Horse Shopping for Mom: A comical adventure with a happy ending!

More than two months before my husband accepted the inevitable - a horse of my own - I stumbled
upon an ad on Sport Horse Nation. "Event horse with lots of lower level experience ready to move up." I looked at the ad every night for two months. Eventually I noticed that the horse lived in Ontario, Canada, about 2 hours north of Toronto and a 12 hour drive from where I live. Still, I couldn't stop thinking about him and I determined to find a way to make him my own.

The first thing I had to do was convince my husband, with a little creative math, that my horse wouldn't cost him too much money. I pulled that off by April and went out to find my horse.

I spoke on the phone with the trainer of my Canadian heartthrob. She was great, he sounded ideal and I wanted him more than ever. My trainer thought I was nuts, but she usually does! There was still snow on the ground and I couldn't imagine how I was going to get to Canada to look at a horse - I couldn't completely abandon my three kids, my husband travels and life was busy.

So I set about finding another horse or two to look at closer to home. My plan was to bring my daughter or my trainer along with me to look at horses. I couldn't possibly buy a horse without at least one of them but, unfortunately, they were too busy to go with me. So I decided to just go out and look all by myself!

The first thing you should know is that I hadn't even sat on a horse in 8 months. I had leased a horse last year until the end of July. I rode my daughter's horse about 3 times in the fall and that was it! So I really had no business trying horses on my own but I'm an obstinate person with no patience and I knew I wouldn't get my trainer to go to Canada without demonstrating my determination.

My theory was that I was capable of sitting on a horse to walk and trot and possibly canter.  I would be able to eliminate any horses that were super obviously unacceptable. I was looking at horses that were pretty close by so if I thought they were worth a second look, I could bring someone more qualified back with me.

I went to see two horses somewhat locally.  The first was an 8 year old OTTB mare. She was very sweet but I was pretty sure my trainer would say no to her. I did manage to walk, trot and canter her all on my own without falling off which struck me as a bit of a miracle at the time. The second horse was with the trainer we bought my daughter's pony, Pumba, from a couple of years ago. She had heard I was looking and thought she had just the thing for me. The horse was super cute and lovely on the ground, well behaved under saddle but a little small and not really my match. I was very proud of myself for going out shopping on my own and saving everyone's time.

The only horse left to look at was my man in Canada. In all seriousness, there was very little for sale at the time and I had a pretty tight budget. If I travelled to Pennsylvania or Virginia where there would be more horses, the prices went up. My Canadian had the exchange rate going for him so I decided it was time to book a trip.

My trainer decided to go along with my plan. Neither of us had ever been to Toronto so it sounded like a good adventure. I booked plane tickets, a rental car and hotel all with my husband's airline miles. That was a bit sneaky of me. He gave me a budget and told me it had to include everything - travel, vetting, tack, etc. He never mentioned use of air miles!

I suppose it was a bit crazy to go so far to see one horse. It was a tiring trip north and we landed right after a huge plane from China so got stuck in a long immigration line. We drove an hour to the hotel and in the morning headed north. The drive was desolate and beautiful. We were absolutely in the middle of nowhere. It's a bit of a miracle that we managed to find the place!

When we got there, Crafty - that's his name, Crafty Breeze, and it's a bit ironic since I am very crafty - was just what I hoped he would be. He has excellent ground manners. I rode him around a bit at all 3 gaits and he made me look good. He's handsome which doesn't hurt. We walked him out through some fields so my trainer could take him over some XC jumps. He was a perfect gentleman.

As we walked the Canadian trainer told us about the property which used to be home to an event called Checkmate and which my trainer was very familiar with. Later I looked up some old photos of the place which were pretty cool. There were still some old advanced jumps in the woods. The farm had been sold and would close in the fall so it was pretty cool to be there.

My trainer hopped on, rode him around, jumped over a fence a few times and had a great time! We walked him back, hosed him, grazed him and headed off to find some food. It is worth mentioning we found an absolutely amazing restaurant called Mylar and Loretta's seriously in the middle of nowhere and well worth going out of your way for a visit. We chatted over an excellent feast and marveled at my luck.

