Pondering . . . .

The last time I bought a horse was at night. It was a black horse which I viewed standing in a dark corral. I paid the price to my friend Jean for Mrs. Black. I had no regrets. She was a registered Quarter Horse mare, who'd spent most of her life raising foals. That's what she did at my house. She produced two phenomenal horses, both stars among our family herds.

One is standing out there in our barn pasture eating his breakfast. He's blind but that doesn't matter to Rambo. He's also very smart, and he hasn't allowed his disability to get in the way too much. Occasionally, a barn wall or a fence post may get in the way, but Rambo's smart enough to avoid moving too fast. Thus, the bump on the nose when he encounters such obstacles is soon forgotten.

Rambo had a magnificent future as a show horse, and during what little time he spent in the show ring, he wowed audiences with his performances and his beauty. His showing career ended several years ago when another horse kicked him in the forearm, fracturing the bone and causing him to stand in a box stall for six weeks while it healed. My extra money for campaigning him at the time was pretty minimal, so he has spent the rest of his years as a pasture horse and my good friend.

Mrs. Black also produced Tellie, another gorgeous gray Half Arabian gelding. My sister Barbara owned Tellie, and she also owns scores of awards that he won over the years at shows across the region. That includes a Canadian Top Ten as a trail horse. He continued to win, win, win up through this summer when Barbara decided to retire him at age 20. Sadly, he's the one who died suddenly this fall.

Because of these two wonderful horses, I never once had any doubts about buying that black horse in that dark corral. I later sold her to my friend Carolyn. She actually came in the daylight to see Mrs. Black for the first time, and she liked what she saw for a potential broodmare of her own. Carolyn raised three more foals, I believe. They were purebred Quarter Horses and they fetched some pretty attractive prices. Mrs. Black passed on a few years ago.

As I think about Mrs. Black, I realize it's been more than 20 years since I bought a horse. Our Casey came to us free, compliments of my friend Judy Trenholm who was looking for a good home for a baby horse. He was two months old at the time, and he's never seemed to have any regrets about moving to the Love corrals.

So, this morning, I'm pondering the possibility of purchasing a new horse for the first time in two decades. I keep using that impulsive Mrs. Black purchase as one of my arguments for deciding whether or not to buy this horse, but it's not quite as easy. Mrs. Black's temporary home at Jean's was about five miles away. This horse lives in Oklahoma. So, I've got a little more to think about.

It's an Appaloosa yearling filly which has already won state futurity classes. Its bloodlines feature some of the big names in modern-day Appaloosa circles and some of the classics from the past. The owner, whom I just wrote about in my last story, tells me she may stretch to 16 hands, which is the size of Rambo. That means a mounting block, for sure, but I love sitting atop a tall horse once I get up there. She's a leopard Appaloosa with bay points.

I've approached this whole idea as "doing something silly, something outlandish." And, to analyze it closely, the whole concept seems crazy. Aren't there enough horses available in North Idaho? Why go that far out of your way just for a dumb horse? Horses are hayburners; they just keep costing and costing and costing. Facilities need to be improved if a horse that's been so pampered comes to stay. Spend that much money on a horse and what if something goes wrong? You would buy a horse sight unseen? What's with your brain?

Those are just a few of the arguments that keep floating through my mind as I ponder this situation, but there are several good reasons too. For one, I'd think of this as sort of a tribute to my dad whose name remains legendary in Appaloosa circles. My two horses are getting older. Because of Rambo's dependence on Casey, I can't do anything with one horse without the other one having to come along.

The price for a horse of this quality with such notable bloodlines is more than reasonable. Once she's trained, I could probably sell her in a couple of years for double the purchase price---if I wanted to, of course. After all these years of writing for the Appaloosa Journal, it would be fun to own a horse raised by a well-known and highly respected breeder from Oklahoma---bastion of both Quarter Horses and Appaloosas.

Fortunate for me, the owner is not the "hard-sell" type person. He's happy to keep her and keep on showing her. Plus, he's quite willing to take the time to send me more information. He's renowned for his integrity and the care that he puts into horses.

I have time to think, but I'm sure leaning toward those Oklahoma winds. Every time I consider the last horse I purchased which led to so many good times in the past and my present day-to-day love for that big blind horse, I feel a tug at my heart, suggesting that this new purchase wouldn't really be too crazy.

Time will tell my brain what to do.