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Three Inches: When the Goal Costs More Than You’ve Got · Two Point Perspective

• 0:00
  60, that's how many were in my division.
• 0:03
  At one show in Ocala, the low adults, 50 and over, there were 60.
• 0:10
  Meanwhile, some of my barn mates were in the adult amateurs and their 50 and over section had maybe 7, maybe 10, I don't know.
• 0:21
  But I was so jealous.
• 0:24
  I finally have moved up and guess what?
• 0:27
  At one of my last shows there were 27 in the 50 and over adult amateurs.
• 0:34
  27.
• 0:36
  So I made a TikTok and I said, well, maybe we need another age split.
• 0:41
  How about 50 to 65 and 65 and over.
• 0:47
  Of course, I may have a personal interest in that, but somebody in the comments said there's a proposal for 2, 9 division, one for the children's and one for the adult amateurs.
• 1:00
  So I looked it up and yes, there are a crazy number of rule changes being proposed right now, but one of them gets rid of the age brackets altogether.
• 1:11
  They will just take every adult amateur at the show and split them evenly into three sections.
• 1:19
  So I might not be showing against 50 somethings, I might be showing against 40 year olds.
• 1:26
  Luckily people aren't loving it.
• 1:28
  One person said small older adult sections aren't a bug, they're a feature.
• 1:34
  Tell that to the 27 of us.
• 1:37
  But it's the two nine one that I keep thinking about because three inches doesn't sound like much, but three inches can change the horse that you need, what that horse costs and whether the goal that you've got still
• 1:52
  fits the life that you've got.
• 1:55
  This is two point perspective.
• 1:57
  Two riders with different viewpoints from different generations talking about the same Sport.
• 2:05
  So Reynolds, 2 9, yes or no?
• 2:09
  I actually think a 29 division makes a lot of sense.
• 2:11
  Why?
• 2:12
  Well, because there's a lot of really nice horses that are 29 horses.
• 2:15
  Not 3 foot or 3 3, but a 26 or a 29 horse.
• 2:19
  And they're great at it.
• 2:21
  Yeah, you can have an extremely fancy horse that just isn't a three foot horse.
• 2:26
  I guess it can win the hack, it wins over fences, it's safe experience, beautiful, all the things.
• 2:33
  It's clearly doing its job.
• 2:35
  If that's your job too, that might be exactly the horse that you do need.
• 2:40
  Well, I think that a lot of people mix up quite a bit quality and scope because they're not the same thing.
• 2:47
  No.
• 2:47
  And a horse can be really, really good, but still have a limit for one rider.
• 2:52
  That limit might not matter at all, but it's just appropriate.
• 2:56
  But for another, it changes everything.
• 2:58
  I have this friend from Atlanta, I've known her since we were teenagers.
• 3:04
  I hate to say it, but she is my age and this summer, not.
• 3:08
  A day of, not a day over 25.
• 3:11
  That's correct.
• 3:12
  And this summer she told me that before she ends her riding career, she was determined to get Back to the 3 6amateur owners at least one more time.
• 3:25
  Oh my God, I love that.
• 3:26
  So she bought a horse in Europe.
• 3:28
  She's the one I told you about that.
• 3:30
  She loves to buy horses in Europe.
• 3:32
  They go like every fall and then kind of like oopsie came home with another.
• 3:37
  And this horse is really, really nice.
• 3:41
  But it's, it turned out that it's really probably a better three foot horse.
• 3:46
  Very fancy, great mover, but a better three, three foot horse.
• 3:50
  Not what she was looking for.
• 3:52
  So what did she end up doing with that one?
• 3:54
  She sold it and actually it wound up with somebody in my barn who is most likely only going to do the three foot and kind of works out great because her daughter's on a pony right now, so that
• 4:06
  would be her next move up.
• 4:08
  So it really was a, a perfect fit.
• 4:11
  But then my friend imported, since she was able to sell one, she imported another.
• 4:17
  And so she imported a jumper that had been doing probably the 140s or something.
• 4:24
  Huge, lot more scope.
• 4:26
  So now she is actually doing the 3 6amateur owners.
• 4:31
  I've seen a couple of her posts and I'm just like, yes, that is so cool.
• 4:37
  That is so cool.
• 4:39
  So really there was, there was nothing wrong with that for a source.
• 4:42
  It's just it wasn't the horse that she needed.
• 4:46
  Right?
• 4:46
  There was nothing wrong with it.
• 4:47
  I mean, it's beautiful, fancy, but it just wasn't the horse for her goal anymore.
• 4:52
  Well, and that's, that's the hard part though, because we get attached to the idea that a good horse should be able to become whatever we need next.
• 5:01
  And that's.
