Buying a Baby

Buying a Baby

I have planned to buy a baby horse for quite some time, now.  I was only waiting for Cole to get older.  The last thing I want to do is replace Cole, but at the age of 17, there may come a time when I can't ride him as often as I like to.  Besides, I like training young horses.  It has been a long time since I have had a new horse to train, and I missed it.

I have been casually looking for many months.  I have simply loved my Morabs, Cole and Cruiser, but it seems like very few people are breeding them anymore.  The obvious choice if I couldn't get another Morab was to find a Morgan.  If I could just get one as wonderful as Dante...

Dante is a special Morgan.  He is a Lambert.  Because of him, I am a member of the Lambert Morgan Facebook Group, and that is where I found a potential horse in Pennsylvania--just 3 hours away.  His father is a Lambert Morgan, and his mother is a traditional-looking Morgan.  Technically, he is a half Lambert, but he looks totally like his father.  

I contacted his breeder, and we made arrangements for a visit.  Kevin and I are rather old fashioned, and we still use flip phones.  Since the advent of the smart phone, it has gotten very hard to find decent maps.  I am a terrific map reader--but I still have to have a map to do it.  We had Ohio maps galore.  Kevin searched and searched and found a Pennsylvania map.  It wasn't very detailed, but it was better than nothing.  At home, on my computer, I got a route from Google Maps.  I wrote it down verbatim and sketched the map out on paper.  We were all set.

The morning we were planning to leave, I looked outside and saw my yard looked very hazy--it was from wildfire smoke from Canada.  Not only could I see it, I could smell it, too.  It was just terrible.  It reminded me of the crummy November weather we had when I drove out to see Cruiser for the first time.  Also, the day I went to see Cole, was in the spring and it was extremely windy--just about constant gusts.  Could this be a good sign?  

When Kevin pulled into my driveway, he hopped out of the car and was frantically digging around in the back seat.  He couldn't find the Pennsylvania map.  He was sure that he brought it along, but it was nowhere to be found.  What were we going to do?  We had the instructions, but no map.  Well, what could we do?  I was sure we couldn't get a map in any store--we just headed out on our journey.

All went well until we were on the Warren, Ohio bypass--and it just ended--I mean ended.  Nowhere in my instructions told us what to do next.  I did have a very good street map of the area, and it showed that it was true--it just ended. That is not what Google Maps said.  (I have since double checked, and Google Maps still doesn't show it ending.)  We were supposed to pick up another route that I was sure that wouldn't happen until we were in Pennsylvania--we were still in Ohio.  

Since the map we had for Ohio showed all the roads, I plotted out a path to go along the Ohio border until we got to the route we were looking for on the other side of Warren.  As long as we stayed in Ohio, we wouldn't be lost.  The problem was that some of the streets didn't have street signs.  We did have to stop and talk to a fella for directions.  We couldn't have done it without him.  I held my breath as we traveled along the state line.  Kevin was driving--following my every instruction--and my some miracle, we made it.  We were back on our way!!!  Well, we did stop numerous times at countless stores to see if they sold maps.  No one sells maps anymore...

I could see we weren't going to be on time, so I called the horse's breeder, Lauren, and warned her.  It actually worked out better for her, so I was happy about that.  As we traveled along, the whole world was covered with smoke from the wildfires.  When we got very close, Kevin took a wrong turn, but I thought with a little help it would work out.  I called Lauren again, and she guided us.  She was heading in that direction, too, and she said she would meet us and bring us there herself.

Lauren is a lovely young woman who brought her little infant with her.  She carried her in some sort of sling, and the little girl was sleeping the whole time.  The horse was at her father's farm.  What a gorgeous farm!  I wish it was a sunny day instead of a smokey day so I could see it at it's best.  Enough of that, you are thinking, tell me about the horse.

Lauren went into the pasture to get him, and he left the other horses and came right over to us.  There was no doubt in my mind--this horse likes people.  I couldn't believe how small and immature he looked.  He really did still look like a baby.  I don't remember Mingo, who I had from birth, looking so immature at this age--not quite two.  He will be two in August.  (Ellen said I should go back and look at his pictures.)  His legs are long, his rump is high and he gives the overall impression of immaturity.  

I had Kevin walk him around for me, and that is when I saw a beautiful sight.  In spite of his youth, he walked along with Kevin as if he knew him his whole life.  He was so relaxed.  He didn't fidget, play with the lead rope, dawdle, rush, dance or anything.  He paid attention to Kevin and just walked along.  He was irritated about the bugs that were attacking him, but he still kept following Kevin around.  

Kevin held him while I looked closely at him.  He really seemed to like Kevin.  Kevin really seemed to like him.  Kevin gave him some treats, which he took gingerly from his hands.  He wasn't obnoxious about it--he wasn't obnoxious about anything!  He was as mannerly as Cole without all the bowing or the "silly walk."  

At one point, he lowered his head and gently leaned his forehead on my knees as I pet his neck.  I asked Lauren if she trained him to do that, so that I would buy him.  She denied it.  He certainly was being endearing.  

He really seemed a little smaller than I liked.  Both of his parents are 14.2 hands, and I expect he will be, too.  That is how tall Cole is, so I could certainly live with it.  I kinda wanted a horse-sized horse, but I could see that his temperament is golden--and that is why I bought him.  (Kevin said if I didn't, he would have bought him.  He fell in love.)

All of his behavior, in my opinion, showed that he really likes people and wanted to be with us.  It didn't matter that all the other horses were out in the pasture.  He was happy to be with people.  Guess what happened when we put him back in the pasture?  He stayed by us, in the mud, instead of going back right away to his friends on the grass.  

His name is Trifecta, and I am going to keep it that way.  Lauren explained that the day he was born, she delivered twins, herself.  If we count Cole, who is 75% Morgan, he will be the third Morgan in our herd, so we will have a trifecta of Morgans.

They gave us good directions to get home.  The first thing I had to do was call Ellen.  She was working that day, so she couldn't join us.  In trying to describe his personality, I realized who else I was describing--Fall, Kevin's cat that recently passed away.  I told Ellen he was like Fall.  Kevin wholeheartedly agreed with me.  I found a horse like Fall.  Fall was a cat who just wanted to be with people, was always gentle and loving--and was just a real doll.

I don't think he is going to be a fast horse, but he will be a good one.  I predict that he will be the horse anyone can ride.  I have Cole, so I don't need another fast horse, but you can never have too many good horses.

I know there will be bumps in the road, but we have plenty of time--we will work through those bumps.  I feel he will end up being a terrific horse that we will all love.  

He hasn't been delivered, yet.  That is when the adventures will begin...

By the way, when Kevin was cleaning out his car the next day, he found the missing map.  It was in the door of the car on the passenger's side.  We don't know how it got there, but as it was, it wasn't detailed enough to get us through out crisis.