Back in the Saddle!

Before I knew that I was pregnant, I had decided to stop trying for a while. It had been about 20 months of unexplained infertility, and I was tired of constantly waiting. I had always wanted to get back into riding, and a recent trip to Kentucky, which is basically Horse Country, really awoke those feelings in me. I started looking just for fun online for some horses, and I found it odd that my parents kept asking about the progress on the horse search. Finally, I got one of the biggest surprises of my life. My dad told me that he would LOVE to buy me a horse. No strings attached, no paying back-which we couldn't afford, just plain and simple, he and my mom wanted to buy me a horse. Lots of our happiest times were at the barn, getting ready for shows, doing Pony Club events. It was wonderful!

He gave me a price range and the search was on! I found one that looked very promising, but was located in Montana. Not that Montana seems so crazy far for me. Most of my family either grew up there or is still living there. But, for a horse, yeah its kinda far. Then I found one that seemed super promising near Houston, but he was recently a stallion and he was only 4 years old. Translation=crazy man horse. I called my trainer both to tell her the good news and to ask her to come along and take a look at this horse. Then she told me some even better news. 

She had decided to sell HER horse. You see, this horse is one that kind of grew up around the barn while I rode. She seemed like a magical horse. She was beautiful, like a horse from a tack shop catalog. She was HUGE. I have a thing for big horses. And she had been trained her whole life with my trainer. I had always wanted to even just ride her. The best part? Before I even told her my price range that we were looking in, I was told her price. The bottom end of my range. It was like it was meant to be!

I had a 3 day weekend coming up at work, so I rode Phaedra (trainer's horse) on Sunday, and scheduled to try the 4 year old on Monday. The ride with Phaedra went as to be expected, awesome. But, I had made rash decisions before when purchasing a horse, and I didn't want to do the same here. I rode the other one and was really excited about it. He was a really pretty cremello color, which looks like gold in the sunlight. He was young, so there was the potential to get trained together, where as with Phaedra I would be the one getting trained, she would be the expert. I would feel like I was cheating in the show arena! 

I rode the cremello and he was NOT what I was expecting! He was very hard to get going, which is the exact opposite of what I had expected! He was smooth, and super sweet, but I just felt more at 'home' on Phaedra. Even my mom mentioned that the cremello seemed like a horse that she would ride (she likes a little slower, dependable, easy going horse... one that needs a whip and spurs to move forward from the walk).

A decision was made on Phaedra, and I began taking lessons right away after the vet gave her a clean bill of health. I was so excited to get back in the saddle! I was already planning on a few shows in the spring! 

2 weeks later...

PREGNANT!!!!! Me, not the horse! I rode for another 3 weeks until I went to the doctor, and she really does not want me riding. With this being such a long awaited pregnancy, I was not going to do ANYTHING that may negatively effect the baby. So, I had a good month back in the saddle, and now I am taking a 9 month break! 

Here are a few pictures of me and Phaedra on Thanksgiving: