If Dennis Can Do It So Can I

I have been following the blog of a friend and have been enjoying sharing her experiences raising her kids reading about her life with her kids, husband, surfing and how all that realtes to who she is now. When I knew her she was newly married and couldn't fathom that let alone kids! Now she blogs like a pro and seems to have the family vs. self thing down. Then the sports guy on the local news (who is older than me!) started a blog, and I thought if my friend and Dennis can do it so can I. So this is my first, and hopefully not my last, blog about me and the horse. Hopefully you'll get both sides (mine and his) and I'll try not to be too bias on the human side.

Me and the Horse

Should I start this like a Michener novel, at the beginning of time, or when I finally had my dream fulfilled? How about I give a brief history…As a little girl I was obsessed with horses. I had the Breyer model horse collection, and I dreamed of having my very own horse one day. I was lucky enough to have a brief taste of horse ownership in the mid 80’s when my friend Becky talked me into buying a horse. I became the lucky caretaker of Leah, a 10 year old Paso who was the best first horse EVER. She was kind, and patient, and forgiving of my lack of experience. She was willing and beautiful and smart (sometimes too smart!) and I wish I could have kept her forever and ever. I have thought about her often in these 20 plus years that have past since I last saw her, and I hope with all my heart that she had the best life ever, and lived with a family that loved and cared for her, and gave her the life she so deserved. She taught me that horses actually have feelings and feel love for their humans (and fear, and hate too) . Weird I know, but I never really thought about horses feeling love for their humans, but she loved me, and she showed it. Unfortunately life, and divorce, and kids and bills and, and, and…crept in and it wasn’t until we moved to Prunedale (yes, that’s really the name of our little community.) 5 years ago that I was actually able to realize my dream of owning another horse. As luck would have it there happens to be a stable that offered riding lessons right down the road from us. We moved into our house in September 2003, and my incredibly amazing and wonderful husband gave me a series of riding lessons from said stable that Christmas. Okay, so the first lesson didn’t go so well, and I didn’t go back for almost a year, but when I did, I had a different trainer, Linda, who taught me a lot. In my opinion she may have pushed me a little faster than she should have, but she is the one who after my first lesson, introduced me to JJ (aka “The Horse”). At the time, he was a still growing 5 year old registered Paint, and I was still really inexperienced. He was this gorgeous almost solid bay with the sweetest face and lips that went crosswise when his “itchy’ spot was scratched. But I was just learning and he was a bit expensive and I put him out of my mind, but in Aug 2005, that same incredibly amazing and wonderful husband surprised me with him. Did I mention I have this amazing, wonderful and incredible husband. Little did he know how that purchase would change our lives…