Could use some good vibes here...

[magical thyme]

Maizie may or may not be en route today. The weather from her location to mine is clear as a bell.

But the last word from shipper was last night when he told breeder he's waiting out some bad weather. We aren't sure where he is exactly. His home base is Nova Scotia, but he'd mentioned NB (New Brunswick?) bad weather the other day.

I'm hoping she's here for Yule.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Good luck!

[oldandhappy]

2. Yes!

[femmocrat]

3. Can't wait to see her!

Good travels, Maizie!

[niyad]

4. good vibes and positive thoughts for a safe and uneventful journey for maizie, and

her safe arrival in time for yule.

please keep us posted--looking forward to pics!

[magical thyme]

5. the shipper stood us up.

He sent a facebook message claming there is bad weather, and claiming he's had a hard time getting hold of me.

My phone shows every call that comes in, whether I'm able to answer or not. No incoming calls. I sent him an email this morning -- no answer.

I did a reverse phone lookup -- he's based in Prince Edward Island and the weather is fine there, in New Brunswick and all the way to Maine.

So he's a liar. The good news is the breeder said she'll ship herself for the same price after New Years. She's a little embarrassed at this point for having recc'ed him.

In the meantime, I'm totally ready for her to arrive. Extra hay came in this afternoon. Stall is ready. Everything is ready and waiting.

[riderinthestorm]

6. Back up plan came through!!! Yay! So happy for you nt

[magical thyme]

7. I'll believe it when she is here.

I've been burned many times in the past by horse people. So I'll believe it when she arrives here.

[riderinthestorm]

8. :( wish you'd met me before you met so many baddies...

Have you thought of contacting another shipper rather than relying on this owner? Many, many horses are going south these days and finding a spot on a van at this time of year is the easiest ever imho.

Horses are on the move with the racing seasons ending and heading to warmer climates.

Maybe contact your vet and see who they recommend. They usually know the reputable shippers delivering in your area... Of course for me, its one of the farriers that comes to my places whose really "in the know" lol.

[magical thyme]

9. I will try calling my vet on Monday, but I doubt I'll get anybody this week or next

I'm very busy this week any way, so it's probably for the best.

[magical thyme]

10. shipper just emailed me. he's looking at Jan 1 now...

it's the last days of Saturn in Scorpio, my sun. It's dredging up every bad memory in order to purify and heal them.

This morning it pulled up two memories from before I got Dahli. First, when I first moved up here and had Algiers with a companion goat. Before I was broke I was looking at young hanoverians and planning a trip to the Virginia area for a shopping trip. A distressed breeder was offering a nice, unbroke young mare at a good project price. I made the mistake of discussing my trip arrangements on a horse site, including with the sire's owner. Who got the breeder to send the mare to her farm for training and re-sale at the last minute. I got a snotty email from him about how she was going to go on the market at a much, much higher price in the near future. That one, at least, I could laugh at since I had an idea of the costs of training board in that area and knew he'd end up taking a major loss instead of selling her to me at a small profit. There was another mare I was interested in at the mid-atlantic sale, plus a youngster at a big breeder's farm, so my trip was still on. The big breeder bought the sales mare ahead of the sale, and then doubled her price. And would only show me a gelding who'd had surgery on both hocks. My trip was off.

A couple years later, and any chance at a warmblood was now well out of reach, but I'd also decided that was not going to work for me anyway, given what had taken place not only in my life, but in the market overall. So I decided to go back to my t-bred roots.

A bunch of cyber (and a couple local) horse friends and I were each looking at rescuing an ottb from Fingerlakes. We shared our picks and made group transport arrangements. They were all going for the taller, lankier and generally butt-high types that seem to dominate. I found an unraced young mare with excellent conformation -- the type I learned dressage on back in the 60s and early 70s. Good balance, strength across the loins, nothing stood out in particular. Just very correct. She was 15.2 and stockier than typical American t-breds, more like you'll find from S. America or Europe.

We all contacted their owners. And somehow, a trainer at the track got wind of mine and whisked her right out from under me...and then put her right back up for sale at double the price. Nobody else had anything like that done to them. Just me.

And I sat back and watched while they all bought their horses, finalized their transportation, and brought them home. Everybody but me.

Anyway, while I was having those memories this morning, the shipper was emailing me. We'll see if the weather holds...it didn't do me any favors last year.

[riderinthestorm]

11. Gawd. All of it awful. So sorry.

I'm the "spotter" in this partnership with my husband. I find all the prospects. Do all the deals. Either pick them up myself or arrange for the shipping. My husband rides what I buy for him and trusts me to ensure the horses that land at the farm are reasonably safe, and good prospects, since 95% of them are direct off the track. I've never had a bad episode so I'm sorry to hear yours. That totally sucks and is a big part of why horse traders have the reputation of being shady.

So I have a movie suggestion for you to keep you busy while you wait.

Horses AND Heath Ledger (in an early role). It's called "A Knights Tale". Yummy!

https://m.

[magical thyme]

12. it's ok. I got to witness them all get their asses bit by karma

Within about 2 years, the little breeder lost money on the 1st mare and went out of business. The breeder who snatched her out from under me went out of business and sold her stallion in 2008. The greedy big breeder developed an aggressive, inoperable brain tumor and died. The trainer who stole the t-bred out from under me was still trying to sell her a year or 2 later, so lost money there.

And in the meantime, I rescued Dahli's breeder. Dahli was to be her mother's replacement. She was everything the breeder was hoping for. And I would have given her Dahli back a couple years ago when it looked like I wasn't going to make it, but her breeder got cancer so was out of business and trying to sell all her remaining horses except Dahli's mother and father.