[carshon]

This is wonderful! He will so happy to get to be a horse. What a culture shock for him - but he could not have gotten a better angel to take care of him!!

 

[3Horses2DogsandaCat]

Wonderful news! It's amazing how things just work out!

 

[weeedlady]

I might have missed it, but how did you and Duncan's owner find each other? You prayed, she prayed, but then what?

 

[walkinthewalk]

I might have missed it, but how did you and Duncan's owner find each other? You prayed, she prayed, but then what?

Horse people in my county seem to know things, even if one isn't in their venue or their circle. I got a phone call to check with the horse retirement home that I didn't even know was here, and she is only ten miles from me, lol. That it was "heard" she had a waiting list & maybe there might be a horse on there for my criteria. I called, the young lady was very warm on the phone and said she would check thru her waiting list to see if there was someone who matched my criteria. She was talking to her mom about it and her mom asked her what was wrong with "my horse in California?', lollol

I had already texted fotos of this property and the barn to the daughter so she would know I wasn't someone with raggedy barbed wire fence and my horse wasn't living in a sea of mud. The next day the daughter called me with her mom's proposal to "adopt" Duncan to me and she would pay for his shipping. I asked her to please come and see the barn & farm before making any decisions as the daughter's horse retirement facility is really upscale and is mostly high dollar ex-show horses whose owners have a conscience.

The mom had already booked passage with a transport company but her daughter convinced to her to physically visit anyway, lollol.

Which, BTW, here's the name of the transport company they use and speak very highly of. The mom said these people really do care about every horse on the the van. They will overnight half way from CA to TN and I think get the horses off the van. Look at that rig. My road doesn't even have enough room for it to turn off the county road and start up my road, lollol.

KC Horse Transport, Inc. | USA

Hopefully they have done enough business with this company that the shipping fee is locked in - since the price of fuel may go into the outer stratosphere sooner than later. A sidebar to that is farmers that were interviewed on the Agri Business segment of RFD-TV said the price of fuel, fertilizer, and whatever else it takes to raise crops has already tripled in some areas. Duncan's owner said they can still get timothy hay at the barn but it is $37/bale - bales out there are 115-125 pounds but $37 is enough to make one choke when writing the check and it could go higher. Being a savvy business woman that's likely another reason for wanting to get Duncan out of California and find him a nice grass pasture east of the Mississippi.

We had a wonderful two hour visit which could have lasted longer but the daughter has 16 horses at her facility and does much of the work herself. We talked about horse prices. In her mom's show world in SoCal, chump change is $30,000. 60K is more like it for a winning horse. She said even retired horses that are still useable can go for 30K but that wasn't what she wanted for Duncan, because she felt he had paid dues, won a lot in his prime, and that was good enough.

So there ya have it Weeed! "That's my story and I'm stickin' to it",

 

[walkinthewalk]

Duncan’s owner couldn’t get Coggins and the Health Cert done & back in time for travel this coming week, so he’s on the shippers log for March 21st.

Moving horses back and forth between California & Kentucky (with drop-offs in other places along the way) must be busy right now - even with the price of everything on the rise.

Hopefully by then my area will have already seen the last of “70 degrees today, Zero tomorrow “🤯

 

[Woodhaven]

Great news Walk a win win win situation for everybody

 

[walkinthewalk]

Duncan’s owner is very conscientious about keeping me updated. His tentative travel date is March 24th or 25th, dependent on the transport company.

She also sent me a foto of Duncan in his hey day, being ridden by his then teenage owner. I commented Duncan is too precisely trained for me to get on him and she replied all she ever did with him was W/T/C.

I think I’ve been saying Duncan is 24? Thankfully he is older, lollol. He was born 12-24-96 which makes him 26 this year.

Still-in-all, riding a retired H/J & possibly Dressage is not even close to managing a horse sliding down a riverbank & swimming to the other side🥴🥴

Duncan in his younger days. I’m not smart enough to know how high he is jumping in this picture — hopefully he doesn’t get any ideas about jumping my four foot fencing😳😳

 

[SteadyOn]

I don't think that jump is more than 2'6", thankfully. The angle and his athleticism make that particular fence look bigger than it probably was -- though he certainly looks like he could clear 4' no problem!

 

[walkinthewalk]

I don't think that jump is more than 2'6", thankfully. The angle and his athleticism make that particular fence look bigger than it probably was -- though he certainly looks like he could clear 4' no problem!

I‘m gonna go with your 2’6” theory and hope, at 26, he has zero aspirations to clear four feet when he sees deer running thru the pasture 😳😂😳😂

 

[weeedlady]

I love his face!