• 5:02
  And sometimes it is a great horse, but it's just for somebody else's next horse.
• 5:07
  And what you need from a horse can change.
• 5:10
  And not because of your age.
• 5:12
  I mean, for example, you're 33, but your life, I'm sure, looks a lot different than now than when you bought Loki, for heaven's sakes.
• 5:22
  I mean, you have a daughter that's almost two and you certainly have been through plenty this year.
• 5:28
  So I want to ask you, has that changed what you want for, from a horse?
• 5:34
  Do you think that you're more careful now or is it the other way around?
• 5:39
  You're just done saying someday, someday.
• 5:42
  Well, I think for, for me I don't think it changes from what I would want in a horse I like.
• 5:51
  Loki's a.
• 5:52
  He's a fancy horse, but he's not the fanciest horse.
• 5:55
  I mean, he moves well, but he's not the hack winner.
• 5:57
  He also is a funny hacker.
• 5:59
  So on some days he hacks great and some days he acts like an orangutan.
• 6:02
  So you hit or miss on that.
• 6:03
  But if I were to go and buy another horse I like, one that has a lot of scope, that is a quality that I appreciate.
• 6:11
  And for me, I think it's not so much that it's like, okay, someday, but I'm also learning a little bit to live in where I am.
• 6:20
  So, like, like you were saying, like, I have a daughter that's almost two.
• 6:23
  So my life has been like, in the last two years raising a child.
• 6:27
  Granted, I wanted to be showing more, not at nearly the level I was when I first got Loki in terms of, like, can, like, how often and campaigning and that kind of thing.
• 6:38
  But obviously breast cancer got in the way of that.
• 6:41
  And so it's just sort of like, you know, when the.
• 6:44
  When the stars align for that to all come to fruition again.
• 6:47
  It will, but I don't think that at Loki's age, probably he's gonna go back to doing the amateur nurse.
• 6:53
  I could.
• 6:55
  That could change, but it would really just depend on sort of where the two of us met, coming back to doing our normal routine.
• 7:02
  Yeah, well, I guess because you had a few.
• 7:05
  Starting to have some issues with him even before you finished.
• 7:10
  Meaning, you know, just wear and tear.
• 7:13
  Normal because of his age.
• 7:15
  And then you had to kind of go a little bit backwards.
• 7:19
  Didn't you have to do something?
• 7:21
  Didn't you have to go back to, like, the three foot for a few minutes and then you came back.
• 7:27
  Yeah, I just did that simply because I hadn't shown.
• 7:30
  He has.
• 7:31
  I mean, he's older, so he has some arthritis.
• 7:33
  Older.
• 7:33
  I mean, he's.
• 7:34
  Right.
• 7:34
  16.
• 7:35
  He's not.
• 7:35
  He's not that old.
• 7:37
  He just had some arthritis.
• 7:38
  And so I felt like it was really unfair for, like, how long it took us to go through that whole.
• 7:43
  I mean, well, you were there for half of it, but that, like, figuring out what was bothering him because it was so intermittent that it seemed extremely unfair to go back to showing and then being like, okay, go
• 7:55
  directly back into the three.
• 7:56
  Three.
• 7:57
  I mean, he's fine.
• 7:57
  It was more of a me thing, I think.
• 8:00
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:01
  Just like my mentals.
• 8:03
  For me, I Would love to be able.
• 8:06
  I.
• 8:07
  I want to be my friend, and I want to do the amateur owners again.
• 8:12
  Once upon a time, I'd like to.
• 8:15
  Even if I just did the 3 3, that would be fine.
• 8:18
  But if I had the option of doing the 3 6.
• 8:21
  But, you know, honestly, will I get there?
• 8:24
  I don't know.
• 8:25
  We'll see.
• 8:26
  But when I bought Seline, I really wanted to have that option because it might be something that I want to do.
• 8:32
  I mean, luckily for me, I know she has the scope, probably more than I need right now.
• 8:38
  And again, maybe more than I'll ever need.
• 8:40
  Yeah.
• 8:41
  But that's one way to do it.
• 8:42
  You bought a horse that, if your goal moves, you have the horse that has the ability to do that and.
• 8:48
  And to.
• 8:48
  To move up with you.
• 8:50
  And I think, you know, there's something to be said too, if you think about it, some horses that are really, really scopey are a lot of horse otherwise, too.
• 8:59
  Like Loki's a lot of horse.
• 9:02
  And that can be harder.
• 9:05
  Yes, it's annoyingly so, but it's worth it, right?
• 9:10
  At the same time, if you can find the horse that can go around easy and be everything that you want.
• 9:17
  Right.
• 9:17
  Because she's a little green, but she's such a good horse.
• 9:20
  Right.
• 9:21
  So she can go and she can do the three foot, and then if that's what she does, great.
• 9:24
  But she also has the scope and is fancy enough that if you.
• 9:27
  If you guys decide we're meshing, let's do it.
• 9:29
  Let's do the three.
• 9:29
  Three you can.
• 9:30
  I love that.
• 9:31
  And I didn't want to get two years down the road and then decide, oh, I'd like to move up.
• 9:36
  But then you find out that the horse is the thing that's stopping you.
• 9:41
  I think I've already done that a few times.
• 9:44
  Well, and I think with the amateur owners, there's no shortcut.
• 9:47
  You can't lease a horse and go show in the division.
• 9:51
  If you want to do it, you have to own the horse.
• 9:52
  I mean, that's kind of the whole thing, right?
• 9:54
  That's what the amateur owners are for.
• 9:56
  So for me, it was never buy or lease.
• 10:00
  It was, how much do I buy?
• 10:02
  And do I want to buy it twice?
• 10:05
  Can I ask you something, though?
• 10:06
  Sure.
• 10:07
  What if you get there and the 33 turns out to be plenty?
• 10:12
  What if you feel like you overbought?
• 10:14
  I guess you could say I did, but, you know, I bought more than I needed, especially given what prices are like these days in order to get all the things a horse that's a decent mover.
• 10:25
  I'm not going to say she's the hack winner, but I think she moves well enough.
• 10:31
  Oh, yeah.
• 10:32
  It's a pretty picture.
• 10:33
  And I know, I mean, I bought her doing the three three and I think she's done more.
• 10:39
  So, yeah, I got what I paid for, but, you know, maybe it is more than I needed to buy.
• 10:49
  I'm not sure I'm.
• 10:50
  I'm thrilled with what I got and I just hope that I haven't made a mistake and that I can manage to grow with it.
• 10:59
  She wasn't so green that you didn't know what you were going to get.
• 11:04
  You could kind of see.
• 11:05
  Yes, there were things I could.
• 11:08
  She jumped better, of course.
• 11:09
  Could you do things, you know, could you get your lead change better?
• 11:16
  Yes.
• 11:16
  I mean, there are still things to work on, but the parts and the pieces sure look like they were there.
• 11:22
  I totally agree with you.
• 11:23
  I thought out of all those horses that you tried, she was.
• 11:26
  She was really beautiful.
• 11:27
  And the two of you together looked so good.
• 11:31
  Yeah.
• 11:31
  So to answer the question, no, I don't know that I necessarily overbought.
• 11:39
  I think I got what I paid for.
• 11:42
  I think there's riders on the other end, they've been doing the 26 or.
• 11:46
  And maybe the goal is, you know, let's move up to the 29 and for them that's enough because that's their goal.
• 11:52
  So paying for a three, three horse that's got the scope you're never going to use probably isn't the best use of your money, but in your case, it's okay.
• 12:00
  I have a solid three foot horse.
• 12:03
  I know that.
• 12:03
  And if I decide to move up, I have that option, which makes a whole lot of sense to me.
• 12:07
  Right.
• 12:08
  So I guess what we're talking about is there are three riders with three different answers and none of them is wrong.
• 12:16
  Yeah.
• 12:17
  Because the goal drives the decision.
• 12:20
  You did it though a totally different way with Loki.
• 12:23
  I did, Yeah.
• 12:24
  I knew the quality that I wanted, I knew the scope that I wanted, but the finished version of that horse, not in my budget.
• 12:31
  And.
• 12:32
  And I knew that going into it, so we decided to import and we did it off of a video.
• 12:36
  And I mean, there.
• 12:37
  And I tried.
• 12:38
  I tried a lot of horses that were very green that maybe needed a career change, like over here in the States, tons of them.
• 12:44
  And it just, it wasn't the quality of.
• 12:47
  I mean, they were nice horses.
• 12:49
  That's not what I'm saying.
• 12:50
  But it wasn't the quality that I.
• 12:52
  I wanted, I had the ability to, for lack of a better word or phrase, is buy the horse I had always dreamed of.
• 13:00
  And we were going to have to get crafty about how we did it, so.
• 13:03
  So you bought it off of a video?
• 13:06
  Off of a video.
• 13:07
  And we traded money for uncertainty and more.
• 13:12
  More horse for the money and.
• 13:14
  But also a lot more work.
• 13:15
  I took a.
• 13:18
  A more complicated route to get the horse that I wanted.
• 13:23
  In terms of quality.
• 13:24
  Loki is not a simple horse to ride.
• 13:27
  He's got some pretty interesting opinions about things, but he is also, you know, I have asked him to do very amateur things and take off from Texas and bury him underneath of things.
• 13:40
  And that horse would jump through a ring of fire for me.
• 13:43
  I know that he would.
• 13:44
  And so I deal with his antics and his stubbornness and frankly, his asshole ness and, you know, and I.
• 13:53
  And I get to ride the horse that I always wanted, that jumps phenomenally and has taken me to places and venues I dreamed about as.
• 13:59
  As a teenager.
• 14:01
  Well, I've ridden Loki.
• 14:02
  I read him for you when you were pregnant, and he is not an easy horse.
• 14:07
  Honestly, if I'd been the one trying him or he'd been one of the ones that I tried, I probably would have said, not my ride.
• 14:16
  Yeah, well, he became.
• 14:17
  He became my ride.
• 14:19
  He did.
• 14:20
  You know, some horses fit you the minute you get on, and some you grow into, but if it's the second kind, like, in my situation, you need the time and you need help, and.
• 14:29
  And I was good with that because I.
• 14:32
  I first time I got on him after he had been imported, I was, like, trying to make like a.
• 14:36
  Like a circle at the end of the ring, like in a big one, not a.
• 14:40
  Not a small one, a big one.
• 14:41
  And I was using my hands to steer along with my leg.
• 14:46
  And so I started pulling the right rein to make our right circle, and his head turned and he just kept going straight.
• 14:53
  And I was like, what is happening?
• 14:56
  And then, I mean, I could.
• 14:57
  I could talk about this for hours, but I.
• 14:59
  I very much so questioned my ability to ride horses when I got him, because I was like, okay, so I've got the nicest quality horse I've ever sat on in my life, and I cannot ride to save my
• 15:08
  life.
• 15:09
  Well, I do think that that's what gets lost when people think that importing is cheaper.
• 15:15
  Yeah, right.
• 15:16
  Yeah.
• 15:16
  The purchase price might be cheaper.
• 15:18
  The finished horse.
• 15:19
  Not necessarily.
• 15:20
  A lot of those horses were jumpers, and they were taught to go forward, be efficient, get to the other side of the fence.
• 15:26
  And then they get here and they, you know, we want to slow them down and soften and.
• 15:31
  And go around like they've been hunters their whole lives.
• 15:33
  And I think in some.
• 15:34
  Some scenarios do.
• 15:37
  Yeah.
• 15:37
  And some of them do.
• 15:38
  They come right off there and they're like, wow, this is, you know, this is easy life.
• 15:41
  Loki, according to the people that we got him from, didn't have enough blood to do.
• 15:47
  He was doing like the meter 20 or meter 30.
• 15:50
  I don't know.
• 15:51
  He was big jumps.
• 15:52
  And they said he didn't have enough blood.
• 15:55
  And I'm like, okay, I've got a lot of questions about that comment.
• 15:58
  Because what he's like, I think part of it is like, you just.
• 16:04
  Oh, my God.
• 16:05
  Victoria and I used to talk about.
• 16:06
  It was like before he would take off in front of a jump, it was like hitting a.
• 16:09
  Like a.
• 16:11
  The thing that they used to get the gymnasts on, the vaulting thing where they'd hit the springboard and then they springboard.
• 16:17
  You know what I mean?
• 16:18
  Yeah.
• 16:18
  I'm like, that's.
• 16:19
  Yeah, you feel like you're freaking on a pogo stick.
• 16:21
  So knowing all that, would you do it again?
• 16:24
  And I don't mean, do you regret Loki?
• 16:27
  I mean, same money, same goal today.
• 16:31
  Would you make the same call?
• 16:33
  Oh, yeah, a hundred percent.
• 16:34
  Yeah, it definitely would.
• 16:35
  I know I've talked about this before on the podcast, but I really trust Victoria and I really trust Chris, and I think that they both have really good connections and very, very good eyes for horses and particular jobs.
• 16:48
  And so, like, I can't say that I would go and do that totally on my own.
• 16:51
  I would get their help 100%.
• 16:53
  I think for me, I love the process of it.
• 16:56
  I think you can you even feel the same way.
• 16:59
  I think you're being taught the things that your trainer is trying to train your horse, but you're being taught how to do those things too.
• 17:06
  And I think that you learn so much by that.
• 17:09
  And I have just never been one to not not be so hands on and not be a part of the process.
• 17:14
  Right.
• 17:15
  And so I guess that's really more.
• 17:17
  My question is, is, would you do it again?
• 17:19
  Like buying something that has never done what you want it to do, but it has the potential, but you're going to have to do a lot of work.
• 17:27
  Would you rather buy something that you might find that was a little further in the direction that you wanted it to be?
• 17:36
  I'm not saying that I wouldn't.
• 17:37
  I Think, I think if that was like the way that the horse that we were looking at, let's say overseas or on a video, just like had a little bit more of that, you know, was a little bit
• 17:47
  further along in terms of its mentality, you know, or mind or body or whatever, towards the hunter.
• 17:53
  Geared towards the hunter.
• 17:54
  Sure, sure.
• 17:55
  I would, I would consider that for sure.
• 17:57
  I mean, one of my main questions when we bought Loki was did anybody think I was going to be able to ride?
• 18:02
  Because he, you could tell he was a lot of horse in the video.
• 18:05
  That was not a shock to me.
• 18:07
  And there was another horse that we were considering depending on if Loki worked out or not.
• 18:12
  I think probably had a little bit more of the mindset that you're talking about, like a little further along might have been, might have eased into this transition a little bit better.
• 18:22
  But I think I would, I think I would take the whole process.
• 18:24
  I loved, I loved it.
• 18:26
  Honestly, there was a lot about myself.
• 18:28
  I guess it's just in the time of your life, like right now, are you willing to take all of that time that it took and all the energy and the back and forth?
• 18:43
  Do you have that?
• 18:44
  Can you see yourself doing all that all over again?
• 18:47
  Yeah, yeah.
• 18:48
  I think for me and the horses and the showing is I'm highly competitive.
• 18:53
  So I, you know, if I could live at a horse show every day of the week, I would.
• 18:57
  But I also am realistic about am I going to be able to get to a horse show that often?
• 19:03
  No, but I think that there's seasons for stuff and like, okay, I'm having babies right now and try not to die.
• 19:14
  Good idea, Reynolds.
• 19:16
  Yeah.
• 19:16
  So.
• 19:17
  So there might come a time where I go, you know what?
• 19:22
  I think I've done this enough times.
• 19:24
  Where can somebody find me the horse.
• 19:26
  That I can just not get on?
• 19:29
  Yeah, get on and not think about a ton.
• 19:31
  But I'm kind of, I'm a little hard headed that I like a challenge and I like to be a part of the process.
• 19:37
  And that part where it's not the same thing every time you get on, that can get boring.
• 19:45
  Sure can.
• 19:47
  But also I like to win.
• 19:48
  You know, I'm a normal, I'm a normal competitive person.
• 19:50
  Here.
• 19:51
  Let's, let's talk about leasing because honestly, that was not really a part of the world that I grew up in.
• 19:58
  Yeah, same.
• 19:59
  You rode, you rode lesson horses or you bought one?
• 20:02
  I mean, my, my first horse came from some horse dealer.
• 20:08
  I'll never forget that I picked out a horse.
• 20:11
  It was A strawberry round.
• 20:13
  And I went home and I was so excited about this horse.
• 20:17
  My mother had surprised me for my birthday and all she would say is, are you sure you want that horse?
• 20:22
  And I was like, yeah, of course I do.
• 20:24
  I was so excited.
• 20:26
  And she goes, elizabeth.
• 20:27
  And she tried to show me.
• 20:29
  Now my mother doesn't ride horses.
• 20:31
  She doesn't know anything about horses.
• 20:33
  But she noticed that the horse was so cow hocked, it was like its elbows went together in the back and his feet went left and right.
• 20:42
  And so I had to pick it.
• 20:43
  I had to pick a different one.
• 20:44
  Well, needless to say, thank God for.
• 20:46
  Party Patty on that one.
• 20:48
  She was like, Elizabeth, like, I know you're excited about getting a horse, but I'm not sure those four legs are going to get you very far.
• 20:54
  That's right.
• 20:55
  So I went back and there was a beautiful black one.
• 20:58
  So he went home with me.
• 21:00
  But it was really clear, really fast that that horse was not going to get me where I wanted to go.
• 21:07
  But I bought what I could afford at the time and then we upped the game a little bit and, and I did buy one that was half starved.
• 21:17
  I had no idea that he was going to turn into a hot headed crazy jumper thing.
• 21:22
  But he was from a very well known trainer and it was, it was.
• 21:28
  Yeah, he used to leave him out in the field all day and then bring him in the.
• 21:33
  When people were coming to look at him, they would bring him in the stall to feed him a little bit.
• 21:37
  So he bucked everybody off.
• 21:39
  So needless to say, by the time I came along.
• 21:41
  Here, you can have him.
• 21:43
  Yeah, they were.
• 21:45
  Yeah, bye bye.
• 21:46
  Yeah, get on.
• 21:47
  Yeah, exactly.
• 21:48
  But nobody I knew ever leased a horse.
• 21:51
  That was crazy.
• 21:52
  There wasn't, there was never this ladder where you take lessons and then maybe do a half lease to or a full lease and then maybe you buy a horse.
• 22:03
  Yeah, I'm sure that that was occurring when I was growing up, but it's not, it's not the latter that we did either.
