Mindy wasn't quite what I was expecting. We were expecting to get an older horse that was well trained from someone who cared for their horses well and could give the girls confidence as they learned.
Mindy was what we call a 'repo'. Someone took her to a horse farm, paid for the rest of the month for her board and then never showed or paid again. So the owner of the horse facility took ownership.
Sadly, Mindy was placed in a back pasture with several other horses and never thought of again. Her feet weren't trimmed any time recently, she had sores on her sides and on her legs and under her mane, and she was not wormed. Her ribs were clearly showing and her hip bones stood out. It was by Providence that my hunt for a horse boarding facility led into a look at some of the horses they were trying to sell.
My husband and I talked about her at length. We didn't want to end up with a horse that we couldn't save. We also didn't want something the girls couldn't handle. But we knew that she was the worse off horse in that pasture and if we could only help one, we wanted to help her. Her sweet disposition in spite of her sad state of health kept coming back to mind and knowing my background in horses, I knew I could sort out any training issues so long as she had a good mind and was sound.
We did the responsible thing and had a vet check her first. He was impressed with her attitude and agreed that she would be suitable for light riding. He aged her at about 15 or 16. She did everything he asked her to do without complaint. She has arthritis in her front joints, but nothing serious.
So having agreed to give the lady $350.00 for this horse that needed significant care and food, we trucked her out of there and to her new home to the great delight of all three of my older girls.
And here we are... horse owners once more.
