in the round-pen trying out his ground manners and communication. Well, I couldn't find anything "majorly" wrong with him. He bent to natural horsemanship cues, was hard to spook and had a good head on his shoulders. He was curious but still mindful of manners, so I did a very scary thing: committed to picking him up on Saturday.
We go to see him before school (the girls start at 11:40). We moved both horses to a barn just 6-miles away from there. Checkers has been great in everything, however, he has learned that the girls' hands are not very strong. He will often pull the reins out of their hands or ignore them until either the crop comes out or I start walking next to him (he loves to play Follow the Leader). He and Misty are tighter than anything. If I pull one out, the other is running circles and whinnying until they are in eyesight again. Checkers is also a talker in general - whenever he sees any of us, he will knicker and beckon us closer, hoping for extra treats. He's a real friendly guy who follows the girls and me around the pen like a little pull toy. We are so happy to have Checkers in the family!
