Blog Hop - Continuation School

I love pony noses :-)

So the wonderful Viva Carlos put up another horrible wonderful blog hop this week. It is only horrible because everyone's responses have been making me tear up. Too close to the heart. *sniff*
Go to Forging Fiction, Equestrian at Hart, She Moved to Texas, Wilbur, Ellie, and Emily, and Fly On Over to see what I mean.......

Why do you continue to ride?

I could repeat what everyone else has said, but I wanted to write my own words....
It is very true that there is every reason in the world not to ride, not to own horses...
 - They are demanding. Feeding them 2-4x per day is not easy. Building and moving fences is painful. When you're sick, there isn't a choice. They still need food and care.
 - They are expensive. And they have a bad habit of getting injured, or contracting diseases. And let's not talk about tack. Yeah.
 - They will break your heart. I love all the animals I have ever had, but the horses are the hardest to lose.

And yet, there is no way for me to give them up. Like I say a lot, I would be very rich if it weren't for those silly 4-legged creatures. But I would not have the purpose in life that I do with them.

I am a pretty extreme introvert. Having a relationship with an animal means a lot to me in a different way that a human-human relationship does. People mess up. Not my horse.

There is something to be said about  being known as the girl who owns horses. People assume things, and they're not always bad. ;-)

Having and riding a horse makes me a stronger and better person. If I don't do it right, Lady will tell me so, and if I don't work to get it right, she continues to tell me. Horses are so honest.

I hate going out to the pasture like I did two weeks ago and finding my horse lame. I hate that she has welts right now from the flies. I hate that sometimes usually I can't buy the things that I want.

But none of that really matters because in the end, the good things make up for it.

I love walking out to the pasture and seeing the Lady and the Pony come over to get a treat.
I love the gleam of a bay coat in the sunlight.
I love the smell of good hay and I love watching it get eaten.
I love the feeling when you get all your aids and signals just right and your horse knows it too and responds, and for a moment, its heaven on earth.
I love putting my foot in the stirrup to mount and just at that moment my horse turns her head around and gives me a nudge and I know she is telling me to get on with it so that we can fly.


I love having the ability to get away from the bad things in life so easily.
Some people run away because its all that they feel they can do.
All I have to do is get out my saddle.