When you get a new horse, what else do you do other than go shopping?

Nay Nay (or SNN or SSN because that’s how I read SNN every. single. time. Michele texts SNN) has been living out 24/7 at the rescue without a blanket. It’s been relatively warm-ish and he has a decent coat. BUT, he likes to roll. And he likes dirt. A lot. So, if I have plans to ride him, ever, he’s going to start being blanketed. And he’s a thoroughbred so it’s not like he has THAT great of a coat.

So Saturday morning it was cold. I got him cleaned up, pulled out some old blankets (a 72″ that fits more like a 74″ of Hayley’s that Subi can squeeze into in a pinch — fits his chest, but his butt hangs out), a 14 year old 76″ Stateline of Subi’s (he fits better in a 78″ these days) that possibly isn’t waterproof anymore, and an 80″ dover of Batt’s that was narrow, but never was washed so…

The 72″ fit-ish pretty well, but was a bit short in the butt. It would work. But, it was a heavy weight and Nay Nay really didn’t need a heavy weight. Hayley was never a 72″ and I’m not sure if she was a 74″ either. Honestly, the sizing of this blanket was just weird.  Nay can use it if he ever needs a heavy. Lol. The 76″ fit really well but I’d prefer not to use it as anything other than an emergency spare (see age plus I found a tear in the seam so I kept it on and headed over to Dover first for their blanket sale.

And mostly struck out. See, unless I wanted to order online, the store was out of a lot of their rider blankets. I could get a northwind for a decent price, but then I’d be stuck with the same blankets as Subi and with Subi in a 78 and Nay Nay in a 76, I’d have to be checking constantly the size and I’m lazy. I want to be able to tell by looks which blanket belongs to which horse. So, Nay Nay got a cheap sheet and…

Panda Bears.

He looks very good in Panda Bears.

Next stop? The new Fair Hill Saddlery. From what I understand, the ownership may be similar to Chick’s Saddlery (family’s last name is Chick), but some of the merchandise is more high end (fits, Tailored Sportsman, etc.). Saturday was the official grand opening though they’ve been open for about a week. They had a tent sale and lots of cheap blankets. I got 2 sheets (one for Subi and one for Nay Nay) for $35 each and a cooler for $23.

I also ended up with 3 lunge lines and a new cheap halter. Nay Nay has a cob head and his new horse size halter he came with is too big… Plus a free saddle pad from Dover. And a new tiger’s tongue.

So. Much. Stuff

(there may be a few versions of this post published and unpublished because wordpress hates me today)

Welp, I adopted a horse on Wednesday. For those of you who are friends/follow on Facebook/Instagram, this isn’t news. (Or for everyone I’ve emailed/texted, lol). For the rest of you, I’d like to introduce Say Nay Nay, aka Nay Nay because I am continuing my tradition of not naming my horses.

Nay Nay is a 8 year old thoroughbred. He was a New Holland kill pen rescue 2-3 years ago after his rather…slow…racing career and was adopted out to a lady in Maryland. Due to health reasons, she can no longer physically ride so she returned Nay Nay and after some refresher training, he was listed for adoption again. He’s still a bit green, but I rode him after a week off and he’s also part Shetland pony mentally. Lol. He has some ugly front legs, but clean X-rays and the vet says it shouldn’t hinder any career at all.

Nay Nay came home yesterday (screaming the entire trailer ride), but settled pretty fast. Subi perked up immediately. Jiminy wanted Nay Nay to know he’s Subi’s best friend and has stuck like glue to Subi. Nay Nay just wants to eat and finds Subi annoying outside. Constantly on the move, “can’t we just stop and eat hay scraps you idiot?”

He was nervous coming inside to his stall last night. My husband had to lead him the last part of the way because trying to do him and Subi was hard. Subi wasn’t helping (ooh, grass!) and I kept getting squished. But, he didn’t do anything, just took things in. He found his feed bucket immediately and checked out the stall between bites. He’d been living out so it’s an adjustment. Several times he and Subi touched noses through the stall bars. My heart. I checked on him an hour later and there was poop and he was mugging for peppermints (this horse is a food hound). I had to stop myself from going out all night.

I’ll check on them in a few minutes with breakfast. Hopefully everyone did ok. Nay Nay is used to living out and Subi and Jiminy have been staying out, but I’m trying to start bringing in again vs 4 hours and 1 hour for feeding.

I wasn’t looking for my horse yet, but in my search for a companion, someone sent me to MidAtlantic Horse Rescue and there he was. They also do an amazing job with their companions and I could have adopted/borrowed one from them for as long as I needed. But Nay Nay grabbed my heart. I decided if he didn’t work out, I wasn’t looking for a riding horse until spring. No pressure but he had to be everything. I had people (many) say it was too soon. I thought it was, but everyone heals differently and I haven’t been healing. Nay Nay hopefully will help Subi heal but he will definitely help me heal. I won’t forget Batty ever, but I need to love another horse in order to get through this. I’m more like Subi than I care to admit. I’ve been surviving as a shell too for a month. If feels good to smile again.

Anyway, welcome to the family!

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. —Khalil Gibran

Things are still rough around here and I’m missing my Batthorse more than I can explain. Subi isn’t doing well. He enjoys carrots and some peppermints, but that’s about it. I’m working to find him a friend, but I’m not sure he’s going to get through this loss.

But today I wanted to talk about Jiminy.

I’ve taken to bringing the boys in for a few hours each evening for dinner and then turning them back out. The goal is to get Subi to eat without giving him time to stress too much. Results? Eh. But, he’s less stressed than when he’s in overnight (he eats less though).

Jiminy is NOT a fan of this arrangement. Especially if the weather is less than perfect. He has some tall tails of woe to share about the weather. Especially because on Wednesday night right before Thanksgiving, it was super windy. In fact, wind gusts reached 50 mph occasionally…

And Jiminy says he almost blew away.

He was NOT HAPPY.

Jiminy says it’s been a really really rough and tough 24 hours. First, he had to stay outside in the dark and cold and wind 💨 last night and he almost blew away.

Then, overnight he had to fight off, single handedly: a fox, a bear, a coyote, a wolf, a dragon, a chimera, Camaro, and a Humvee.

And now his brother is being mean to him and chasing him away from the hay pile (there are 7 piles).

Jiminy needs a rescue squad.

And he wants his stall back overnight.