Finn Finds The Perfect Home

Sometimes the stars align and things actually do work out for the best. I was really starting to worry how I was going to keep paying full board for two horses- things were definitely tight. Finn had three test rides from the same girl, but we couldn't tell if she was seriously interested. H had a couple of other interested callers, but she was very upfront about his training issues and flat out told them he wouldn't be a match.

A couple of Saturdays ago, H and I went to lunch with a hunter/jumper trainer that operates out of our farm, and we ended up talking about Finn's issues. S said he'd hop on him when we got back, and Finn was fantastic for him. At the end of the ride, S said he loved him. After the ride, I jokingly asked if he wanted Finn. He looked at me and said that would definitely be something he would be interested in. I didn't even think for a minute before telling S that I would gift Finn to him if he thought he had the time to work consistently with him. After a couple more rides, S told me he definitely wanted him, and just like that, I found the perfect situation for my chestnut boy. S is an extremely capable rider, and he doesn't get rattled when Finn pulls out his bag-o-tricks. Finn gets to stay at my farm, and I get text message and video updates with his progress almost daily!

I had originally hoped to get enough for Finn to cover what I paid for Kwik, but as the months went by, I realized I had paid enough in board to equal his purchase price so it really wasn't worth passing up such a great opportunity. I'm so excited that this whole ordeal is coming to an end, and I don't have to feel guilty about riding Kwik and not having enough time to play around with Finn.

Clearly Finn wasn't the right horse for me, but I don't regret adopting him for one second. Looking back, I learned a lot from this horse. I learned to teach a horse to lunge and to respond to voice cues. I accomplished my first join-up, and I learned a ton about OTTBs in my quest to research as much about my horse's past as I could. I'm so happy Finn has found a home with someone who sees what I saw in him: a beautiful horse with oodles of talent. I can't wait to see what this pair accomplishes in the near future!