Truthful Tuesday: the one about Badger

I get asked a lot about Badger. What he's doing. Why I don't have him at home. Why I don't show him. Etc, etc. I'm not going to answer all of those questions just yet. But I'll talk about our plan.
Badger, as I type this, is on a trailer heading up to CT from Florida. He's enjoying a nice box stall since it's so hot. I've been getting updates from every stop along the way, with some adorable photos.

He's not coming home to my barn though. Instead he's heading to the barn of a trainer I know. She does a lot of horse sales (no, she's not a "dealer") and has her own successful boarding and training business as well.
I'm at a point where I really need a horse to ride. I love grooming and hanging with Rio and Jampy, but this not riding most of the summer thing is killing me slowly. Kind of literally because lazy over here hasn't been running either. Anyway, I need to sell Badger to get a new horse. So sending him to trainer B is the best option right now. He's not even up here, and she has four very respectable, good horseman already lined up to see him.
So why am I selling the fanciest horse I've probably ever had (also will ever have)? There are a few reasons. But the main one is that I don't ride him very well. Could I learn to? Sure, in time, I'm sure we could get to know each other. But Badger is an athletic, slightly opinionated horse, and I don't think that's the smartest ride for me to have when I ride by myself at my house.
Sometimes it's hard to step back and realize that what you WANT and what you NEED are two different things. And that's really the main issue here. Do I WANT a really fancy derby horse that's buckskin? OMG YES. SO MUCH. Can I ride that? Not really. Not right now. So what do I need?
I need a steady eddy. Does he need to be a dead head? No. I'm a decent rider. I can handle some shenanigans here and there. But I need one that will give me some warning if shenanigans are about to ensue. And I need one that I can toss on a lunge line if those shenanigans are going to be particularly rowdy. At the end of the day, this just wasn't the right match for me right now. Could it be down the road? Maybe. But I'm not in a position to wait until I get down that road to make this relationship work. And so, Badger is on the hunt for HIS perfect human. I'm pretty confident he'll find her (or him). He's really going well right now, and he's just so darn cute.
Here's a video they sent up to me from Florida a couple weeks ago.

I know. Watching that video, I want him too!
So. Do I worry about what might happen to him? Sure, a little. But he's nice enough, he's going to end up in some good hands. Trainer B works with reputable professionals. And that horse is smart enough to keep himself safe. Do I feel like a terrible person for not keeping this horse forever and ever? Nope. I know some people think that you should keep every horse that ever falls into your ownership. But I don't think that's reasonable for most people. It's certainly not for me. I'll do my best to make sure that he ends up in a good place. And I'll try and keep track of him if he changes hands again. I will, to the best of my ability, make sure he has a soft landing down the road should he need one. But for now, we both need to move on.