The Offer

I got a text the other night from the guy who sold me Killian. He was offering to sell me "his horse".  His horse is a 10 year old mustang. He is gorgeous.

The first time I ever saw this horse was the first time I looked at Killian.  Chris walked put to the big pasture where all his horses were (about 20) with a hay string in his hand.  He made a make shift halter and put it on his mustang then swung up on him bareback. Then he and his partner proceeded to herd the other horses Down to the big catch pen where I was waiting. 

I asked, "How much for that horse?"

"He is not for sale". 

So he showed me Killian instead. I have always been happy with the deal we made. He was fair on price, Killian is exactly what he told me he was. He had originally bought Killian for his wife, who promptly left him right afterwards, so he used for a while for branding and such, but he was just a little to "ploddy" of a horse for his tastes.  I get that, I feel the same way about Killian.   On that day he rode Killian first  and showed me what he could do, and then offered to let me ride him.  I have liked Chris from the minute we met and we have stayed in touch over time.  He is an honest guy, who works hard and who loves his horses. I would have no qualms about buying another horse from him

So anyway I was shocked the other night when he offered to sell me Duce.  He has offered other horses to me before. In fact if he has a horse for sale I am the first person he calls.   He cares where his horses end up and he knows I care too. Every time he calls we have the same conversation... "Are you selling the mustang yet"  "Nope" "Dang it, well send me pics of what you got and I'll see what I can do."  And I always do the best I can to help him sell what ever horse he has for sale.  They are always good horses, and again, he has never lied to me about what they are. 

I cannot afford to buy a horse but this was that horse, so I had to ask why he was for sale.  As it turns out Chris was at a horse sale and saw a horse he really wanted to buy.  He knew the only way he could ever come up with the cash was if he sold Duce, so he was hoping I would say yes before the sale.  As it turned out by time I got the message the sale was over.

But we still talked about it.

I asked how much. He said "well I turned down 8500 for him a year ago"

Yup way out of my price range. 

I said well the best I can offer you is a 01 dodge diesel pick up 4wd. (I rarely ever drive it) that I turned down 9,000 on a few months ago.

He said, "I don't really need a truck"

Of course I understood that, so I let ago.

Ten minutes later he asked for pics of the truck.

It seems as though with all the horses that he and his new wife have (23) Duce is not getting the attention he deserves.  So we talked some more.

Duce is a ranch horse.  He ropes, he moves cows, he understands whoa, and he can spin.  He has been used for car parking at the county fair, he has been used for 4H lessons for kids.

You can ride him in a hay string.  (Of course Chris is one of those people who is so natural on horseback I'm sure he can ride his horses in anything)

He is sound, he is healthy, he has been around the block more than a few times.

And he is gorgeous.

Dang I want that horse.  But I won't buy any horse sight unseen (well unseen in 2 years) and without riding him.  Duce is in WY I am here.  But neither one of us are in hurry to complete this transaction so maybe in a few  months I'll mosey on up there and take Old Duce for a test drive. 

In the mean time I'll keep drooling over these pics.