We caught an earlier flight back to Massachusetts and I got to work on vetting a horse long distance (worthy of a whole separate post) and shipping him down here.

I've waited a long time to have a horse of my own. I am so grateful Crafty came into my life. I'm having a blast riding him everyday and think he is just the coolest horse ever. And it doesn't hurt that he looks good too!

Looking Back: When buying a horse feels good and right.

I've posted a few times about the struggles we've had over the winter but I would like to go back and tell the story of how we found Quizz and the incredibly positive experience we had buying her.

Last summer we went to Elizabeth's first recognized event. She was doing the Starter Division but still, it was a step up. While she was out walking the XC course with her trainer, I stayed in the barn to finish braiding her pony. A lovely young woman stabled across from us asked me if I knew of anyone interested in buying a horse. She seemed less determined to sell a horse and more confused about the right course for her future as an eventer.

I said I might be interested in a horse and invited her to tell me about her lovely mare. At the end of our conversation I told her I thought that sounded like the kind of horse you keep, not the kind you sell, and reminded her how difficult it is to find a horse that can stay sound and take good care of you. I think these were difficult conversations for her. She had owned the horse for nearly 6 years and had known her since she was a baby. Quizz had helped her overcome some fears and they had moved up the levels together. I could tell she really didn't want to sell her but she was also aware that it wasn't fair to ask Quizz to do more. They had gone as far as they could together and it was, sadly, time to part.

We went out and competed, went home and moved on with our lives but I kept thinking about Quizz. I mentioned it to my trainer and she thought I was a little crazy. We really weren't looking yet. We hardly met the horse and I had one conversation with the owner. It was strange how seriously I wanted to track them down.

A month or so passed and I was unable to contact them. The prior owner is not on Facebook by her full name and I didn't know who her trainer was. I found their records online but not them.

The first week of August I was at Apple Knoll in Millis, Massachusetts where our Pony Club is fortunate to have camp for one week each summer. I was in charge of camp so was there around the clock. The first day of camp a trailer pulled in and I recognized the driver as a woman who had been stabled with us at the show over the summer. I was pretty sure she would know where to find Quizz. And yes, I was still obsessing about finding her!

This is the craziest part of the story. I approached the woman and asked if she remembered the horse and rider pair from the show earlier in the summer.  Her answer is too much to believe. The passenger in her trailer was none other than Quizz. She was at Apple Knoll to be sold. As luck would have it, we were able to spend time with Quizz that entire week. My daughter rode her a few times in her pony club lessons. We were able to see her lovely personality and be very sure of who this horse is. Our trainer came to ride her thinking we were nuts but by the end of the morning, she was a little in love as well.  Quizz has that effect on people.

Later we found out that as we were trying to track down Quizz's owner, she was looking for us. She wanted Quizz to go to a young rider who would keep her forever and give her a really good home. The best part of buying Quizz has been expanding our family to include her prior owner. When someone owns a horse like Quizz for as long as she did, they want to know that their horse is being cared for properly. From our end it felt wonderful to buy a well loved horse from a responsible owner. Quizz had a heart condition which the owners immediately informed us about. They opened their vet records. They gave us the report from Tufts regarding her heart issue. They did everything so well that I think I'm a bit spoiled as I go through this again looking for my own horse.

I did freak out right after we bought her. We do intend to keep Quizz forever and I think as that reality washed over me I panicked. But her prior owner could not have been more wonderful. We are in constant contact. I am excited for her as she starts her adventure with a new young horse and she loves getting updates on Quizz's adventures.

A couple of weeks ago, after Elizabeth's first XC run of the season at a schooling show, she sat in the
back seat texting with Quizz's old owner all about how much fun she had. I think it's pretty awesome for all of us. Quizz is amazing. It would be selfish to keep her all to ourselves.

