Romeo is officially candidate number three. He’s owned by a neighbor who really doesn’t want to sell him but has moved on to a more powerful horse. Romeo is an 8 year old appaloosa gelding, about 14 HH and is well-behaved and rideable by anyone. Mikki and I spent a few hours checking him out and riding him. I rode him in fields, across bridges on pavement, through the woods, up hills, etc. and the ride, although a little slow, was easy and enjoyable. When I wanted him to go, he galloped with a little prodding. Romeo can plow and neck reign, can be ridden bareback, has been ridden double and triple and has even barrel raced, with ribbons to prove it. He has a clean bill of health, uses our same farrier and is in good shape from being ridden almost everyday. So I’d say he’s a strong candidate and probably our forerunner. I think I only snapped one picture of him without an identifiable human in it (below).

So even though he’s a little small and the asking price is a little higher than I wanted to go, maybe Romeo is the right horse. He’s a horse I could build my confidence on, break into some amateur barrel racing for fun and enjoy while I’m working on my project horse, Moonshine. And if I outgrew him, he’d be perfect for the Kid.

Plus we almost have a romance theme going in our barn. We’d have Romeo and Valentine. Moonshine might need to be renamed Juliet!

The hunt is on – candidate 1
The hunt is on – candidate 2
The hunt is on – candidate 3 (this post)
The hunt is on – candidate 4