Sinbad Leaves
Posted by Bill on May 11 2008 at 09:23 pm | Tagged as: General
Stupid horses. I get too attached to animals and I thought this day might come. Sinbad was a loaner horse and from the beginning I realized he wasn’t mine. In fact, I called him my backup horse since Moonshine is my main horse. Sinbad is old, reliable and super easy to ride. But by the time most of you read this, he’ll be gone. His owner had promised him to a girl who didn’t have a fenced pasture or run-in barn yet. She finally finished those projects and now it’s time for Sinbad to move there.
On the positive side, some girl is probably having trouble sleeping tonight in anticipation of her new horse. Perhaps he’ll be ridden more and will enjoy all the attention. And we’ll never get to see him die. But we’re really going to miss that old horse and we’re all feeling pretty sad today.
I took about a million pictures of him in the past few days. Most of these won’t mean anything to anyone except us but in case you’d like to see my little Sinbad retrospective, below is a small slideshow.
So now what, you might ask. Well, we’re on the lookout for another backup horse. One we would actually own so he/she doesn’t have to leave someday. There are some good candidates in the area. Time to make some phone calls, set up some appointments and test drives. Maybe a gaited horse would be a good idea since Valentine is gaited as well. And maybe a gelding this time, so I can avoid some of the mare-related problems we experience with Moonshine.
Have you ever had to give back a horse you got attached to? Please share your story. BTW, we always read every comment, even though we don’t always reply.
Thanks for sympathizing.
I’ve had to give back and give away horses. When we lived in Tucson for 6 mos. I was lucky enough to be able to lease with option to buy a horse for 4 mos. We rode all over our neighborhood trails, out in the desert, did gymkhanas and my first team penning. I thought I’d be able to buy her at the end, but the owner kept changing her mind on the price (kept raising it) to the point where I couldn’t afford the horse and the shipping cost to Denver ($800). I cried for weeks when we left Tucson. Then there’s the Marshmellow story, where the perfect horse turned out to be chronically lame at 9 yrs. old. I gave her away to a good home, ironically to a friend in Tucson. I sat her in stall and bawled for many days.
*Sniff* So as you can imagine, I can empathize with the heart wrenching you’re going through. Sorry you have to experience this.
I don’t know, he’s not my horse, but I’m so sad…..
He’s so beautiful. Such a gentle face and inquisitive eyes.
I’m sad for you. I do hope that the girl he’s going to will love him as he deserves to be. What a special guy.
I’ll keep positive thoughts that the perfect back-up (purchaseable) horse comes along soon.
I have to say, I did almost had to give my gelding back (I was leasing him.) I haven’t written the story of how he came to be mine yet (on my blog) as I still have one more story to share about the horse I had before my 16 year “hiatus” from horses. So tune in a future time! I am sorry you had to lose Sinbad. It is so easy to get attached to these guys. Good luck finding a replacement. A gaited horse sounds grand!
When I was sixteen, I was offered the chance to ride a friend’s dun mare. She taught me to ride. I rode her every morning before school for about a year. She was ornery, barn sour and probably not worth much, but when the friend sold her, I thought I was going to die (one always does at sixteen). I found my diary entry about it recently in the attic. That was 25 years ago, but I still remember the feeling of betrayal. You see, my friend never told me she was going to sell the horse… I just showed up at the barn one day and the horse was gone. Our friendship kind of fell apart after that. There were other years and other horses, but it was never the same. She was my equine version of first love, I guess.
Wow, thanks for sharing those stories you guys. Our experience doesn’t seem so unique after all.
[…] Ever since Sinbad left, we’ve been looking for a replacement horse. We needed one anyone could ride and this new horse would become my regular every day horse while I work with Moonshine. Over the course of the last month or so we’ve checked out a total of four candidates: 1) Snowball, a cremello Tennessee Walking Horse, 2) Misty, a spotted Tennesse Walking Horse, 3) Romeo, an Appaloosa and 4) Cash, a spotted Tennessee walking horse. Misty was eliminated early due to inexperience and Cash and Romeo quickly emerged as the front runners. After vet and farrier checks, short rides, long rides, pacing the floor and scratching our heads, we decided we’re ready to make a selection. […]