• 22:09
  I grew up owning my horses.
• 22:11
  My aunt bred my first horse, then gave her to me.
• 22:15
  I mean that's how I ended up with my, my grandmother.
• 22:18
  Bought our first pony for the grandkids.
• 22:21
  It was mine.
• 22:23
  Okay, let's come on.
• 22:25
  And then my, you know, that was my like literally the pony that you learn how to like walk, trot on.
• 22:32
  Solid little citizen.
• 22:33
  But like wasn't a.
• 22:34
  I mean I went to like little shows with her, but she wasn't a show pony.
• 22:37
  And then they were like Here, here's your horse.
• 22:39
  Hope your, your leg goes past the saddle.
• 22:41
  It didn't.
• 22:42
  Well, that's a pretty good way to start though.
• 22:44
  I am never a huge proponent of green horse, green rider.
• 22:49
  I think that that can get a little dicey depending on the, the horse I guess or the pony.
• 22:56
  But that's, that's what happened with me.
• 22:58
  And I was better for it.
• 23:00
  I mean but she, she was an amazing horse.
• 23:02
  I will say though, she could jump the three foot and she could do it like.
• 23:07
  But she was short strided, she was a little horse.
• 23:10
  She was 15 one, she was tiny.
• 23:12
  So asking her to continuously jump three foot and get down the lines, that was a lot of wear on her.
• 23:20
  And I did VHSA stuff on her like some local shows and then she would go to finals and things like that.
• 23:27
  But that was the most that she did.
• 23:28
  The rated shows, the lines are set to, you know, the full step and that was just, that wasn't fair to her.
• 23:34
  So anyways we, we ended up leasing her out because we were never going to sell her.
• 23:38
  And she got to do the short stir up and the pre children's and that kind of thing with this little girl and she went to every rated show up and down the east coast and in North Carolina and
• 23:48
  won everything.
• 23:49
  And that's kind of ties into like I took her to her max point and knew okay, that's she's max, this is it, she needs a step down job.
• 23:58
  And she was Chef's Kiss won everything.
• 24:01
  But what's so interesting is neither of us actually grew up with leasing as a thing but now you're saying that she was least so it seems like.
• 24:15
  Yeah, I mean it's, it's got its, it's got its own market for sure.
• 24:19
  And it, we were lucky because I needed a new horse but my mom wasn't going to board two horses and then I had done all the things that I could do with her.
• 24:30
  You know what I mean?
• 24:31
  Right.
• 24:32
  So yeah.
• 24:33
  So people do it though for completely different reasons like you said.
• 24:38
  Yeah, some people do it you know least to, to test the goal, see if that's something they want to do or have a horse that can sort of get them comfortable before they go and they purchase one that
• 24:49
  they can help bring along.
• 24:50
  And in this case for this girl, she was I think believe moving off of ponies.
• 24:56
  So this was a great horse step for her because she was a small horse, you know, she wasn't massive and she was a good girl.
• 25:03
  She did all the things she needed to do and she could get comfortable moving into a new division.
• 25:07
  And it's in our case, you think you want to move up to the 3 foot adults Lisa horse that's already doing it.
• 25:11
  And so it's the next steps for some after a lesson horse and you want to ride more than your lesson times.
• 25:18
  Some do it because it's the only way that they can afford the horse that they want.
• 25:22
  Right.
• 25:23
  Ultimately everybody's like, oh wow, horses are really expensive.
• 25:26
  And it's, it's, it's a good reminder that purchasing the horse or leasing the horse is usually the, the cheapest portion of the entire adventure.
• 25:35
  Some people just don't have six days a week to ride.
• 25:39
  And a half lit a half lease would, would fit the life that they actually have.
• 25:42
  You know, it allows you to enjoy your hobby but not commit fully to it.
• 25:48
  And parents do it all the time.
• 25:50
  With ponies.
• 25:51
  Everybody knows the kid's going to outgrow the pony.
• 25:54
  And so nobody's pretending that buying a small pony is a ten year plan.
• 25:59
  Oh yeah.
• 26:00
  I mean it's the same thing with junior horses.
• 26:02
  Kids got two or three years before college and wants to do the junior hunters.
• 26:07
  And everybody already knows that after high school, that's it.
• 26:09
  Yeah, we just had a kid in the barn who graduated from high school and was going to Furman University in September and it was kind of sad because she left like in the middle of August and all of
• 26:19
  a sudden it was like by and the horse was still there until another couple of weeks and but she wasn't going to go on to college riding.
• 26:29
  And so I don't think that it's not leasing because you're unsure.
• 26:33
  It's just that's not what you're going to do.
• 26:36
  Yeah, you know exactly what the goal is and it just happens to have an end date.
