Oakley's coming home..

I received a call yesterday, when I saw it was Amanda, I had a feeling something was up. My first concern was that Oakley was hurt (Amanda is the girl leasing him) so I braced myself for some really bad news, but then she asked me if I would take him back...

NO ~ He is not a bad horse and she's not returning him for anything negative, he just doesnt have the competitive edge she is looking for in a show horse. She was working him on gaming and had plans to maybe work him on cows and QH shows in the future, but he is just too laid back and I think maybe not enough challenge for her. Which is a GREAT thing for us!!!!

I'm a little worried... He is not quite even 5 years old, but he has been ridden a minimum of 3-5 days per week for 5 months, so he is in shape and ready to continue riding. He has never bucked, reared or thrown a fit in his training, so he should be OK for Derek. But there is a slight reservation about it, he is young so putting a green rider on a young greenish horse, is typically the opposite of what I believe.

What I do believe is that Oakley had a GREAT foundation put on him (a little self braggin there! lol), he has been ponied down very busy roads, down the trails, he's been worked extensively from the ground and now he's had 5 months of riding in an arena, so everything in me says he will be a good solid horse for Derek, but I keep going back to the young part.... I am driving down to Longview WA on Saturday (tomorrow) to pick him up. I decided to go all the way down there so I can watch Amanda ride him, she can show me where he is at with his training and what she has accomplished.

If Oakley is not progressed in training as far as I think he should be, then we'll pay to send him to a trainer for a month or two and keep Blackie Smalls until Oakley is done with training. If he seems good to go, then we'll have to take BS back on Sunday.. I dont have room for 3 horses for more than a few days..

So life has thrown us a new adventure. Derek is worried he will not bond with Oakley like he has with BS, he's got it in his head that Oakley is young, he's seen the childish side of Oakley for 4 years now. I'm hoping Oakley left me 6 months ago as a teenager and will return to me as a young man! :)

Danielle and Collin and Sobe are making the trek with me down south, should be fun. I actually am very happy about getting Oakley back, this solves a problem we would have had for next year since BS was only available to lease this year. I do believe Oakley will be a fine horse for Derek, Derek just needs to establish some confidence in Oakley. Pics definately to come shortly!! Oh, I need to take my camera tomorrow....