Never As Easy As You Think!!!

I used to spend a fair amount of time looking at horses with liveries who were looking for one to buy but I'd forgotten just what a minefield it is!

Recently I went to see an Andalusian stallion who is a schoolmaster and does the lot - piaffe, passage, canter pirouettes, changes, etc. etc. I went even though he was far more money than I've ever, in my wildest dreams, thought of spending on a horse!

He was beautiful, very quiet, friendly and kind and very easy and responsive to ride - my dream horse, except....

I was told that he'd sailed through a 5 stage vetting when he was imported 2 weeks previously. I noticed a lump on his dock and when I lifted his tail I found masses of melanomas, some quite large, all around his anus as well as loads on the underside of his tail. I asked what the vet had said about the melanomas and the response was "what melanomas?" I was led to believe that I was the first person to notice them!

I liked him so much that I nearly went back for a second viewing but some horror stories from a friend who'd had two horses with melanoma, and who pointed out that he was quite young to have so many already, brought me to my senses. She told me of the distressing problems one of her horses had had when they developed inside her back passage as well as outside. It would be an uninsurable risk as it's a pre-existing condition and I didn't fancy the worry of watching them develop over the years.

The truth is, although I would very much love to have an Andalusian, I don't really need another horse to ride at the moment. I want to concentrate on Bella and see how far we can get, and I need to do something with Merlin, so I'm going back to plan A - a youngster I can play with, watch grow, drool over and dream about.

With that in mind I'm hoping over the weekend to go and see a late born foal who's just been weaned. There are also some Lusitano yearlings near here whose parents all look stunning but it was really an Andalusian that I had in mind. I'm told that Lusitanos are bred for working, Andalusians are bred for posing! I don't really want anything that will be too high maintenance as an adult as there are lots of other things I want to do as well as riding horses.

My Dales have spoilt me in that respect and I don't really want the pressure of "having to ride" every day again - I had too much of that for too many years and it knocks all the fun out of it after a while. I love having my own horses to ride but, like most things in life, it's far more fun when you don't feel that you always have to ride them!

It's a lovely dilemma to have though!!! How do people without horses get enough fun and excitement into their lives? I'll never understand that one!