This weekend the announcer at King Oak called out the name Quizz D'Orange once again but this time with a younger rider and at a lower level. Quizz had her issues over the winter but honestly that is to be expected in an 11 year old who had been going Preliminary last summer. Her issues were confusing for the humans and we never really identifies what was bothering her but whatever it was, we addressed it and she feels great now! She's very confident and proud of herself, especially as she runs XC. And she is again building confidence in her rider. Rather than fearing speed, my daughter received time faults for going too fast! Looks like it will be time to move up sooner than we thought but we couldn't have done any of it without Quizz.

Relief: when the tide turns and everything starts to work again.

If you read my post on lameness, you may recall our distress and uncertainty about the future. I could not possibly be more pleased to report that we have come out the other end. The experience was traumatizing, frustrating, stressful and ultimately inspiring.

Quizz is an amazing horse and we bought her sound, of that I am certain, from a wonderful woman who loves her deeply. But somehow, things fell apart as they sometimes do. Whether it was shoeing mistakes, maintenance that just needed to be done or a sudden and random change, she was unable to work at the beginning of the winter. 

I don't have any answers regarding a silver bullet or magic formula we followed that could help others. But as I reflect on the past 6 months certain things stand out as contributing factors as to why we came out the other side ready for show season.

The most important factor in helping my daughter's horse get back on track was our trainer. We listened to her every step of the way. We did everything she told us to do, even when it went somewhat against our usual process. We changed farriers. We involved an additional vet. We were very aggressive with injections. It was not easy to go along with all of this but I knew that if we really wanted Quizz to recover we couldn't listen only to the things we wanted to hear. We either had to go along with the plan or not go along with it. Half a plan would not help.

There were dark days. I never doubted our trainer, her knowledge or her intentions. I did doubt the horse's ability to bounce back. I doubted whether we had identified the issue. I doubted the miracle farrier. Shoeing changes take time and my patience was thin. I seriously doubted the ability of my daughter to rise to the occasion and do all that needed to be done to help her horse recover.

At one point, not all that long ago, I thought the best thing for the horse might be to find a more advanced rider that could give her what she needed. Even mentioning this brought tears to my daughter's eyes.

Again, our trainer gets all the credit for salvaging the situation. She did more training rides. She gave my daughter more lessons. She sped up Elizabeth's education. Elizabeth learned so very much in such a short time. But even more importantly, our trainer kept her cool while I rode the emotional roller coaster. She was there for us everyday. She knew how hard it was for us to go through this and she cared. She didn't make any promises but she encouraged us to have faith.

We did everything we could think of to try. We lunged with a Pessoa, rode with German reins. We used Back on Track pads. We did a course of Adequan. We even engaged a PhD Equine Nutritionist who I think is fantastic. We only made minor adjustments to her diet but I think it helped. And I should admit I hired an animal communicator. That was a bit disappointing, really, and brought me down way more than it propped me up. 

In the end we will never know what one thing made the biggest difference. But the part that will always stand out to me is the support and encouragement we received. From the lameness vet to the miracle farrier, from our super supportive Pony Club friends to our trainer, we were so fortunate to have had this experience. As painful as it was, I am glad we ran the gauntlet and came out the other side.

So tomorrow Elizabeth and Quizz will do a schooling horse trial in preparation for their first big recognized show together. Two months ago we weren't sure if Quizz would jump again and now we have an incredible season planned for this fantastic team. Last week they galloped - a real gallop! I am so incredibly grateful. And I am humbled by my daughter and her amazing and trusty steed.

Value: How much is a horse really worth? The ranting mother is horse shopping...for herself this time!

I wrote this post last night and already I have some updates so the grey italic is, I hope, worth reading. Thank you to all the generous people who give me feedback. It is of enormous value and greatly appreciated!

So some big news here . . . today my husband looked me in the eye and agreed to buy a horse for me. FOR ME!!!!!!!! I am extremely excited.

Now for a reality check. In the fall when I wanted to sell our pony, there were so many great horses on the market which meant we had to be realistic about his price. The fall is a buyer's market. Spring is a seller's market. Right now there is nothing out there, nada, kein.

