Lots of cool things going on. Will and I are looking at buying a house in the spring. We went on Saturday and looked at a friends house that she is putting up for sale in the spring. It is almost 5 acres. Nice sized house with plenty of room to possibly build onto it in the future if we need to. Set back off the road. 3 nice pastures. A lighted riding ring. 2 dry lots. 4 16x16 stalls with room for 3 more stalls. A hay loft that can hold over 1000 bales of hay. 3 out buildings. A chicken coop (complete with chickens), which Gwen thinks is amazing. An in ground pool that needs some work. A huge back yard for playtime with Gwen. Two separate gardens. Can you tell I'm in love with this place?
View from the driveway looking at the barn
Inside the main barn area
Chickens!
Front Dry Lot - Connected to the barn
There is one on the back of the barn too
There is one on the back of the barn too
Small Pasture
Front Pasture - Which could actually be split into 2 large
pastures for rotation purposes.
The front pasture looking into the riding ring
The riding ring, which could also be used as a pasture until I put sand in it.
I am totally in love with this place. The problem you ask? Its at the higher end of our price range and .... Will needs a new truck.
Its either fix up his current truck and HOPE that it will be able to haul whatever horse trailer I end up with. Or...get the truck her found this weekend. We ended up at the Jeep Chrysler dealership because we got one of those flyer's with the keys on it and the scratch off thing. So we thought, eh, why not? So we went. Would you believe they had a 2010 Ford F150 FX Super Crew Cab on the lot??? Its the EXACT truck he has been drooling over for the past 3 years. They aren't asking a whole lot for it, considering the KBB value is over 33K and the dealership is willing to give him $5000 for his truck. Now the question is, is taking on a truck payment going to KILL the chances of us getting the house? Possibly.
I have sent an email to my mortgage officer in the hopes of her helping us with this decision. Do I know what the answer is, yeah, I do. But, I am also hoping that with revamping our budget and paying OFF alot of the current debt will help us in the long run as well.
And yes, I know there are more properties out there, but this place is almost perfect. I am just really torn. I feel like I am being selfish if I tell him he cant have his truck just so that I can get my horse property, that may or may not even happen anyway. Sigh.
On a good note, I am seeing some very positive changes with Tia. Her and I ended up have a CTJ moment a few nights ago. She was trying to be Alpha Mare and that just isn't happening. Ever! Not with me at least. So Saturday night I went to the barn to do her feet and put in some training time. When I drove in, she was happily munching grass in her pasture. As I made my way to her stall, I could see that she was already in there, waiting. I walked down and she met me in her stall with a nice little nicker. I closed the stall door and she backed right up and went over to where I have been tying her to get tacked up. It made me giggle a little that this mare, who so hated being worked, is now waiting for ME. So I put the surcingle on her and out we went. She was AMAZING. First time lunging in the outdoor ring. The sand out there is much deeper than I would like, but its not my farm and have no say over the depth of sand. Although, if I am going to continue working her in the outdoor ring, I will have to invest in some SMB boots to make sure her legs are protected. She is starting to really give to bit and round her back out. She has the cutest floaty trot and when she slows down she looks amazing. That back hip is starting to give her less and less problems and her attitude is taking a turn for the better. Everything is no longer a battle. Now, we just have discussions. She is starting to accept more lunging to the left, I truly believe she has some sight issues in this eye. She is soft, supple and willing. Very responsive to my voice and body language. It wont be long now before I can truly trust her under saddle.
I believe she absolutely loves the new barn. She seems very calm and content. Happy to see me when I get there, which has never been a problem, but its always nice when they are happy. I have had to cut back on her feed. She is a bit....FAT.
So there is where we are at the moment. I really want to believe that what needs to happen will just fall into place. Its just so hard to see into the future...especially if the thing you desire the most at the moment may not be there.
That place is beautiful. Fingers crossed something can work out :)
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