Cob Jockey

First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you for your support and suggestions last night.  Every single one of you helped, and I am feeling a lot more optimistic today.  For those who suggested deferring student loans, I asked him about that this morning after reading your comments and he said that he deferred them once before when he was unemployed after his (debt free) grad school, and that he wasn't sure if he could defer them again/for how long, but we're looking into it.  Deferring those would definitely allow Connor to stay where he is, but even if he can't, I can afford to keep him one way or another.  Fingers crossed!

When the going gets tough, the tough get stupid, or lucky, or both.  My County Competitor failed to sell after being on eBay for two consecutive auctions, so when a Dressage rider from Vermont who had seen it both on Facebook and eBay emailed me to ask if I was interested in trading it outright for her 17" W County Competitor, I was listening.  We emailed back and forth a lot, and eventually decided to ship them to each other on the same day and exchange tracking numbers.  I could have gotten burned, but had a lot of reasons to trust her, and the saddles arrived at our houses on the same day.


Hers is a 2002, mine is a 1994, hers is well-used, mine is almost in showroom condition.  Hers is the generation of County I first rode in/fell in love with in high school, with the butt-cupping seat and knee rolls that make me feel like I could stick a bronc.  It fit Connor well, my trainer approved, and it felt great for me, aside from the flap being a bit long.  I told her I would like to keep it if she wants mine, which it sounds like she does.  I could use the money more right now, but the short flap just won't sell, and if I had to sell a saddle, a 17" W is a lot easier sell/more commonly desired size than a 16.5" short flap.

I recognize that this whole thing could have ended really badly, but the moral of this story is that Internet strangers aren't all crooks (like all of you awesome, supportive people!) that sometimes you don't get burned by a less-than-socially-acceptable decision, and sometimes you get rid of a saddle that you both can't ride in and can't sell, and end up with a saddle that you can ride in and could sell.

It's going to be no-stirrups Dressage work until I can afford leathers for it, though!  Boot camp here we come!

Saddle equity: two new saddles, didn't spend a dime.