My husband has given me a tight budget. It should be enough to find something but this may take awhile and compromises will be made. I have $10,000 which also needs to cover my set up costs so vet check, travel, tack. I have a saddle which I hope will fit my horse. If not I may be in deep trouble. So I feel like I can spend $8,000 on my horse. Of course in the fall I could have done it but now it looks like I need at least $15,000 to get into the market. I get it. No one wants to buy a horse in the fall and take care of it and cover its costs through the winter so prices go down. I'm just bummed that now that my husband has finally said yes, inventory is low, prices are high and it looks like it will take awhile for me to find a horse.

In a previous life I was a NASDAQ trader. I have bought and sold several homes. I totally get the idea of markets and value and the fact that they fluctuate. What I have a harder time with are the people engaged in the market who do not understand these things.

When we bought our house I had to engage with such a person. She found our first offer offensive and rudely blew us off. Fortunately my agent was quite savvy, gave her a verbal lashing and eventually got us our house.

Today I sent a very nice email to a seller. She has a lovely horse listed for $17,500.  The horse had gone Novice but not more. My daughter really liked the look of the horse and said that was the one I should be buying so I thought I may as well send an email. What did I have to lose? I was honest about my budget but also about the quality of home I will provide, the fact that I intend to be a forever home, I offered references and hoped for the best. The response was not what I had hoped. The seller could have responded that they appreciated my interest and offered to check in with the owner. She could have said they would keep my information in case anything changed. She could have thanked me for my honesty since I could have wasted her time going to look at the horse before breaking the news of my low budget. Instead, she said my budget is not an acceptable offer on a horse of this caliber. She did wish me luck.

Here's my issue: every offer should be considered. I'm the buyer, the one with the money. I'm a catch for any seller because I actually intend to buy a horse. At some point this seller may be in a real bind and my offer will begin to look spectacular. In the world I live in, BN/Novice horses do not cost nearly $20,000. I know my budget is a bit low but not THAT low. I hope the owner has done some research and made sure she is comfortable with the price she has been advised to set. Just like with the housing market, it is often better to set a realistic price and create more interest from multiple buyers than shoot high and end up with no one coming to look. From my research, a solid BN/Novice horse should cost between $10,000 and $15,000 and leaning toward the lower end of the range as they age and have less Novice experience, more BN experience.  I think $10,000 - $12,000 could be the right price and on the right day I might pay that much. Buying is an emotional experience and buyers often pay more than they initially intended. In the case of the horse I inquired about, it has been listed for nearly 2 months in a seller's market so that would imply it is overpriced though with inventory so low, they may get their price and I may be the one who is proven wrong.

I find that people often over value their own assets. Perhaps it is my experience as a trader but I am generally pretty clear that any asset I have is only worth what the buyer in the market today will pay. The woman with the horse she will not sell below $10,000 has a horse currently worth nothing because there is no buyer in the market today offering her money for her horse (well, there may have been but she missed that opportunity). Tomorrow she may have a horse worth much more or much less. It always depends on the buyers in the market. A seller can hold onto an asset or realize its value by selling to the current buyer. Holding on does not mean it is worth any amount the owner claims. It is still only worth the price the market will pay. If you can afford to hold out for your price and that is important, then I guess that is your prerogative. But every month you keep that horse costs you another $1,000.00 or more so think hard before staying stuck on price. When it came time to sell our pony I was pretty realistic. I took a 30% loss. He's for sale again at a higher price and I think his talent warrants that price if a buyer can be found. I will be happy for both sides of the transaction if it should take place.

Sorry for the economics rant. Mostly I'm just bummed my pockets aren't deeper so I can't go try that really cute horse. No matter! There will be others! And those others will not turn up their noses at my lowly budget. My horse will not be fancy but he or she will be loved. My horse will have a good life and he or she is out there waiting for me. I only hope we won't have to wait too long to find one another.

