Meet Josie, My First Horse!
Six months ago, I became a first-time horse owner. If you would have told me a year ago that six months later I’d buy a horse, I definitely would not have believed you, but I am so thrilled by the turn of events!
I started riding lessons again last fall after a 15-year hiatus, and I knew that eventually I’d want my own horse in order to reach the riding and showing goals I had set for myself. Plus, I had always wanted a horse to call my own and got a taste of that when a family friend let me free lease her horse when I first got into riding 20+ years ago.
I told my trainer and anyone else that asked that I wanted my own horse eventually but was absolutely not in the market to buy a horse right now. I was adamant that I needed to focus on providing all the care my two senior cats needed and didn’t think I could swing paying for a horse on top of all that. (It’s not even the purchase price—it’s everything else!)
Then, I found Josie online, and well… now I own a horse. 😆 Fortunately, the career stars aligned, and I got a new job that helps cover the extra expenses. Below, I shared all the details about how I found my horse, her background (that I know of), our journey since she became an Idaho resident, and what my goals are with her!
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Meet Josie, My First Horse!
How I Found Josie
Even though I was absolutely not in the market for a horse, I found myself browsing horse ads online in March and stumbled across Josie. I showed her to Korri and told him that she’d be the type of horse I’d go for once I’m ready to buy. About 10 days go by, and I noticed that her sale price had dropped. I then started more seriously considering her.
Korri and I flew to Ohio very last minute to meet Josie and so I could test ride her. Unfortunately, my trainer couldn’t make the trip, but Korri held up both of our phones—one recording video and one on FaceTime—so that she could see the trial ride too. I was so nervous to ride a brand new horse, especially because she was much more forward than what I was used to riding at home.
I let myself sleep on it, then talked to my trainer, and then I made an offer that the seller accepted. I scheduled her pre-purchase exam (PPE), which went pretty well considering her age, and then the sale was finalized by the end of April! While she stayed in Ohio, I had the vet out again to give her hock injections and a shockwave treatment on her back per her recommendation from the PPE.
Even though I wasn’t ready to buy at the time I found Josie, I liked her because she was older, had prior jumping experience, and was naturally more forward (instead of needing to be constantly told to go). She also was right around the price I was hoping to pay (minus the fact that I had to pay to ship her from Ohio to Idaho). A similar horse in Idaho would have cost probably three or four times as much just because there aren’t a lot of jumpers here.
Josie’s Background
Josie is a 17-year-old registered chestnut (reddish-brown) Hanoverian mare. A Hanoverian is a type of German warmblood. She was bred in the U.S. and lived her whole life up until this point in the eastern half of the country. She was bred specifically to be a hunter/jumper.
The owner before me had Josie for a few months and was planning to train her more in dressage, but life circumstances prevented that from happening and so Josie was “on the back burner” as horse people say. Before that, she was part of the Otterbein University equestrian team, and prior to that, she was owned by an adult amateur (and I believe a couple of other adult amateurs before that).
She has basically no rated show record to speak of, but I did learn that she showed locally in Ohio with Otterbein student athletes. (Otterbein sold her because she didn’t like being a lesson horse for multiple riders. She needed her own person.) In her life before Otterbein, it seemed that she was mostly a pleasure horse and dabbled in jumping, dressage, and trail riding.
As for her name, Josie is not the name that she came with. The seller called her Jonie, and before that she was called Rosie. Of course, when I learned that she was also a Rosie, I felt like it was meant to be! I couldn’t go back to calling her Rosie because of my cat named Rosie, so I combined Jonie and Rosie and call her Josie. I really feel like her new name suits her.
Josie has been so fun to get to know! I’ve learned that she is highly food motivated. She’s a big fan of eating alfalfa and tumbleweeds. She loves treats so much (carrots, apples, horse cookies, and sugar cubes are elite but she also enjoys strawberries, grapes, watermelon, cucumbers, and pears). She reaches with her teeth when she thinks there’s a treat, so you have to be careful with hands around her.
Our Journey So Far
Josie arrived in Idaho about a month after I purchased her. I did not think it would take so long; she arrived on the last day her health certificate was valid! Unfortunately, she was delayed because the shipper I booked had to get race horses to and from the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in May.
Luckily, Josie safely arrived in Idaho a little over two days after she was picked up in Ohio. She had a short layover in Kentucky before heading west. She traveled in her own box stall in a semi-truck along with horses that were getting dropped off in Colorado, Montana, and Washington.
When she first arrived, we took things slow as we introduced her to her new home. This move was the biggest of her life, so I wanted to give her plenty of time to adjust. We got to know each other and worked on groundwork under the guidance of my trainer (who had unfortunately broken her foot a couple of weeks before Josie arrived).
The First Setback
About four weeks after Josie got her new front shoes in Ohio, our farrier pulled them to see how she would do, and she almost immediately went lame on her front right foot (visible when she trotted). It took a while to be able to get x-rays, and they showed her genetically thin soles, so she got new front shoes and an anti-inflammatory, which helped to make her comfortable again. She’s just gotta be a front shoe girly!
At the end of August, I got the go-ahead to start riding her! I was pretty nervous for my first few lessons on her because we were just getting to know each other. I volunteered at a local horse show at the end of September, and that helped me snap out of my funk because I reminded myself that if those people could do it, I could do it.
The Second Setback
Unfortunately, at the beginning of October, I caught Josie collapsing while sleeping standing up, and I knew that she was sleep deprived. So, that’s our fun new adventure in horse ownership. Korri put up a camera to see if she lays down at night, and she does not… so now I need to figure that out. The vet didn’t see any major issues with her physically, but there are some things I want to try to get her more comfortable so she can sleep. My poor girly! She was very tired during this photoshoot.
I’m so proud of the progress Josie has made up until this point. She’s more settled and less spooky. We’re now riding in the arena regularly, even without other horses around us, and she’s relaxed so much since arriving. We’ve been working on reducing the tension in her body, smoother transitions between walk/trot/halt, and staying balanced while bending. I’m looking forward to cantering on her eventually—I haven’t done it yet! First I hope we can get her sleeping comfortably again.
My Goals with Josie
I mentioned in this post that I’d like to show locally again, so I’m hoping to do that with Josie! I purchased her thinking she’d be the perfect partner to get me comfortable and confident in the saddle again, and I know she has the talent and experience to show in hunter/jumpers as she’s done it in the past. I am SO excited to get in the ring with her for the first time and hear the announcer say that I’m her owner. 🥹 It’s a dream come true!
My ultimate goal is to show in the 3’ classes at our local shows, and I would LOVE to do that with Josie as my partner. I know Josie has jumped that height in the past, but she is 17 years old now so I realize she may or may not be able to comfortably jump courses at that height again. I’m happy to take things low and slow as we both work back up to jumping regularly. Fingers crossed she’s healthy and happy enough to show for a few years!
I’d also love to see Korri take lessons on her and maybe even make an appearance at our local shows, too! I also have a few years to get my baby niece into horses; how cute would it be to see Josie tote around a kid in the leadline, walk/trot poles, or crossrails?!
Mostly, my main goal with Josie is to make sure she’s happy and sound for the rest of her life. Just spending time with her is so special. I’m hoping we can strengthen our bond more over the years. It has been such a gift to be her new momma, and I’m planning to be her last!
Photography by Wendy Lizama