 

[Acadianartist]

Duncan is adorable! I'd say that fence is smaller than 2'6" even, but hard to say. Could he clear your fences? You betcha. But he won't want to! Why on earth would he? He'll think he's died and gone to heaven.

Bella straight up jumped out of a stall the other day (the door is 4') because she was separated from her two "boys". Currently, with the snow and ice, my fence in the pasture is maybe a 2'3" jump for her. But she has no desire to leave her ample pasture with multiple room service calls each day and her two bffs.

What an amazing story about how this all fell into place. I can't wait to hear more about him and how Rusty reacts when he sees his new friend!

 

[JCnGrace]

No doubt in my mind he'll work out for you walkin' because you'll put in the time and effort to make it work!

 

[walkinthewalk]

Ok, the latest is that Duncan “should board his transport this Thursday the 24th or Friday the 25th. This is a poster child for ”hurry up and wait”, 😂😂

Duncan’s owner told me she has a flight booked to get here Saturday so she can be here to help get Duncan transferred from the Van to my trailer, then unload him here🥰🥰. She really REALLY cares about the well being of this horse😍😍

I hope I don’t let her down. When I brought Joker & Sultan home, if was just a matter of them learning the fences and getting along with my other three. Add transitioning Duncan from the closed environment horses in the Low Desert live to all this wide open space, plus getting him used to grass ——- I may be forced to buy my brother’s bottle of bourbon early and tap into it — even though I quit drinking years ago🤯🥃🤯🥃

 

[COWCHICK77]

How exciting!

You won't let her down. If I die I want to come back as one of your horses!

 

[starbuster]

Ok, the latest is that Duncan “should board his transport this Thursday the 24th or Friday the 25th. This is a poster child for ”hurry up and wait”, 😂😂

Duncan’s owner told me she has a flight booked to get here Saturday so she can be here to help get Duncan transferred from the Van to my trailer, then unload him here🥰🥰. She really REALLY cares about the well being of this horse😍😍

I hope I don’t let her down. When I brought Joker & Sultan home, if was just a matter of them learning the fences and getting along with my other three. Add transitioning Duncan from the closed environment horses in the Low Desert live to all this wide open space, plus getting him used to grass ——- I may be forced to buy my brother’s bottle of bourbon early and tap into it — even though I quit drinking years ago🤯🥃🤯🥃

Agreed with COWCHICK77, I highly doubt you will let her down! You seem like an excellent horse owner and I'm sure Duncan will have the best retirement he could hope for with you!

 

[weeedlady]

I agree with the others. There is 0 chance that living with you will be a let down. You are probably the most conscientious horse owner I know. Duncan will be thrilled and so will his owner.

 

[walkinthewalk]

Thank you very much, all of you, for your tremendous support thru this entire ordeal and process to get Duncan here. It has really meant a lot to me🥰🥰🥰🥰.

I really miss my Sweetie Boy Joker but I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and think of Rusty’s well being. Watching him these last few weeks, I feel like outwardly he appears fine but he is internalizing everything. A couple of early mornings, DH found him laying deer style in his “living room”, staring up at the ridge. He spends a lot of time looking up at the ridge but he’s never laid down in the outer stall and done that. I’ve kept him Succeed this entire time, which I hope is helping him.

I have been speaking Duncan’s name to Rusty in the hopes he makes the connection when Duncan gets here. He’s been flicking his ears forward , as if thinking “who and what is Duncan and why should I care”, lol.

I have been doing more Clorox spring cleaning in the barn, while texting back and forth with Duncan’s owner who is busy packing his belongings for the trip - this is like sending your child off to boarding school😂

You wouldn’t believe the mouse-chewed-up-stuff I found in a couple of drawers I haven’t been in for eons - or mehbee you would🤐🤐. I also found my hoof testers, hoof angle measuring device, and shoe pulling equipment - that stuff has been “misplaced” at least since 2015😳😳

 

[Woodhaven]

I think we are ALL anxiously awaiting Duncan's arrival

 

[Chevaux]

I shall speak boldly for all the posters when I strongly suggest to not forget to have whatever photography/film equipment you have prepped and at the ready as we’ll want see all the highlights of this very important event.😀 Best of luck.

 

[walkinthewalk]

I shall speak boldly for all the posters when I strongly suggest to not forget to have whatever photography/film equipment you have prepped and at the ready as we’ll want see all the highlights of this very important event.😀 Best of luck.

Thank you! .

I finally traded in my IPhone 5 for an IPhone 12. It will be fully charged and I promise to do my best. I am really happy Duncan’s is owner flying back to help get him settled, as that means no excuses for no pictures on my part 😂😂