Since I started this blog about five months after I bought Woody, I thought I would fill everyone in about how I came upon buying Woody.
The story actually starts in January '08. I had returned home from a deployment at the end of 2007. While I was waiting to start my new job, I was beginning to get bored sitting around the house everyday so I decided to find someplace in the area that possibly needed some horses exercised. I really can't remember what caused me to want to start riding again, if it was the trip down memory lane as I opened a box that was filled with horse photos or if out of the blue I just decided I was ready to get back into horses.
I came across Connie Christopher's number, whom I remember from my days as a youth showing on the VQHA circuit and gave her a call to see if she needed any help. She advised me she had a young horse she just didn't have the time to ride and that I could come out to see if it would work. I went out the same day I spoke to her to ride Rachel, a 2 or 3 yo HUS filly. I had advised Connie before making the trip that I hadn't really ridden in 8 years, but she advised me that I didn't look too bad for someone who had been out of the saddle that long. I continued to ride almost daily until I started my new job mid-February when I would only go out on the weekends.
Around the same time I started riding at Connie's, I had also gotten in contact with old friends Julie & Jerry Slemp. I had known Julie since I was a little girl riding at LaGrange and when Jerry was a non-horse person. Through the years Jerry eventually got into halter horses and actually started training. I would go down to their place on the weekends to ride and catch up, though it was a hike since their place is in Louisa, VA.
I also started to go to some of the VA shows to see how everything had changed, and ALOT had changed in the ten years since I had been in the show pen.
The horse bug had officially bitten me again and I found myself searching horse ads even though I knew I really wasn't ready to buy anything. By May, Mikhail and I were in the process of house hunting and I had decided that it would be best for me to buy a horse after buying a house and getting settled in. Well nothing ever happens the way you plan it to. I June, I decided to head to the Southern States show for the weekend to help out since Jerry was showing and they had one in the sale. I didn't bother to look at the sale catalog before heading down there since I wasn't planning on buying anything. I did stumble upon a Radical Hour 3 yo gelding that was going through the sale soon after Jerry's horse was. He had the breeding, plus the pretty and size I was looking for. But I couldn't find anyone to talk to about him and to test him out. One of Julie's friends had looked at him and were interested in him as well and had already tested him out and said he was very nice. Finally shortly before we was to go into the sale pen, he was out being ridden so I was able to hop on and man was he nice. After riding him I wanted him so badly and pretty much everyone had talked me into buying him. He went through the ring and I guess someone else wanted him even more then I could as went over what I was willing to spend. Oh well, wasn't meant to be!
While at the sale, I got to talking to a guy that had his son's horse in the sale. He was telling me about a friend of his that had a Good Version gelding that she was trying to unload. He gave me her name and number, but since she was asking much more then I was willing to spend at the time, I really didn't think much about it. I eventually came across the horses ad, and nothing about him really impressed me so I never got around to calling her. One day Julie called saying that this women was really pressed to unload some horses so I should give her a call at least. I called and set a time to drive down to her place the upcoming Sunday. While on the phone she also said she had some other horses she would be willing to sell as well. Mikhail and I drove down to Jerry's, and headed down to Farmville to check out the horse.
Even in person the horse didn't impress me at all, in fact he was still hairy in June, his feet were a mess and I just thought he was going to have a lot of problems down the road. Her main reason for selling him was she really could not ride him very well since he was spur trained and she had issues with her knees and couldn't keep her leg on him very well. I hopped on just to please her, Julie said that I actually got him to lope better then she did, but another horse had already caught my eye. He was in the paddock next to the ring, and drop dead gorgeous. He was a dark bay with 4 white legs and some white on his face. I asked her about him and had her pull him out so I could take a look. Upon Julie and Jerry's advice, I decided that he was the one I wanted. We worked out the details of the prepurchase exam and pick up and then were on our way.
I was pretty quite on the way home, everyone kept asking what was wrong. I just think I had was in shock because I just bought a horse and was worried if I was ready to do this. I mean I had gotten Mikhail's okay, but he really didn't know what he was getting himself into. He sure found out soon enough though:)
We left Julie and Jerry's and took the same route I always use to come home, but this time it wasn't the same at all. I was following a car that had pulled out in front of me and I possibly had thought the person driving may be slightly intoxicated as the car was kinda all over the place or maybe he just had distractions. Suddenly he braked and swerved to the right as to avoid hitting the car that was stopped to turn. I was able to stop my car in time and I checked my rear view mirror and noticed the truck behind us was approaching to fast. I didn't even have time to warn Mikhail. The next thing I knew, my car was facing the opposite direction. We were very lucky that neither of us were seriously injured. It ended up being a 5 car accident that blocked the road we were traveling on. Of course my car was totaled. Just what I needed on the same day I just purchased my first horse. But everything so far has seem to work out in the end. I was still able to purchase Woody, get a new car and buy our house in the end. I will just always remember the day that I bought Woody, June 15th, Father's Day.
Christina
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