June 8, 2020

A few weeks ago I started putting more effort into the search for a new pony. One of my friends, Stacey, kindly posted on my behalf in a draft group and she sent me a few ponies that fit my interest. One of them really caught my eye and just sounded perfect. He was a little younger than my usual prospect but that youth also would give me a new adventure into horses. So I bit.

I spoke to the owner, Bryttany, and everything just sounded more and more fitting. Her pony Dex, turned 2 in February, and is a Gypsy Varner Haflinger cross. He fit my very specific height requirements, and my preference for a gelding. And, his photos showed a colorful paint.

I’ve wanted a Gypsy cross but always thought of them as my dream pony. Generally ones under saddle and ready to roll are out of my budget. And I specifically wanted a Gypsy cross vs a full Gypsy, so I would get some of the hair, but not all of the hair.

Bryttany has started Dex in harness, and doing ground work exercises. She sent me plenty of videos and photos and told me about his level head and agreeable personality.

This is a pony I could not pass up. So I made signed a contract, put down a deposit and made arrangements to go get him the following weekend. I was also super lucky that my good friend Jenny offered to make the trip with me to Warsaw, New York, which is pretty close to Buffalo and about 7 hours each way.

We headed out Friday at lunch time and stayed in a hotel in Bath, about an hour shy of our destination. We had a good drive up and enjoyed each other’s company. Traveling during Covid is a little interesting and NY totally let you know that they are taking it seriously. I think we passed close to twenty digital signs in the first twenty miles in the state telling us to cover our faces, stay gone stay safe, and NY strong. We were also the only people in the hotel which boasted comfy clean beds and a friendly staff who recommended pizza delivery as the only option outside of fast food drive through.

Saturday morning we were up and made the final stretch to Bryttany’s lovely farm. There was a cool horse made out of horse shoes right where we parked and a variety of lovely horses. Bryttany showed us to Dex who was sharing a stall with his younger, and matching brother, who was laying down for a rest. Dex appeared exactly as she described and walked directly on the trailer like a professional.

When Jenny and I made our first stop we realized we had not even gotten a photo of him so we attempted to catch one through the trailer. Dex was chillin, munching, and not bothered at all. On we went and he was calm and quiet the whole ride home.

When I did make it back home he backed off the trailer perfectly and I put him out in my big field and let him wonder around and relax a little. Simon was in the wooded paddock have a melt down, and after a while I brought Simon over for them to get aquatinted.

It was a mostly uneventful meeting and Simon seems very enamored with him. Dex took it all in strider and let Simon boss him around. Later that night after dark a neighbor shot off fireworks so I went back out to make sure they were ok. Simon generally is not bothered by fireworks and Dex did not appear to be either.