• 26:40
  So buy or lease isn't really one question.
• 26:45
  No, I don't think so.
• 26:45
  First you got to know, you know what problem you're solving and sometimes you.
• 26:50
  Don't want necessarily all the potential.
• 26:54
  You want certainty.
• 26:56
  So an older horse that already does exactly the job, it might not be able to move up another division, but you really just don't care.
• 27:06
  It's doing what it's supposed to be doing and it's doing it well for sure.
• 27:10
  And I don't want our whole conversation to get confused.
• 27:14
  The horse that we're describing, that's still not a cheap horse.
• 27:18
  No, it's not.
• 27:18
  Yeah.
• 27:19
  Safe and fancy and proven has its own price tag that is not usually cheap.
• 27:27
  And you're not paying for where it could go, but you are paying for the certainty of the horse knowing the job that it is currently doing.
• 27:35
  So here's the hardest part.
• 27:37
  We all know that horses are expensive.
• 27:39
  So the real question is what happens when the goal you pictured cost more than you've got?
• 27:47
  Well, I can share my story about Kelso because this, I, this was the scenario I was in with him.
• 27:52
  Yeah.
• 27:53
  So I guess I'd start with what part of it can, can, can you not give up?
• 27:57
  You know, is it, is it the height, is it being competitive?
• 28:00
  Is it owning the horse?
• 28:02
  Is it showing on a certain circuit or in certain classes?
• 28:06
  And because those are all four different things.
• 28:08
  And for me, when I was done with my mare, it was time for me to have a move up horse and we went ahead and we bought something.
• 28:16
  And he was a bit green, he was a solid citizen, but he was a bit green.
• 28:20
  So he still needed some miles.
• 28:21
  But he wasn't difficult.
• 28:22
  He had hardly changes.
• 28:23
  That was, we knew that we were buying a horse without a lead change.
• 28:27
  So he probably in his prime had the ability or had the scope to do the 3 3, but the 33 was not a division option.
• 28:36
  When I was a junior, right.
• 28:38
  I think the year or the year after I aged out, the three three juniors became a thing.
• 28:42
  So for us we dabbled in the rated shows at the, at the three foot with him.
• 28:46
  And he jumped part phenomenally.
• 28:48
  He, he always had, but he did have a, he had a tough change and when he'd get his changes, he was super competitive.
• 28:53
  But eventually when I was, I wrote him all through college, I just kept going with him and then started doing the adults on him.
• 29:00
  And I still was like, you know, but he's a thoroughbred.
• 29:03
  And so he would get attention because he was pretty and he was flashy and he jumped a nice jump.
• 29:08
  But you knew he was a thoroughbred, especially in a giant class full of warmbloods.
• 29:13
  And at that point we had to make that decision.
• 29:15
  What happens when the goal that you have costs more than what you've got?
• 29:18
  Well, I was ready to move up to doing the 33 and needed a horse that I wanted to be slightly more competitive with.
• 29:26
  And we had to decide how would we make that happen.
• 29:29
  Because buying 150,000, $175,000 plus back then horse was not in our budget.
• 29:35
  It was never going to be in our budget.
• 29:37
  Well, actually the same thing happened to me.
• 29:39
  I was riding a thoroughbred and I was determined to because that's what I grew up riding, I didn't know any better.
• 29:46
  A little different than at least got exposed to it.
• 29:50
  And Kelso was competitive, but I didn't know.
• 29:54
  And I came back and I was like, okay, I'm doing the amateur owner.
• 29:57
  So I was.
• 29:58
  And then my trainer said, you know, if you want to be competitive, you might need to think about a warmblood.
• 30:05
  But here or there, I'm just saying I had a goal.
• 30:08
  I knew that I wanted to be competitive, but I truly couldn't afford the kind of horse I needed to be competitive.
• 30:17
  So if you can't afford the horse that, that you really want, maybe you have to think about doing a different division.
• 30:27
  If, if, if it's being competitive, if you want to be competitive, like you said you wanted to ride Kelso, you had Kelso, but he couldn't do the 3 3.
• 30:39
  So you had to pay, couldn't he?
• 30:41
  Well, he couldn't do the 3 6.
• 30:43
  Right.
• 30:43
  I'm sorry, the 3 6.
• 30:45
  So that's quite a bigger difference.
• 30:47
  So for him to be, for you to continue your goal of being competitive and showing where you wanted to show, you had to do a different division than the one that you actually wanted to do.
• 31:00
  And if it, and if it, if it's about the height, then maybe in order to afford it, you just show fewer times at the height you want.
• 31:12
  Right.
• 31:13
  Or if owning isn't.