This morning I heard from a friend who has been in the market more recently. She has travelled to Florida, South Carolina and Virginia looking for horses for both herself and her daughter. The horse for her daughter will be similar to what we bought for my daughter and the horse for her will be similar to what I am looking for. She feels that a proven BN horse of ideal age (I'll say 10) costs about $15,000 so I am low in my budget. But if they have schooling show experience rather than recognized, the price is lower. Likewise as they get older. So a 15 yo will certainly be less. We won't talk about the budget for the other kind of horse!

I also heard back from another owner. This one is asking $15,000 for her horse. Her response to me was lovely. Her horse sounds wonderful. I will keep in touch with this seller. Hopefully she will call me if anything changes and I will certainly call her if I find I am able to do a little better.

I would also add that location is a big factor in the horse market just as it is in the housing market. Horses in Canada are much more reasonably priced. There are fewer people up there and the US dollar is very strong. Prices seem to be better in the midwest where more people can keep horses in their backyards. Metropolitan areas such as the one I live in are just more expensive in every single way so I will either have to pay for the convenience of buying a horse nearby or I will have to travel. I'm already booking my flight to Toronto. I'm cheating and using frequent flyer miles. Those were not mentioned in my budget and may just help me stretch it enough to make this work!

Memberships: USEF? USEA? When acronyms appear on your entry forms you need to start joining some organizations!

When my daughter was little and riding at her sweet beginner barn, the trainers took care of all the paperwork required for attending shows.  Since the barn owned all the ponies and only attended schooling shows, the process was relatively straightforward and we simply signed on the dotted line and wrote a check.

When we moved barns and switched to eventing, things got a little more complicated. There was no longer a big group of kids going off to the same shows.  We were still attending schooling shows so that made things easier. But I found myself having to figure out how to fill out the entry forms (don’t laugh, it’s written in a foreign language) and how to read the prize list. By the way there are no prizes listed on most prize lists.

Last year my daughter attended her first USEA (United States Eventing Association) Recognized Horse Trials. That is when things got more complicated.

Every equestrian discipline has a governing body. The FederationEquestre Internationale (FEI) is the governing body of all equestrian sport in the world. The next rung down the ladder here in the US is the United StatesEquestrian Federation (USEF), which governs all equestrian sports in the US. In addition, each discipline has its own organization from the United StatesEventing Association (USEA) to the United States Hunter Jumper Association(USHJA) to the United States Dressage Federation (USDF). I assume western disciplines and the breeds have similar organizations but I’m sticking with what I know.

As you start attending fancier “recognized” horse shows of any variety, pay attention to the prize list (hunter jumper term for list of classes) or omnibus (eventing term for all pertinent information for entering a show). In addition to information regarding competition levels, judges, stabling and times this will provide guidance as to requirements for entry. It may explicitly say what memberships a participant needs to compete or it may point the reader to a rulebook.

In eventing, a rider does not need to join the USEA until the Beginner Novice level. Kids under 18 get a discount so I believe we paid $60.00 for the year. Horses competing at Beginner Novice, Novice and Training level need to be registered with the USEA with restricted status at a minimum. Restricted status is free. They can also be registered with limited status for $40.00 per year, which is important if you want to be considered for year end awards, and will later need to be upgraded to full status if they begin to compete at the Preliminary level. So your basic kid going out Beginner Novice can get away with just paying $60.00 for a USEA membership and nothing more so long as they register their horse.  A lifetime USEA membership costs $1,500.00 and so is a pretty nice gift for a kid who intends to compete for many years to come.

As a beginner eventing parent you won’t need to worry about USEF or FEI memberships. A rider needs a USEF membership to enter a recognized horse trials at the Preliminary level or above. USEF membership costs $55.00 per year, $165.00 for three years or $2,500.00 for a lifetime membership. FEI levels are indicated by the star system. A * is an international Preliminary Level, ** is an international Intermediate Level and *** is an international Advanced Level. Just looking at the entry form for a CIC, which is an international level competition, it does ask for an FEI number for both horse and rider. When you need to join the FEI you’ve entered the big leagues!

