on suitability

Way back when Doozy had her first ever jump lesson in a random pop-up clinic, the clinician surprised me by asking whether the mare was ‘for me’ or intended as a resale project. 

Not ‘surprised’ in a bad way, per se, but rather… idk, it’s a red mare with crooked legs. She ain’t exactly the most marketable horse just at face value — and that’s before you even consider her temperament or training. No no, I bought the mare for myself, for better or worse.

pics today are unrelated. doozy just loves her ponies lol

My criteria were relatively simple. I’ve known and loved a LOT of horses over the years, and was confident about picking my kind of disposition. Beyond that, I wanted an OTTB aged 6 or younger (since I expected to have Charlie for many more years, and wanted a big enough age gap to avoid owning two late teen / early 20s horses) that had nice movement and build.

The idea was to get a horse that I could continue to grow and develop with, to keep pushing the boundaries of my own education, and to continue gaining experience in the sport of eventing. 

i think opal loves her too <3

And Doozy is all these things! Granted, she’s less quiet overall in temperament than I expected based on my first meeting her. But she is still absolutely the horse I thought she was. I can watch this video again today and see the qualities that originally drew me to her: namely, her strong desire to connect with the people (and dogs lol) around her, her overall style of movement, and general forward thinking and interactive nature.

omg could it be?? our first ride **outside** in MONTHS???

So far, our journey together has been basically exactly what I’d hoped for in terms of getting back into competing. The mare loves to jump and seems particularly well suited to eventing. Obviously the dressage comes a little less easily given her natural tendencies toward tension and hollowness, but even so, it still feels like we’re advancing and making progress and that’s basically all I ask haha.

we both just adore this ring

I still think about contingencies, tho, especially after such a rough January with the mare’s presumed hoof bruise and subsequent slow recovery. Doozy had some straight up wild and unhinged rides trying to get going again after that time off. For better or worse, she is NOT going to be the “same horse” after a break. 

In fact, I wrote this past summer that the best way to think about her is along the lines of, whatever she was yesterday, she’s a little more that way today. And even more tomorrow. Meaning, if yesterday you had an “ok” ride in that it happened and nobody died, then today maybe your ride might be ‘actually not bad!,’ and tomorrow the mare might be legitimately lovely.

It cuts both ways, tho. If the mare had yesterday off, then today she might be feeling quite pleased with her liberty, and by tomorrow might be borderline feral.

spent some time picking up all the standards that blew over in recent wind. left all the pole piles for next time tho

For a lot of folks, depending on how horses fit into the overall balance of your lives, this can pose real challenges for consistently enjoying a predictable horsey experience when other priorities in life keep us away from the barn. This has proven true for me too — whether it be bc one of my (favorite, but still) colleagues keeps selling me into projects that require more frequent travel… Or ya know, bc Doozy was lame.

pretty sure doozy was happy to be out again

The lameness itself was particularly concerning. Charlie, may he be resting in wonderful horsey heaven, was always a fragile sort of dude. The King of the Dings. We were always dealing with random stints of time off or rebuilding. But he WAS the same horse no matter what. Mr. Reliability. And by the end of his riding career, I’d found all sorts of ways to manage around his fragility while still enjoying fun adventures together. 

That’s…. not quite the case with Doozy. Doozy is straight up not currently of a temperament and disposition to be fragile lol. She needs ridden. Consistently, every day, and occasionally with some degree of exertion. Like I am NOT a “wet saddle pads” kind of horse trainer, but Doozy does best when she’s had a chance to move out.

she likes spying on all the distant fields

Ideally at some point she’ll grow up a bit more and be more “confirmed” in her training that I could imagine her in a broader variety of riding jobs with different types of riders. Bc let’s be real, if she ended up not being suitable for *me,* it’s not exactly likely that somebody with greater skills or aspirations than me would swoop in to snatch her up, ya know? 

oooh we had company too

Tho ya know… obviously at this point it’s all just academic navel gazing anyway. Sure, the mare challenges me and is a handful, but as long as she’s sound for the task I’m so excited for the future with her and have exactly zero hopes of needing to actually execute on any alternative contingencies. 

She might not be suited for much else, but she’s *exactly right* for the job as my eventing & adventuring & go everywhere & do everything horse lol. 

she’s adarlyn <3

Topics like this are interesting to me, tho. Suitability in general is such a huge topic, there are so many variables that can go into it — with massively different emphasis or prioritization depending on your own personal preferences. Like, for some folks, having a horse that can reasonably cope with a more sporadic schedule is a must. 

good mare

For a lot of folks I know, actually probably most, any ‘performance potential’ in the horse is absolutely secondary (or tertiary) to disposition and temperament. The vast majority of horse enthusiasts I’ve known over the years are riding within the realm of 3’ jumping or 1st / 2nd level dressage — activities most sound + reasonably built horses can accomplish easily. 

lol #wild

So it’s all the other qualities of the horse that grow in importance. Do I like spending time with the horse? Is the horse pleasant to be around, do I feel safe handling it? Riding it? Does our time together bring joy more often than frustration? Am I able to do the sorts of things I *want* to be doing with the horse, or is there an obstacle related to the horse itself that’s stopping me?

spring is coming!

For me, personally, my answers to these questions might be fluid and change over time. What I want in a horse today might not be the same as in 5 years, or 10. And ya know… As was true with Charlie, sometimes we adapt and evolve with our horses’ changing abilities over time too. 

There are so many ways to derive joy and fulfillment from a horsey lifestyle, ya know? Tho at least for me, at this moment in my life, I’m still really eager to get that saddle time every day — to be working toward competition goals that involve running and jumping lol. And so far, Doozy seems to be all aboard with that objective. 

Here’s hoping for more of the same in the year to come!