• 31:15
  Doesn't matter to you, maybe something that was more short term that you could just lease and say, I'm going to make my goals happen and maybe it's not going to be over the course of several years.
• 31:32
  Right.
• 31:33
  It's a little bit more time.
• 31:35
  In some ways, it's more time than money, than more money than time.
• 31:38
  And depending on where you are, like you're saying in your goals can help determine that, but you also have to.
• 31:45
  I think it's.
• 31:46
  You also have to be very realistic.
• 31:48
  Right.
• 31:49
  So if you've got more time than money, you can buy something that's greener.
• 31:53
  But if you've got more money than time, you probably want to buy one that already knows the job.
• 31:59
  Yeah.
• 31:59
  And sometimes the goal is not impossible.
• 32:01
  It's feels more for people like the timeline is.
• 32:04
  And that's the part that I struggle with a little bit, because I'm competitive just like you.
• 32:10
  And somehow as I've gotten older, it hasn't fixed that competitiveness.
• 32:17
  And judging by 27 people in my division, I'm not the only one who feels this way.
• 32:26
  Well, to be fair, I don't think that that's totally an age thing.
• 32:30
  Your life can change a long time before your goals do.
• 32:33
  And most of us already have a ton going on.
• 32:36
  Jobs, kids, money, injuries, diagnoses, horses.
• 32:43
  Horses don't always cooperate with that.
• 32:45
  And none of it is getting cheaper.
• 32:47
  And you hear it all the time now, too.
• 32:48
  The sport's just too expensive.
• 32:50
  And I think that it's fair to say that maybe it is.
• 32:53
  But before anybody decides the goals out of reach, I think it's worth being honest about two things.
• 33:00
  And it's what we expect and what we can actually spend.
• 33:03
  Because when those two things don't match, something has to give somewhere and it doesn't always have to be just the goal.
• 33:10
  And so I also think about, you know, I'm just reflecting back on the question that you asked about Loki and if I would do it again.
• 33:15
  And I think for me, it's through all of this, I have goals, there are things I want to accomplish.
• 33:20
  Like maybe it's going to Washington.
• 33:23
  So that could be the goal.
• 33:24
  But I also just don't foresee for me not having a horse in my life.
• 33:29
  And so if that means, okay, my goal in the next six months right now, given like the circumstances of my life is it's like, can I ride consistently for the next six months without being sidelined?
• 33:44
  I don't know.
• 33:45
  Maybe that should be the goal.
• 33:46
  Start there.
• 33:47
  Right?
• 33:48
  And so I think that especially, like, for people my age, I think it's a little, for me, this is just my opinion.
• 33:54
  I think it's a little strange to be like, oh my God, I have to get this done now.
• 33:56
  Because it's like, horses aren't going anywhere and these horseshoes aren't going anywhere.
• 34:01
  You, you have, at our age, right?
• 34:04
  In 33, you have time.
• 34:07
  And so it's just a little bit like, it doesn't all have to be like, sorry, listener, balls to the walls, like 100 of the time.
• 34:14
  Like, calm down.
• 34:16
  Yeah, but that's why we're called the two point perspective, because I have the opposite perspective.
• 34:24
  That much time, right?
• 34:25
  Well, I mean, but I'm saying, right,.
• 34:28
  Because from your age, your age and.
• 34:31
  Your, your standpoint, you're like, tick tock,.
• 34:35
  I gotta do it.
• 34:37
  And that's what I keep coming back to.
• 34:39
  My friend from Atlanta wasn't going to give up on the 3 6.
• 34:43
  She just needed a different horse.
• 34:45
  But she knew that she better get on it because she doesn't have much more of a timeline than I do.
• 34:53
  But it was, to me, I think it's really cool that the first horse did go to somebody who wanted exactly what it does.
• 35:00
  I love it.
• 35:01
  3 inches.
• 35:02
  That's where this whole thing started.
• 35:04
  And it turns out it never really was about the fence.
• 35:08
  It's about whether the goal that you've got still fits the life that you've got.
• 35:13
  So if the plan you had doesn't fit your budget or your timeline or your life right now, that.
• 35:22
  That doesn't mean you have to want less.
• 35:24
  It might just mean that you have to find a different way to get there.
• 35:29
  So we'd love to hear how you've handled this.
• 35:33
  Have you changed divisions?
• 35:35
  Have you leased instead of bought?
• 35:37
  Have you bought a young horse and waited?
• 35:40
  Or have you found an even different way that we haven't talked about to get there?
• 35:46
  And if you know somebody trying to keep the goal without breaking the bank, send them this episode.
• 35:54
  And if you'd like to read that 29 proposal for yourself or any of the others, we'll put the link in.
• 36:01
  The show notes and we'll see you all next week.
• 36:04
  Let's ride.