If your child is competing at recognized horse trials you can use evententries.com to register for most events. I find this website to be very confusing. I am in my second season of using it and I can at least do what I need to do and I like being able to pay online but it feels like some sort of exclusive club for people who know what's up and I feel like the kid who showed up uninvited, never really sure if I'm doing the right thing. First, join USEA so you have that number. Then set up an account. I choose to have a signature page and coggins on file with EventEntries.com and pay an annual $10.00 fee so that I don't have to keep sending those in separately after paying online. When you select this option a PDF pops up. You print it out and send it in with the pertinent item. I just sent in 3 - one for the coggins, one for the signature page and one for membership cards. In case you haven't done a recognized HT before, the signature page is signed by the rider, the owner of the horse and the trainer. You will need your trainer's USEA and USEF numbers as well. Registering for the individual events still confuses me. You are asked to select a division and there isn't always an appropriate option available. Fortunately, the show secretaries who receive the information and create the division lists know what they are doing and it all seems to work out! And if you screw up, they'll be sure to let you know! Just do what the show secretary says and you'll be all set!

I don’t know much about other memberships but suggest you take a look at the USHJA and USEF websites if you have a child interested in competing in the hunter, jumper or equitation disciplines. The USEF membership application actually has a space for joining the USHJA so I believe you join both if you are interested in the national competitions. I know many kids who dream of going to pony finals or competing for the various medals. USHJA membership pricing is in line with other memberships.

USDF youth memberships are $60.00 per year, so again, in line with other organizations. The dressage discipline also has schooling and recognized shows and as in other disciplines, the membership becomes necessary when a rider competes at the recognized level.

Depending on your discipline and the areas in which you compete, you may need additional memberships. My daughter competes in a dressage schooling series every summer. The membership is $50.00 per year. I know that the New England Dressage Association, which sponsors wonderful recognized shows and clinics, also offers membership. This membership is not required but offers benefits such as discounts at shows and a copy of the omnibus listing for the year.

Personally, I choose to over subscribe to memberships. When my kids were little we belonged to every museum and aquarium in Boston. We made excellent use of those facilities and I still pay for those memberships as my small contribution to maintaining organizations I am grateful to have enjoyed. Similarly, I am happy to contribute to the organizations that make my daughter’s sport possible. Everything else in equestrian sport is absurdly expensive. Memberships seem very reasonable for all they provide. Certainly we pay entry fees as well so it is not as though memberships have to cover the cost of every ribbon, venue, etc. However, providing great shows at great venues is not inexpensive. It is important to support the people who make it all possible.

Equine Laundry: Tips on how to deal with all that hair and dirt!

In a dream world, we would all have dedicated laundry machines for our horses, preferably in a separate room with a separate entrance.  Since diving in deep with horses I've begun using our garage as a pre-mudroom.  Particularly muddy boots are left in the garage.  I wish we had a horse mudroom during shedding season when our coats are covered in horse hair.  I hate dragging all that hair and dirt into my nice, clean house.

Here in the real world, my laundry machines are on the second floor with the bedrooms which seemed like a great idea at the time.  Since the horses have to share with the humans, I've come up with a few procedures which make doing the horse laundry a bit less messy and hopefully prevent horse hair from ending up all over the clothing of the non-horse lovers in the house.

At home we wash saddle pads, fleece blankets, Baker blankets, Irish knits and non-water proof sheets. I have washed AND dried waterproof sheets in the past before I knew anything and honestly it did them no harm and they were still waterproof but I wouldn't count on that working out for an extended period.

Step one is to be sure all human laundry is totally done and that you won't need clean machines again for at least 24 hours. All human laundry is put away and the laundry room has nothing on the floor. I then dump all the horse laundry on the tile floor.

