Day One - A new Beginning

 It was an exciting trip to Tehachapi to pick up the horses.  Tehachapi is about an hour drive east of us.  There are a lot of wind turbines there to generate electricity.  We bet up with everyone at the gate for the five mile drive to the meadow where the horses hang out while the grass is good.

The organizers spent Saturday rounding up as many horses as the could for the eight trainers to choose from.  Coming around the corner and seeing the meadow for the first time was truly a remarkable site.  About the last have a mile and band of 6 or 7 with a foal ran along with us.  As you come over the rise it opens to this meadow where 60 to 70 horses stood grazing.  I am certain most every trainer felt like I did:  it was truly and honor taking part in this event.

 After a group meeting to discuss rules and such, names were drawn from Organizer Jeremy Dunn's hat.  My name came up last.  After the draw the group was given 30 minutes to choose their horse.  There were many great looking mares.  The rules stipulated you could take a mare, but if she had a foal, they were a package. Jeremy said there was also a chance Momma could be pregnant too.  I knew that was more than I could handle.  I set my sites for a gelding.

These horses are a bit smaller than Jessie my Quarter Horse.  There are a lot of withers on them either.  There were a couple of stallions in the group.  You would be required to geld them before the event in October.  If you picked a stallion, you could choose to bring it back on July 11th to be gelded by the Oak Creek caretakers or pay for it yourself.  Because I'm completely new to this, I wanted to have as much time with my horse as possible, so I was looking for a gelding of good size.

As luck would have it, by the time it was my turn to pick, there just so happened to be one.  Not sure how old he is.  My guess might be 6 - 10.  He was gelded in 2013 (the brand a number on their hip).

He loaded well, trailered home with ease.  I placed him in the pen and he was a bit nervous.  It was hot - 105.  At first he didn't take water or feed.  As the afternoon rolled into evening he drank.  I was concerned he had not pooped.  He didn't look uncomfortable, but even my 9 pm nothing.

The next morning there was one pile in his pen.  I started working him.  I could touch him and rub him most places.  He is a bit jumpy.  His escape seems to be backwards.  I hope this translates to a good back up.

My goal for this week is to keep working, get him haltered and wormed.  Once that is accomplished, I'd love to get the dental out of the way.