 Spot See Spot jump. Jump Spot, Jump!
You
guessed it. Auction barn. Spot was one of the horses that REALLY
got me in trouble buying. I needed to get 4 or 5 camp horses so
(again with the bright ideas) I decided to go to a two day sale:
Day one was for grade Horses (no registration papers), and day
two was for papered stock. Day one was not very fruitful. In
fact, I don't think there were more than 10 horses that went
through the sale. That isn't much when you have traveled 90 miles
to get there, and you have to do the same thing the following
day. I found nothing to bid on and was resigned to go home with
nothing to show for my time when Spot came in the ring. He had
everything I was looking for. Size, bone, build, conformation. As
a bonus he was flashy and quiet. Everything except one thing. He
was a yearling. I tried to be good, I really did, but I decided
to throw caution to the wind and take a chance on the future. I
bought him for 550.00. Not too bad, I thought. And ventured home
to break the news to Chris.
 Since it was a two day sale, I
arranged for some people to take care of Spot that night at the
auction barn and left him for the night. Sunday, I was back by
noon. I checked in on Spot, who seemed to have weathered the
night nicely, checked out the papered stock and took my spot next
to the ring to await the horses. Half way through the sale a
middle aged gentlemen came in with a searching look. I saw one of
the auctioneers gesture at me and the man made his way through
the crowd to where I sat. "I hear you bought a paint colt
yesterday." He said. I nodded warily, keeping my main attention
on the ring. You never can tell where a conversation at a horse
auction will take you. The man reached into his pocket and
retrieved a photo of a paint filly. She was beautiful. A bit
taller than my paint. Elegant. "She's a 2 year old." The man
said. "I have her for sale on the Internet for $2000.00. She
comes with papers. I will trade you straight up for your colt." I
had to ask the obvious. "Why?" I asked. He man shrugged, but
never gave me a reason. I graciously declined. I don't know why,
but I think maybe my mother's voice was echoing in my ear, "when
something seems too good to be true, it usually is." The man
persisted, but I stood fast. At the end of the day, I packed up
my new yearling along with several other purchases (one was a
Grey appendix quarter horse who would some day be known as
Mattie) and went home.
 With in
the first 24 hours of having Spot in my possession, I learned
several things about him. One, he didn't lead; Neither coming nor
going. Two, he didn't load. And Three, he didn't like being left
alone, as he demonstrated by jumping out of his stall
before I could get to the door as the herd was being let out for
the night. Helplessly, I could do nothing but shrug and think,
"Good knees. Too bad it will be 3 years before we can use
them."
Well. 3 years have come and gone. Spot has been broke, just a few
falls past, has been taught to jump and been to several horse
shows. We are hoping that this summer will see him used as a hack
horse (no jumping quite yet) for advanced riders only. We are
excited with plans for Spot's future. He is showing an aptitude
for jumping, a quiet, willing manner and smooth gaits. We plan on
him being with Cedar Lodge for a long, long time. Who knows?
Maybe he will be the next Abby. As for the Man with the photo. I
never did figure out why he wanted Spot or what possessed him to
pursue that trade, but I haven't regretted my decision for one
day. I think I got the best of the lot.
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