I have a good sized machine so unless we brought sheets home, our things fit in one load. We usually just have saddle pads. If you need to wash girths, they can go in the same load with the saddle pads. Just use some duct tape to pad the buckles. I like to tape the two buckles on each end together and wrap several layers of tape around them. This reduces the noise as they wash and dry and also protects your machines from scratching. If you have bulky metal pieces on any of your sheets or blankets I would suggest using duct tape for those as well. You can also remove leg straps and soak those in a bucket or laundry sink if you don't want to put them through the laundry. Dryers are particularly bad for elastic so you might not want to dry them in the machine even if you machine washed them.

Check the care instructions for your items. If you are washing things that cannot go in the dryer, have a plan for where those are going to hang. The reality is that the dryer is the workhorse in removing the hair from your horse laundry. We have an alternative solution but first you need to hang the items to dry somewhere that you either won't mind having lots of horse hair (clothesline?) or in a place that is easily cleaned up with a vacuum cleaner (basement?). I put fuzzy girths and basic saddle pads in the dryer. I do not put the Back on Track saddle pads in the dryer.  I put all blankets, fleeces, Irish knits, etc. in the dryer.  I have a friend with saddle pads that need to be hand washed so think about all of this when deciding what tack to use for your horse.

My system is based on front loading machines so I'm not sure if it will work as well with a top loader but give it a try.

After taking the laundry out of the washing machine and putting it in the dryer or hanging it to dry, I leave the washing machine open to dry over night. The next day I take the horse laundry out of the dryer and put it downstairs to go to the barn.  I then use the hose on my vacuum cleaner to thoroughly clean the washing machine, dryer, lint collector, floor of the laundry room and tops of my machines.  That horse hair gets EVERYWHERE!!!!

Then I turn to my line dried items. I vacuum the saddle pads. You can do this prior to washing but I actually find it works better for me to do it after. I run the vacuum back and forth over the saddle pad probably 20 or 30 times until the bulk of the hair is gone. For sheets and blankets I tend to just shake them out outside.  I suppose you could try vacuuming but I think they need more heft so the vacuum won't just suck them up.

On occasion I have washed and dried blankets a second time through clean machines and used a dryer sheet to try and remove more hair. Of course I then had to clean the machines a second time.

For a Mattes pad or other sheepskin pad follow the manufacturer directions very carefully. Mattes pads come with special soap. They can be washed in a regular washing machine but in my experience they take forever to dry.

For medium and heave sheets and our water proof sheet if I don't feel like hanging it to dry after washing, I send them out to be cleaned. Dover Saddlery provides blanket cleaning and most barns have someone collect all the blankets for cleaning at the end of the winter. Expect it to take 4 - 8 weeks to get the blankets back from cleaning. In a pinch, you really need to just do it yourself. You can probably do a medium in your home machine and hang it to dry but a heavy would need a really  good sized machine.

The other thought I have had is to take everything to a laundromat. It's kind of obnoxious to go infest public machines with all your horse hair but you've got to do what you've go to do!

It was during our first spring shedding season that Elizabeth and I became big fans of clipping our horse. When you clip in the winter it means you need to blanket your horse more heavily through the cold weather and of course if you clip on your own you make a huge mess. I usually wear a coat that is then sent immediately to the dry cleaner.  I know other people who get full body plastic suits from Home Depot to wear while clipping. But the upside is that you don't have two months of horrendous shedding in the spring. We leave a decent amount of hair on our horse so even though she's trace clipped, she is shedding. But much less so than if we hadn't clipped her at all.

As for your winter coat (I have a brown one I call my medium and a black one I call my heavy, both fully dedicated to the barn and too filthy and smelly to go anywhere else) it's off to the dry cleaner. I've accumulated barn and non-barn versions of most outerwear at this point and footwear for that matter. I wait until May and off the coats go to be freshened up for the next winter which is never far enough away.

Horses Vacationing in Florida for the Winter: Why the horses go south even if the humans can't.

As I sit by the fire while snow is falling yet again, and on the second day of spring no less, I am again kicking myself for not sending our horse south this winter. Realistically with all we've been going through it wouldn't have worked out this year but a winter like this one really helps me wrap my head around the idea of sending the horses even if the humans can't go.

