My foray into first time horse ownership, part I

Every one of my horses has a story, but I will go into those of the individuals at a later date. Today's post is the first part about how an inexperienced but determined woman came to own her first horses/farm animals. I will add a disclaimer for any other newbies looking to purchase that first horse. I didn't go about it the most careful and thoughtful way, which would be to take lessons for awhile first, then lease a horse and board it before finally purchasing one. I could write an entire post on what I did wrong and what I would recommend, but in my case I got lucky and it worked out well.

In the summer of 2007, I was dating an Army man from a nearby small town. He was stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I don't plan on going into the details of our relationship, but he was a key player in this story, which is why I have mentioned him. We had been dating for nearly a year, and he knew I was horse crazy and itching to jump into the equestrian lifestyle. Since his "surrogate parents" owned horses and traveled around the country to ride, I think he had a pretty good grasp of the concept that it is a lifestyle not just a hobby.

I'm an afficionado of adopting from a rescue to help a horse find a much needed home, but I didn't have any idea that there were "bad" rescues and "good" rescues. I've learned a LOT about what a proper rescue should do for the horses in its care. I just wanted to give an unwanted horse a new chance, much as I had my first two dogs (in my life) that I adopted (yet another story). I researched horse rescues in the area and perused their websites, wondering if I would be able to take in one of those sad cases.

In the meantime, I told my boyfriend that I wanted to work on starting a small farm. I had (and still have) dreams of becoming self sufficient. I wanted to raise all of my own meat. Coming from a poultry background in college, I had a good idea what was involved in raising feathered livestock. I convinced my boyfriend that we should start some birds, and I ordered my first turkeys from an Iowa hatchery. It was an assortment of two different heritage breeds. I didn't have a place to brood them, so I made a small pen in my basement, thinking I would have something ready by the time they started to feather.

I also had an addiction to Craigslist, and I loved looking over the farm and garden section to find stuff for my acreage. I found an ad posted by a family moving to Texas who were trying to find a new home for their "petting zoo." I have no idea why I thought it was a good idea (I usually try to be rational), but I wanted those critters! They were selling a miniature gelding, a miniature john donkey, two pot belly pig sows, a Nigerian Dwarf goat, a Pekin duck, and an "Easter Egger" hen (Americauna chicken). I didn't really want the pigs and had no idea what I would do with everything, but I was excited to have a ready made farm. My boyfriend reluctantly agreed, thinking that it would put an end to my constant discussion about purchasing a horse.

So I had my very first equines, the miniature gelding named Chester...

...and the cute miniature spotted donkey, Eddie.

They were named by the couples's little girls, and I didn't change their names. I was told that Chester was five and Eddie was two. They were both very friendly, although Eddie could be a little reserved. They were certainly best buddies.

The rest of my ready-made farm included Molly the goat...

...her shadow, the Pekin drake (I never did name him, although Quimby thought his name was "Goat")...

...and the two pot bellies, Abby (white) and Lucy (black).

Abby was a friendly girl, but Lucy wanted nothing to do with anyone. She was the wild child.

In a previous post, I already mentioned the animals I currently own. The only one remaining of the original crew is Molly. More details will be fleshed out over time. Meanwhile, stay tuned for the next part of the story.