Step 1: The Beastie

First, a note about the chronology of steps.  No one really happens all that much before the other, and really I think they are all always happening at once.  Well, not the acquiring of the horse, but then the dealing with the said horse is certainly always going on. So far though, the actual horse part maybe has been the EZest (ha, no pun intended.  Kidding, it was definitely intended).  While the rest of the process might have some imperfections, some of them glaring, the horse part is perfect.  Or maybe I'm just EZily satisfied.  I promise, I'll stop that.

So, my last few weeks in WY this summer, during most of my time in the one room on the ranch with internet access I was looking for the pony that really wanted to come home with me.  Since I knew my funds would be limited, and I was ok with having a project pony, since I felt pretty good about my horsiness (skills, not looks, thank you very much) after my years and summers working and riding them, I started looking for adoptions.  Given the current economic climate I also thought I might be able to find some pretty sweet and maybe not so project-necessary mounts on the cheap too.  Petfinder.com became my go-to, and soon thereafter equine.com, where I usually was plugging in $0-$1,000 in the search fields.  Although sometimes I would just go all out, and look at all horses available, which was helpful, I think, to think about what I really was looking for, and what the market was.
Because, I didn't really know what I was looking for.  A pony!  A cute one!  A sweetie-pie!  I wanted a big one, a draft cross maybe, that was large and cuddly but still had some spunk in its step.  After riding all the baby Arabians I didn't want something I felt like I was squishing.

Look, this could be me, on my new cheap, but very talented horse !  Super sweet and snuggly too, I'm sure.

After I got home to NY my friend and stable-owner said he'd help me look at some potentials I picked out.  That stuff is overwhelming.  So many options!  So many things to think about! Age, height, ability...I knew I'd want to keep the bugger at home, do lots of riding around the fields, do some dressage, do some baby jumps and eventing eventually, so just a little bit of everything, not too much to ask for, right?
So with my friend's help we decided to go to a rescue not too far away, http://www.akindalehorserescue.org/, a thoroughbred rescue with a horse who they promised was built like a warmblood.  
When we got there, the said horse was not available, but they had plenty of other ones they thought might work.  When they saw me, having said I wanted a gigantor, they were all, "Oh you're not that big!  Don't worry, we've got lots of little guys!"  So, I complied, and checked out what they had to offer.
The last one I saw was dear EZ Dollar.  And the rest is history.  He was the only one I tried riding, and honestly, it wasn't love at first sight.  He was small!  He was fine, but you know, fine.  There weren't sparks.  But he went, and he whoaed, and he took contact and seemed bendy and not crookedy.  My friend and I agreed he was promising.  We could still look around, but we'd have him to compare other to, and they'd have to more compelling.  Which didn't exist.  I tried one other freeby tb at a stud farm near my house, she was super cute, but had less training, was older, and didn't seem like she would hold up as well in the long run.  So I got in touch with Akindale to say I would like to take EZ on trial, and just in time, as there were other interested parties that wanted to take him to VA.  Whew, just in the nick of time!

I kept him for the 2 week trial at Kinnitty Capall Farm, my friend's stable.  The next weekend my friend took him to a little jumper's show, just to see what he could do.  Better him than me, I am not that brave.

There he is, so tiny, so brave.  It was bright, it was hard to see the camera and the focus...

Check out those sexy rainbow reins.
At the show and during the rest of the 2 week trial, EZ did everything we asked him to do.  He might not know a whole lot yet, but he was always willing and never put up a fuss.  What more can you ask for?
I really fell in love with him the first time I hosed him off and he tried to nibble and drink from the hose.  Goof ball.
 
I brought him home after the 2 weeks, and after the requisite adjustment period he's chilling with his homies.  More on that to come.