Horse shopping...again

Well we are officially back horse shopping.....at a leisurely pace since we don't "need" another horse.  

Seamus and Chance are both doing well, Seamus eats his "soup" of grass pellets and supplements every day and hasn't had issues with choke since his Christmas time scare.  Chance is keeping on weight and now shedding out like crazy.  Chance turned 28 in February and Seamus will be 8 in April!!

I know Chance could live another year or two or he could have a rough summer and we have to make the call.  You just don't know.  We want to get a second rideable horse.  Something Steve could ride but honestly will be one I mainly ride in addition to Seamus. After Chance passes I plan to keep the number at 2 and then they both will just go with me to clinics and I'll ride one or the other depending on the clinic.  Trail riding with Steve may happen, we shall see.  I'm doing a lot of beer stuff with him so I think I can sway him to be more engaged in at least learning a bit more horsey stuff.  He's great in the barn, feeding, mucking and generally caring for our babies.  He loves the horses and gives them kisses everyday.

Anyhow I was interested in several Haflingers and a Morgan that was at this horse trader in NC.  They have a good reputation from what I've read from numerous sources but it's still buyer's beware.  There is a 10 day money back guarantee so I figured I could get a PPE done on any horse I decided to take home.  First wrong thought I had.  I've since realized that I don't work like that.  If I bring a horse home, they are mine.  I don't think I could haul them back after a PPE no matter the result.  So I've realized this isn't my style of buying at all!!

Anyways I digress.  The experience overall was good.  I found him to live up to his reputation of being honest.  He pointed out the flaws he saw in the horses and any issues.  Most horses are from auctions so he doesn't normally know much history on each one.  One gelding we looked at, rode and really liked was a cute 7 year old Haflinger.  The seller had pointed out a small growth on the cornea of the left eye.  

I looked at the eye and noted the irregular pink growth.  I would look into that.  Overall though the gelding was well put together, cute as a button and very willing to do what was asked.  I rode him and then Steve did.  We both really liked him and decided we'd discuss buying.  We discussed our concern with the eye growth, the PPE and the 10 day window with the seller.  

Steve and I went to lunch, thinking on buying this very cute gelding.  I searched about what the growth was.  Several people that were also looking at horses said they knew someone that had a horse that had something like that removed.  Cost $400-$900 bucks.  I wasn't really worried about the price to remove a growth and the seller even said he'd cover the cost of removal.  My worry was the long term prognosis.  Would it come back? Was it aggressive and would be a lifelong problem....not just the eye but other light colored areas of the horse? I had a gut feeling putting the brakes on this purchase very strongly.  My gut has made good horse choices so I tend to go with it....still I wanted more information.

Research lead me to squamous cell carcinoma. Haflingers can be prone to it if they have 1 or 2 copies of a certain gene, careless breeding with todays genetic testing availability.  This can appear in the eyes, nose, anal and genital areas.  Anywhere there is less pigment and exposure to UV radiation.  The prognosis can be good if caught early but then there is constant vigilance and maintenance.  With a 7 year old and a decent price tag I was starting to feel woozy with that prospect.

I started seeing heart break written all over this sweet gentle soul.  I've lost 3 critters since May of 2025, one being my dear Daenerys.  At this point I'm a little gun shy at the prospect of losing another horse, even though I know Chance is up there.  Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) could be a small issue or a larger one. I've since reached out to Haflinger groups on facebook inquiring about SCC and they all have given me the information I need to know I was thinking in the correct way about this prospect. It sounded like the once and done removal of the growth was not typical. This sounded like an arduous journey I was not willing to navigate.

We decided to pass on him, we'd come back to the barn to see some other horses the seller had to show. We got to see a fun group of ladies helping another lady find her dream quarter horse.  She eventually ended up with a strawberry roan gelding with a high price tag.  He was gorgeous and looked like he was well taken care of, so most likely not from a random auction house. Hopefully it will work out well for her!

The seller brought out a couple more horses including another halfinger mare....she was in bad shape, big belly, thin, ribs and very hairy.  I would have bet she had unchecked Cushings for sure!  Poor thing. A nice halfinger/belgian cross was brought out but she was just too big....we are little horse people!  LOL. The morgan I was interested in was sold.  Oh well.  We thanked the seller and decided to head home.  There were a couple other sets of people arriving to look at horses, he was certainly busy.

We'll keep our eye out for good prospects.  The thing is Steve isn't really into horseback riding, so this will be a second rideable horse that I will have to keep up in work, with occasionally Steve going for a ride.  I want a sweet heart, and one that I can enjoy too, we've kind of decided that another gaited wouldn't be good for him.  He's mostly going to walk but if he goes up to the next gait a saddle rack would be more challenging to learn to maintain than a trot.  I've learned a lot about gaited horses but I devote myself to working with Seamus. 

We shall see what comes along.  For now I have several clinics arranged for Seamus and myself.  I also booked a weekend stay in a cabin at a ranch not far from here that includes a 2 hour guided trail ride.  You can bring your own horse so I'm hoping I'll be able to bring Seamus and get us doing some trails this year.  He's a good boy.  Summer just kills me here with the heat and humidity but my goal is to at least put in the effort for groundwork during the summer months if I'm not up for riding. Right now weather is pretty good and Seamus and I can enjoy the less buggie time for now!  Spring is so lovely in NC!