On May 29, my Facebook feed brought up photos of a lovely black Morgan mare that looked nearly identical to my lovely Lady Anastasia who had passed away in 2020 at the ripe old age of 35. My heart lusted after that horse, but the horse was scheduled to be auctioned off on June 1 somewhere in Pennsylvania, and I already had commitments for the day. So, I bid her farewell and wished her a soft landing.
On June 3, that mare popped up in my Facebook feed again. An internet acquaintance who is also a Morgan aficionado purchased the horse and another Morgan gelding at that auction, rescuing them from the terrible experience of the auction cycle. She offered both horses for sale to good homes.
It had to be fate.
“I don’t need a third horse,” I told myself.
My heart really wanted this mare to come home to us.
“I don’t need a third horse,” I told my husband. “What am I going to do with a third horse?”
“Put her in the rotation,” my husband replied, referring to the order in which I ride my horses. “When am I picking her up?”
I wavered, quibbled with myself, and finally made a decision despite not needing a third horse.
You already know what happened. We brought Bar Nothing Hazell home yesterday.
I still don’t need a third horse, but I really wanted this one.
I’ve noticed in my decades of animal husbandry that there is no limit to how much the human heart can love. As we say in my household, there’s always room for one more.
So … about Hazel. She’s a 2010 model, about 15 hands on a tall day, and lean. Don’t worry, we’ll fatten her up. If there’s one thing we know how to do, it’s fatten up our animals. She seems calm and sensible and kind. All four hooves are shod, so I left a message with the farrier to schedule an appointment to have those shoes removed. She’s trained to both ride and drive.
My thanks go to Lori Sargeant of Three Fates Morgans who plucked Hazel from the auction cycle. I look forward to many good years with Hazel.