Its official, she's on the books!

Rose had her bi-annual trip to the Vet for vaccinations this past Saturday. She was a super star about loading, and the trip was quick and painless for all involved. There was a recent strangles outbreak in the area, so I decided to have her vaccinated for that along with the usual rounds of flu/rhino, west nile, etc. We also pulled her coggins so that I can haul her into shows this summer (just for the experience, we won't be showing just yet), which brings me to the most exciting news. I have decided to preserve my health insurance premium rate and send Rose to a trainer for her first 30 (really 40ish) days! After talking with a couple of different trainers I decided to meet with one that a good friend of mine referred me too. Her daughter also trains with her, and they are very pleased with her personality and training methods, plus she has a ton of experience starting babies.

So, after the vet visit we dropped off Rose at home and drove out to the trainer's barn. After a bit of an interview and a tour of her facilities, we arranged to have Rose move to the trainer's barn on May 1st. This date is great for several reasons, and a little disappointing for a couple of others. First, I have to study solidly for my licensing exam for the next two months until June 8th. Having her at the trainer's full care facility will certainly relieve a lot of time and work that I currently must spend at the barn, although it will hurt the pocket book quite a bit and I'm bound to go through massive Rose withdrawals. Once I pass that exam though, it will be worth every dime and moment missed. Second, I am not a teenager anymore. I'm not even in my care-free twenties anymore. These days I need to be able to work to pay my bills, and I have enough of those without unnecessary extra medical bills. Thirdly, I've never started a horse and have no idea what I'm doing. I try to do as much research as possible, but when it comes down to sitting on her for the first time, and then the next month after that, I think it is best left to a professional or until I can become financially independent and work for a trainer again whom I can learn from. That being said, I am not a teenager anymore and I'm not financially independent. Aside from Rose, I'm not quite sure that I will ever try starting a horse again, so why risk getting seriously hurt? Finally, I want her to get started right. Once she's got the basics down, I can confidently take it from there, and I'm really excited about that phase in our partnership. The only disappointing part of the May 1st date is that there are two local shows (one jumper and one dressage) that I wanted to haul her too that weekend, but I don't want to put that much stress on her. Moving to a new barn will be stressful enough without being dragged to her first horse shows.

So, that was my exciting weekend in a nut-shell. Now that I've shook on the deal and know that she'll be under-saddle this time next month I simply cannot wait for May to come! The past six months have been a long rewarding learning experience and we are definitely both ready to take the next step.