His Name is MerryLegs

His Name is MerryLegs

I anxiously awaited more photos.  She promised to send me some over the weekend.  Her farrier was coming out to trim, and she would get them, then.  When the photos finally came, they weren’t the best.  There were, what appeared to be frost spots on the pictures.  She claimed it was 28 degrees below zero.  Wow, her farrier must be a tough guy.  Our farrier has cancelled on us when the temperatures were below zero.  What does 28 below feel like?  She said it had gotten as low as -45 this winter—and that doesn’t figure in the wind chill.  It must be awful.  Here in Cleveland, the record low, ever, is -19.  This was a particularly cold February, and we did see a few nights nearly that low.  How can anyone live in a climate like that.  Canadians must be crazy. 

Back to the pictures.  They weren’t the greatest, but I couldn’t see anything wrong with him.  Of course, I know how camera angles can distort horses.  I have struggled with that on my own pictures—sometimes their heads look huge—and sometimes they have pinheads.  Tilt the camera—and they look like their legs are stubby.  Horses don’t always cooperate, either.  Standing still can be a challenge.  But when I put all the pictures together to average out the distortions—I found that he is a beautiful horse.  He is a big, stocky palomino with a super, fluffy winter coat—and a beautiful eye.

She told me I could email her farrier and get his opinion, so that was my next step. 

Of course, I forwarded the photos to Ellen, who was getting just as excited as me.  And speaking of excitement—sometimes it seemed like Kevin just couldn’t contain himself.  Other times, he would be very quiet about it—not wanting to influence my decision in either way, I think.



And the Trainer Says…

I sent out the email to MerryLegs’ trainer.  I told her how I liked a horse that wasn’t lazy and unmotivated.  This was my biggest concern.  His owner made me think he wasn’t, but she didn’t actually ride him.  Mingo was a very quiet, sleepy horse, and he drove me crazy.  For many people, he would have been the perfect horse.  My older niece simply adored him.  They were the perfect pair from the very first ride, and I am so glad I had him so she could enjoy him on trail rides.  I loved Mingo, and I still miss him.  I had him from birth—he was really my baby—but he didn’t suit me for a riding horse.  I need a horse with a work ethic—not a crazy, wild horse, but one that is willing to move. 

MerryLegs’ trainer told me about his training and then she said the magic words.  She said, ”I cannot imagine that Merrylegs would be a lazy horse, and I'm sure he can work!”  Do you see that exclamation point she put at the end of the sentence?  So, not only was he handsome and friendly, but it sounded like our personalities were a good fit.  She even said that, too.

She said I should restart him from the beginning, since it has been so long, but he should pick it up fast. That sounded good—it was what I was thinking of doing, anyway.

I took a few deep breaths, and decided…

That I should sleep on it.  I would make my decision the next morning.

I Slept on It

The following morning, I sat up in bed and said, “I’m getting a new horse.”  It was just that easy.

So, I went to work, put a few hours on the job—just giving myself time to change my mind.  When that didn’t happen, I typed up an email, leaned back and looked at it for about a minute.  I typed up an email, leaned back and looked at it for about a minute.  I hovered the mouse over the send button, paused and------click.

I took another deep breath and sat there, just enjoying the feeling of overwhelming happiness.

Unfortunately, I then had to go back to work.

So, now I am back to waiting while we make the arrangements.  I am waiting for a big Palomino Morgan that is nearly 6 years old, green broke and currently lives in Canada named MerryLegs—after the little pony in the story “Black Beauty.”

The adventure begins…