We returned a few days later with the horse trailer and my parents, who had generously agreed to finance this endeavor. My parents tried halfheartedly to talk Len down from his asking price, but he held firm and they didn't argue. The red gelding loaded readily onto the trailer, despite the fact that it was so small for him that he could barely lift his head. I promised to let Len know before the month was up if I would be keeping the horse, and we were off. The red horse rode quietly to his new home.
Upon arrival, he unloaded just as quietly, then looked around excitedly at his surroundings. Before settling him in his new stall, I decided to turn him out in the sand ring (which was more like hard-packed stone dust) to give him a chance to get his fidgets out and also to assess him for any lameness.
I let him go and he took off, leaving all of us standing at the gate with our mouths open - he was a spectacular mover. First galloping back and forth, then trotting, flagging his tail and flinging his head in the air, he looked like he had springs in his legs. One of the riding lesson groups had gone for a trail ride, and he occasionally stopped and stared at the horses in the distance. Eventually he quieted, and I took him inside to settle into his new stall.
Before I left, the lesson group returned from their trail ride. One of the students was a middle-aged lady who rode the stable's school horses. She asked me what kind of horse I'd bought, and I told her he was a Thoroughbred. She said, "Oh, OK. We were watching him out there and I thought he was the biggest damn Arab I'd ever seen!"
That evening I returned to check on him and get on him for the first time. My mare and I had been together for six years at that point, and knew each other extremely well. I only had to think "canter" and she would go, and in jumpoffs she would whirl through the course like a spinning coin. I'd ridden a lot of different horses, with varying amounts of experience, but it had been a few years since I got on anything that came through the barn. I knew this horse was going to be very, very different from what I was used to.
As a precaution, I decided to longe him after I had tacked him up. I thought my saddle would be OK for him (knowing what I know now, and after years of trying to find saddles that clear his huge withers, it really didn't fit him at all). I didn't know if he'd ever been longed before, but he seemed to figure it out, although motivation was lacking. I was expecting running and bucking, and when it didn't happen I felt a little less apprehensive about getting on him.
I don't remember a lot of specifics about that first ride, only that he didn't try to kill me, he was REALLY unbalanced, and he really had no idea what I wanted. We were able to walk and trot fairly successfully, although his trot seemed to have two speeds: really fast and stop. When I asked him to canter, things got really interesting. The indoor arena at this particular farm was fairly long, but only about 50 feet wide, with stalls lining each long side making it feel even smaller. I had already learned at the trot that steering and balance had not yet been installed, so to give him as much room as possible I asked for canter right out of the corner onto the long side. By the time we actually got it, we were almost to the other end and he couldn't make the turn without falling over. So we actually got 1 or 2 strides in before falling back to trot.
Regardless, he seemed to be trying to do what I asked in his new surroundings - I doubt he'd ever been ridden indoors before. I went home feeling like we'd had a promising beginning.
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