Moving on

I am glad you are able to find peace and having the reading was one way to have it. i believe in it. and i will not go into details about what i experienced.  
as for the seller of the mare perhaps she is working and is not able to ans your emails.. give it time. and perhaps not rush.  
happy to look for you   and perhaps let us know a general area for our search  so we do not go wayyyy to far away. 

time heals. and our hearts are still aching  but we move on to give another the love that is still in our hearts.  


not knowing which gaited horse you are looking fore here is a couple i picked out. 

www.equinenow.com/horse-ad-1068719


www.equinenow.com/horse-ad-1021915


this one is lovely

www.equinenow.com/horse-ad-1064881

What type of gaited are you looking at. Walking horse or Fox trotter? There are so many here for sale cheap. Glad that your going to go on with your riding. It's hard to loose a great friend but there is always another wanting an owner like you! Take your time looking. There will be one that grabs your heart and will give you what your looking for in a lasting relationship.

It is the right thing to buy another horse, it will help you reminde yourself how happy you were riding Steve and keep the memorie of him in that way.

Hi Mingiz- it is Cheyenne Acres in Vichy- they have a lot of horses for sale and a lot of youtube videos. I emailed her about 2 horses and she sent me to a different web page to see the horses that are available. That really nice black mare was available and had a video - but the video was really short and weird

I have to be honest and say that I am not a huge fan of saddlebreds. I have ridden a couple and their gait seems to be less smooth than other gaited horses. I think it is because they have a more upright shoulder.

The lady with the MFT in SO IL called me yesterday- and talked my ear off - about everything but her horse. Not intentionally side stepping the horse thing but I think she is a talker by nature. Very very nice lady but I also don't think very horse savvy. When I asked her to please confirm that the horse was at least 15H she said I think so but I never really knew how to measure a horse. When I asked her if she could measure the horse she said no. Her husband had open heart surgery a few weeks ago and she is too busy taking care of him - but the funny thing is that the Dr's released him to go back to work 2 days a week for a few hours at a time. She really struck me as a Southern Belle who had been taken care of and who is taking care of her hubby. I did get some info on the horse(s) she owns but only in the stories she was telling me. This mare has been trail rode - she has owned her 3 or 4 years (she can't remember for sure) she is registered (but she can't remember her registered name) she did not ride her much last year but let a "little" girl from town ride her - and sometimes Dolly would go for the "little" (18yr old) girl and sometimes she wouldn't. Her son who is 5"11 or 5'12 (I kid you not this is what she said) has ridden Dolly and has no issues with her - she has ridden the 4-wheeler alongside when her son gets lonely riding by himself. I asked how her gait was and she said - I think its OK. Not up to date on Coggins or shots but has the paperwork from last years that she will give to me. She has not seen a farrier yet this year because she "doesn't bother with that in the winter when it is too cold to stand outside" and her farrier is Amish so she has to write him a letter and ask him to come out. She did say the folks that had her before rode her all over Shawnee and she did mention that she and her son have ridden all over because she does not like to ride in the same place a lot. She did not know how she would do in a 3 horse slant as they have a small stock trailer but said "if she gets in one trailer why wouldn't she get in another"

I think this mare is a diamond in the rough - had some good training and then this woman got a hold of her. I am not set on buying her - but am interested - this lady is very sweet and even dropped the price a little because "I sound like I can offer her a good home and that is what counts" If her feet check out and she is not pony sized I think we will bring her home. She has offered the name of the vet she uses and said she would tell him to let me have all of her records. I am driving 6 1/2 hours to go see her - there really are no gaited horses up here or they are all marked at $3-$4K and that is way out of my price range. I am already spending the money I was saving for new patio doors to buy my next horse. I just wasn't planning on a horse purchase this year.

Well - long ride to So IL and another weird day in my life. Hubby and I left at 6AM yesterday to go see the horse in So. IL. We get down there at 12:30 and as soon as I see the horse my stomach churns and I feel sick. On the way down I told hubby there were 2 things I was afraid of 1. A pony sized horse 2. Hooves that curled like elf shoes. And she was pretty much both! This mare is so obese that she is oddly shaped. Her hooves are so bad that her fetlocks were close to the ground. We got out of the truck and met the ladies son - all 5'1o of him! He was just so nice and proud of the job he had done cleaning her up and tacking her up. The first thing I did was had him pull her saddle. Mutton withered and rolls of fat! Then I got out my weight tape and measured her 14.1- 14.2 talk about not even close to 15H! I nearly cried. But the mare has the sweetest face and the boy wants to take me for a spin. Hubby urges me to go even though I don't want to ride her with her hooves like that. At hubbies urging I get on- mare stands like a rock - we start walking off with Jake (the boy) talking away. Not noticing his gelding is a little lame. I ask about where the used to ride what they did etc. he says he likes to lead so they taught the mare to ride behind - all the while I am urging her to walk beside him. A little tail swishing and head tossing but we are neck and neck and Jake says "Boy - I sure can tell you know what you are doing" I keep my legs on the mare and she is going great. We crossed a creek, walked along a fence with 2 neighbor horses galloping around and acting silly and along the back pasture that butts up again the interstate. Semis whizzing by and she does not blink an eye. We get to a boggy spot at the bottom of the pasture and down we go. She sunk in and her hooves were so long she could not break over and catch herself. I roll off to the side - she gets up - we are both covered in mud and are wet and she bit her tongue so it was bleeding. Jake darn near had a coronary! That little mare got up and stood there- no running back to the barn nothing. jake urges me to get back on but I opted to walk her. She deserved it. We get to the house (me huffing and puffing!) and talk to the ladies friend who came to oversee what was going on. I told her how concerned I was about the horses weight, that the height in the ad was incorrect and that her feet are in really really bad shape. She tells me the price is firm - hubby and I go to truck to discuss and I call the girl that checks my farrier work. We get out and take pics - send to Molly - her reply is - 6-12 months to bring those hooves to where they should be and grow a healthy frog. I have to admit I started crying. I was so disappointed - this was not the horse I was sent pics of or in the ad desc. Hubby says do you like her - I did but wanted a horse I could ride that day! Not a work in progress. He gets out and offers them $400 less than their asking price. Showed them the text from farrier told them we would have to invest in a lot of farrier work - horse needs shots and coggins. They call owner who then calls me and we talk- and I tell her my concerns she tells me price was already lowered for me and that she was firm on price. So we pass. We leave are on the interstate (about 20 min from her house) and she calls. Come back and get her for your price. So hubby makes illegal U turn. We get back to the house and the lady says her hubby told her as long as its a good home sell her. So we load up and prepare to leave and GET STUCK! in their yard - it was just mush- all the way up to the back axle. we tried everything unhooking trailer pushing, pulling out with the horse owners truck -not enough power. So horse owner goes to a neighbor with a tractor and we wait 40 min for him to show up. We hook trailer back up - load horse back in and off we go. Stopped down the road and wrapped her hooves with padding and vet wrap (at farriers request to alleviate her just standing on her fetlocks) and headed home. Got home at 10:40 last night - put her in her stall and went to bed. I must be a sucker for rescues. I have a pic on my cell phone and will upload later. She is in a dry lot by herself today and is as calm as can be. I think she is a diamond in the rough and hope she makes a great trail partner. I just never thought I would ride a horse as short as she is!

She definitely sounds like a diamond in the rough.  I'm sorry she was not what you were looking for, but bless you for taking her anyway!  When you described the "care" she was getting from the seller, I feared that she might be in bad shape, and obviously she was.  :-(  At least now she will get the proper care she needs, and who knows, you may just fall in love with her!  <3