Bear -- my ursine/equine new friend

The paperwork in under review and soon I will officially be leasing Bear. He's a 17hh, 10 year old TB. He raced until he was 5 and was rescued from the kill pen by his current owner. She's had him for 5 years and has done a tremendous job with him. I went to the farm yesterday to have a proper test-ride on him and he was perfect. Right now, I think he's just what I need... not dead broke, but not young and stupid. He's quirky and he's always going to have those thoroughbred moments, but we seem to be a good match. We rode in the jumping ring yesterday which is basically a grass field with undulating terrain with loads of jumps scattered about. It was a good test for me to see how he'd handle the changes in terrain and whether or not I felt balanced enough on him. One things for sure... I have NO stamina for riding. I need to cut myself a little slack... I have ridden maybe a half a dozen times in the last year and I haven't exactly been exercising, so I need to get my body and lungs back into shape! He's not super fit, but he's not out of shape either, so maybe it's a good thing! We rode with another horse in the ring and he was really good about staying focused and we only had one discussion about where we were going (aka, away from his horse friend). So we W/T/C and hopped over a teeny tiny crossrail. I wanted to see what he'd do/how he'd feel over a jump and he was stellar. He trotted up straight, popped over and cantered away. No hesitation, so rushing, and it was just not.a.big.deal. He ended our ride with a little hack around the property and called it a day. We had one little moment when I was turning him out and went to grab the crown piece of his halter and he thought it would be cute to wheel backwards and up. The shock on his face when I was still at the end of that lead rope was hilarious. I reprimanded him, he came back over quietly and we tried again until he did it quietly. Not a behavior I tolerate.

I should be signing the paperwork this week, we've added in an option for me to take him to shows and/or XC schooling (with insurance, etc) and next week I'll start my riding duties!

For now, here's Bear: