Au Revoir, Little Black Mare

 LBM, the Little Black Mare, has gone to a new home.  This is something that started in motion a couple of weeks ago, and that I wanted to wait until it was a done deal and she was at her new farm to post about.

Her owner had told me this past spring, that since she never had time to come over to this little place here and do anything with the LBM, that she was probably going to try to find her a new owner.  Meanwhile, she wanted to keep the LBM in training with me, so that the LBM would have the best possible chance at the kind of new home the owner wished to find.  

All summer and thus far into the fall, I've kept up the regular rides with the LBM, especially taking her out trail riding, as a trail riding home (rather than a horse show home) seemed like it would be the best fit for the LBM's temperament and build.

In the middle of October, I got a text from the owner, asking if I might have time to take some pictures of LBM and send to her, so that she could forward them on to a prospective buyer.  She had been in contact with this person, who had turned out to be someone she'd actually known in the past but lost touch with several years ago, and felt like he would provide an acceptable home for the LBM.

Being that I was not super busy, and it was a beautiful day, I was able to run outside, grab LBM from her pasture, brush her up and take a couple dozen pictures.  One of which is above.  After putting LBM back in her pasture, I went through the pictures, chose about 7 or 8 of the best ones, and sent them to her owner.  The owner was very pleased with the pictures (I'd done them as close to professional sale ad pictures as I could with just me to handle the horse), and the prospective buyer was too.  He requested to set up a time the following Saturday to come meet the LBM, see me ride her, and possibly ride her himself.

That day came, another awesome weather day, and everything just seemed to align perfectly.  The owner liked him.  I got a sense that he would be a good match for the LBM both personality-wise and skill-wise.  He liked the LBM.  And, importantly, the LBM seemed to really like him; she calmly did everything he asked of her even though he was a total stranger.  A match made in heaven, if you will.  

A verbal deal was made between owner and buyer, the three of us set up a date and time for him to return with a check (for the owner) and a trailer (to take the LBM to her new home in).

Five days before she was scheduled to leave, I split up the LBM and the Poetess.  They had been pasturemates since about the second week of operation as a horse farm at this little place here.  To (hopefully) make the LBM's departure a little easier on both of them, I started a pseudo weaning by separating them, but just by a fenceline.  This forced them apart, yet they could still see each other in the adjacent pasture and could touch over the fence if they felt necessary.  They took that right in stride, often grazing calmly on opposite ends of their pastures from each other, not at all worried that they could no longer be side by side all day.

The first 10 minutes of separate pastures.

Because the LBM's owner had prepaid for October's training sessions, I continued to work the LBM as scheduled.  I did adjust the focus of the rides to less arena work and 90% riding outside the arena.  Her new owner was hoping, as long as the weather stayed favorable, to maybe take her on some trail rides with his friends and their horses yet this fall.  So I rode her all over my property, looking at every thing that could possibly be spooky and trekking right on past it without any blow-ups or getting eaten by any monsters (like the buck we scared up in the woods).  

On our last ride around the property, I took some pictures from on her back, with plans to share them with her owner (seller).

On the path between my pastures and the neighbor's grain field.

In the back side of my woods.

On November first, the sale was completed.  The LBM followed her new owner into his horse trailer, and away she went to her new life.  The Poetess watched, intermittently called out for her friend in the first two hours after the LBM departed, then settled back to grazing.  Exactly the reaction I'd hoped she would have when I decided to separate them days ahead of time to make the final separation less traumatic for them both.

Goodbye, Little Black Mare.  I'm so excited for your new life of adventuring and exploring more trails with your new owner.