Many people on the East Coast, and elsewhere in the country for that matter, send their horses south for the winter. The big attraction for people across the country is the amount and quality of competition available in Wellington, Florida during the winter. Wellington is the most upscale version of going south and takes a pretty serious budget but if you can afford it there is quite an equestrian scene there. WEF (Winter Equestrian Festival) runs all winter long and offers weeks of showing in the warm weather in the Hunter, Jumper, Equitation and Dressage disciplines. If you are a rider who is hunting points for the pony division or working toward a dressage medal or some other particular honorific, going to Florida expands the opportunities. Most of the professionals where we live in Massachusetts go south for some period of time so if you don't go you end up a bit on your own.

Eventers tend to go to Ocala, Florida or Aiken, South Carolina. Board in these places is very reasonable and there is a ton of land and open space. There are plenty of schooling shows and some horse trials so if the snow ever melts up north your horses are ready to go out and compete in the spring.

As to the why, well, all you have to do is sit in a freezing cold indoor watching 4 horses going in circles while someone is trying to give a lesson and another person is waiting to lunge and you understand that staying home is frustrating. The bottom line is riding is an outdoor sport and when you bring it inside for 6 months it begins to lose some of its appeal. The barn we ride at has 4 outdoor sand rings, a round pen and a XC course so it's an extreme change for us from summer to winter and the horses feel it as well.

If you stay behind in the winter there is only so much you can do. The horses hardly move in their paddocks so they start every day stiff and cold. There isn't much room and you are always fighting the crowds. If your trainer went south then you may not have any professional support.

I did the math and going south actually wasn't going to be all that expensive for us. Our trainer didn't end up going but, if she had, the fees she would charge for training board in Florida, which would include her riding our horse 4 times a week, was actually less than our current board with two lessons and one training ride a week we pay for here in Massachusetts. Our farrier and vet both go down south so none of that would have to change. We would then have to pay shipping both ways and half board to hold a stall at Course Brook but all in it wasn't a bad deal. Of course my assessment was meant to encourage my husband to go along with the plan and didn't include the several trips south my daughter and I would be making - airfare, car rental, hotel.

Having a horse down south does give the humans a great excuse to escape the winter. In the hunter/jumper scene the kids tend to get into more of a routine, going down on Thursday nights and flying back on Sundays. For them, the 12 weeks of WEF mean an opportunity to ride against all the best kids in the country and gain ground accumulating ever important points to qualify for the year end national shows. As more kids opt to take this route, it makes it harder for the kids that stay up north to catch up during the regular season. The kids we know who event and send their horses south either stay down for 3 months (each has worked out something different with their schools) or they go down a couple of weekends and for a week over break. Most winters there are many people who send their horses down for 6 - 8 weeks during February and March to start their conditioning for the spring season. This winter the people who had that intention have decided to just leave the horses down there until May. The ground up here is still frozen and covered in snow. There's nothing to do here!

This year I decided that to do such an extravagant thing for the horse of a 12 year old girl set an undesirable precedent. I believe riding through the cold is character building and part of earning the privilege of having a horse. Sadly, I had to build my character right along side my daughter and I'm heartily sick of the cold. I have a friend who keeps horses at home and has a couple of boarders.  She sent her two horses south this winter with her trainer  and will never keep them home again. It completely changed her stress level.

Theoretically, spring is right around the corner. Hopefully this will be the end of lamenting the choice to stay home this winter.

Update: We are now heading into winter 2016/2017 and we thought seriously about going south for a month. My daughter has some early season goals that will be hard to achieve without heading south but in the end, we aren't going. We will hope for an early spring and shoot for an early season event in Virginia to get things started.

It is also worth noting that for young riders eventing in Area I, Florida does come into play at some point. To be chosen for the Area I NAJYRC team kids have to ride in a couple of competitions in Florida the winter prior to the championship. I don't think we will ever be on that path but never say never!