Old photo: our first together.

While I know that there will be other horses, Archie is my heart horse.  I've had inquiries about purchasing him (what the fuck were those people thinking?!), but I will own him for the rest of his life.  My hope is that he'll be comfortable in work for another five years.  That'll put him at 23.  Perfectly doable, right?  Even arthritic, with ringbone?  The biggest concern that I have is that his mind will push us on long after his body wants to retire.  Archie has spunk.

Spunk.

Until then, I aspire to do a beginner novice event.  If he tells me that jumping is too much, we'll work on trail and dressage.  If that never happens, I'm perfectly content being a backyard rider and making the most of our two-foot fences.

So here's the other half of that.  My husband is amazing, but he is not a horse person.  If something were to happen to me tomorrow, he would be saddled with two dogs, three cats, two cars, a mortgage and a horse.  In my concerns about the additional burden boarding and the level of owner involvement that I would want for my horse, I have taken out a ginormous life insurance plan.  If I die, Archie automatically gets shipped to a retirement farm in Tennessee where he will live out the rest of his days.

*Every answer is acceptable because you always have the best interest of the horse in mind.  Right?

Ps.  Many thanks to L for her 10:00 PM reminder.  :)
get the InLinkz code