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Back in 1990, a few friends and I had been trail riding at a rental stable in Virginia every Sunday morning for over a year. 
We had great fun, and usually went out to a local restaurant after riding. Of course, the topic of conversation at brunch was often horses, and after a year of riding, we started mulling over getting a horse of our own. One friend had recently come into a little money (not much, but enough to dream), and was willing to finance the initial purchase if the rest of us would take care of the vet, farrier and board bills. Well! Three of us decided to take the chance. I volunteered for the board bill. Below are Hap and Lisa, left to right, the two partners who shared the dream of at last owning a horse of our own.
The plan was for us to buy a horse that needed a little more training, which would be my responsibility. Hap was a capable rider, but hadn't done any training. Lisa was just starting out riding. It would be a learning experience for all of us.
I started out looking for a suitable horse. I read the ads every weekend in the Washington Post, and made many calls. I made over a dozen visits to check out some horses (many more were eliminated by phone). Sometimes Hap and Lisa accompanied me to look at a horse, and though we liked many of them, there was always some little thing to worry about. One pretty gray mare seemed to get into trouble a lot... didn't trailer well, and had had accidents in the starting gate twice. She also was a cribber. Another gray horse, a gelding, didn't pass his vet exam because of some real problems in his feet. He was also a cribber (though the owner said he was not, we actually saw him at it). A nifty little appendix Quarter Horse gelding was a good pick until the try out ride, during which he refused to move at all and then suddenly threw in such a buck I though I was going to become a lawn dart.
Then I went out to see a Thoroughbred mare off the track, who was a bit pricey for us but sounded nice.
On to Finding Her
What is this place? Sarah, registered as Bel Chance, is an ex-race horse who lucked into a job as pleasure horse and companion for the rest of her life. Sadly, many ex-race horses go to slaughter instead. May her life be an example to others of what a joy it can be to give an ex-race horse another chance. To visit an organization doing a world of good for these animals, go to ReRun, a Kentucky based farm that gives ex-racers another chance.
Meanwhile, Sarah is working on her own version of her story. Her secretary is a little slow, but we have Parts I and II up already (who knows how long she'll go on?). She wants it called In Her Own Words.
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