Joined
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636 Posts
Oh no here we go again.
(sidenote: the barn is currently closed to customers proper, but as 'people involved in the care/wellbeing of pets/animals/livestock' are considered exceptions, there's, uh, leeway. which is important as horses are one of my last current connections to sanity at this point.)
I digress.
I was told today that the young woman who leases Jasper - the other horse I ride besides Toby - has been laid off for 3 months and can't afford to keep up her lease. My trainer offered the lease to me. (til the young woman is back, of course.)
It's $200/month, so with me often riding 2x a week (at $40 for a trail ride and $60 for a lesson) that's ultimately less than I pay by session, and my trainer wouldn't charge me extra for a lesson. I'd be allowed to ride him 3x a week, for however long, whenever he's not otherwise working. And it certainly doesn't preclude me from riding Toby if he's available, either.
Overall it's a really solid deal. But, Jasper is a big horse and forward - he's 16.1(ish?), covers a lot of ground, likes to move. He will work in the ring (his leaser does), though he doesn't like it, and he might be difficult on that note especially to work him at a speed above a walk. For all his forwardness, though, he is a very smooth ride (just. so tall. so much legs.) and not nuts. (working theory, though no one knows his background, is maybe someone tried to make an eventing horse of him, but his perspective on jumping is just to haul over an obstacle without grace or care so that may not have worked). So I guess my worry is that he's too much horse for me, but at the same time, we have worked pretty well on the trail together, and 3x a week might help that issue.
But I am seeking counsel from wiser horse people before I make a decision.
(sidenote: the barn is currently closed to customers proper, but as 'people involved in the care/wellbeing of pets/animals/livestock' are considered exceptions, there's, uh, leeway. which is important as horses are one of my last current connections to sanity at this point.)
I digress.
I was told today that the young woman who leases Jasper - the other horse I ride besides Toby - has been laid off for 3 months and can't afford to keep up her lease. My trainer offered the lease to me. (til the young woman is back, of course.)
It's $200/month, so with me often riding 2x a week (at $40 for a trail ride and $60 for a lesson) that's ultimately less than I pay by session, and my trainer wouldn't charge me extra for a lesson. I'd be allowed to ride him 3x a week, for however long, whenever he's not otherwise working. And it certainly doesn't preclude me from riding Toby if he's available, either.
Overall it's a really solid deal. But, Jasper is a big horse and forward - he's 16.1(ish?), covers a lot of ground, likes to move. He will work in the ring (his leaser does), though he doesn't like it, and he might be difficult on that note especially to work him at a speed above a walk. For all his forwardness, though, he is a very smooth ride (just. so tall. so much legs.) and not nuts. (working theory, though no one knows his background, is maybe someone tried to make an eventing horse of him, but his perspective on jumping is just to haul over an obstacle without grace or care so that may not have worked). So I guess my worry is that he's too much horse for me, but at the same time, we have worked pretty well on the trail together, and 3x a week might help that issue.
But I am seeking counsel from wiser horse people before I make a decision.