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I went out on my own the first time, way up near Berryville, Virginia near the West Virginia border. The woman who had her was a trainer of field hunters who had a lot of show experience as well. She had got this mare as recompense for some other deal gone bad. She'd had her over a year, and ridden her only about 10 times. The mare's feet were in bad shape -- all splayed out, no shoes (more about that later), and cracked. She had a wire wound that had just healed on her right fore pastern. Still has the scar.
Her name was Bel Chance, and her sire (Bel Iman) and dam (name forgotten) were both imported from France. They were steeplechasers, and Bel Chance's full sister was a winner over fences. Bel Chance herself had been in race training with Paul Fout, but turned out to be velocity challenged, and was never even gate trained. Her current owner kept intending to work with her, but had other horses to work and never got around to it much. I guess a little, plain bay horse doesn't stand up to those 17 hand hunters with lots of chrome... they bring a much better price.
The mare was bay with no white, 15.3 hands, compact, deep in the heart and straight in the legs. She moved nicely, had a lovely head, and wise old eyes.
She was five years old and hadn't had much done with her in her life. She seemed to me to be the perfect prospect. She was easy to ride, didn't know much but hadn't had a chance to learn many bad habits either. I had the vet come out and look her over, and x-ray her. She failed the flexion test in the front, but came out of it quickly. It's rare for any ex-race horse to pass a flexion test in front. Her x-rays showed a little ragged cartilege which could turn into ringbone, said the vet, but if not "taken out and pounded", she should hold up well. The vet thought she might do fine for what we were looking for. However, I used the failure of the flexion test and the ex-rays to bargain the price down a little. heh heh heh Time to get the partners out!
Finding Her, Part 2
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