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kayreTen years ago hubby changed jobs, and in the process we got a nice bundle of bonus cash. The kidlet had already been riding for a couple of years, and her trainer had been telling us that she really needed her own horse to progress much more, so we decided to spend some of the bonus on a horse.
Didn't want an insanely excited kidlet for months, so with the trainer's cooperation, we told her the trainer asked us to have her test-ride possible lesson horses for him and videotape the rides. (He did in fact buy one of the horses we tried, and would have bought Whisper if we didn't.) That saved her a disappointment when an early prospect flunked his vet check-- she never knew we were thinking of buying him.
One weekend we checked out three horses and gave the tape to Don, the trainer. The next time we walked into the barn, he looked at me and just said "Whisper." I turned to the kidlet and said, "Don thinks we should buy Whisper for you, what do you think?" She actually hesitated, having liked one of the other horses better, so Don explained his choice, we visited Whisper again, and obviously, we bought her.
They did show jumping to 42 inches; dressage to training level; English pleasure, advanced Western riding, barrel racing and other gymkhana events (and won or placed second in every single discipline, at some point). We hoped at the time that she'd keep the kid happy through high school; instead they made it through college and 2 years beyond.
When it comes to riding skills, the kidlet outgrew her years ago; but that was just when she was going to college, and then we moved to Vermont and left her behind, and asking her to give up Whisper was just too much at the time. So Whisper came up here. Trailering her here is probably behind her physical problems since then; we'll never hire shippers again. But they've had a lovely couple of years here. Now it's time for easier duty for Whisper, and a new challenge for the kidlet.
Didn't want an insanely excited kidlet for months, so with the trainer's cooperation, we told her the trainer asked us to have her test-ride possible lesson horses for him and videotape the rides. (He did in fact buy one of the horses we tried, and would have bought Whisper if we didn't.) That saved her a disappointment when an early prospect flunked his vet check-- she never knew we were thinking of buying him.
One weekend we checked out three horses and gave the tape to Don, the trainer. The next time we walked into the barn, he looked at me and just said "Whisper." I turned to the kidlet and said, "Don thinks we should buy Whisper for you, what do you think?" She actually hesitated, having liked one of the other horses better, so Don explained his choice, we visited Whisper again, and obviously, we bought her.
They did show jumping to 42 inches; dressage to training level; English pleasure, advanced Western riding, barrel racing and other gymkhana events (and won or placed second in every single discipline, at some point). We hoped at the time that she'd keep the kid happy through high school; instead they made it through college and 2 years beyond.
When it comes to riding skills, the kidlet outgrew her years ago; but that was just when she was going to college, and then we moved to Vermont and left her behind, and asking her to give up Whisper was just too much at the time. So Whisper came up here. Trailering her here is probably behind her physical problems since then; we'll never hire shippers again. But they've had a lovely couple of years here. Now it's time for easier duty for Whisper, and a new challenge for the kidlet.
