Seth's pony

Olive had a leaky gutter that I thought Seth should know about, so I sent him this video.

He told me that he didn't have time right then, but he'd get to it later. Good enough. The next day when I was at work, my phone pinged. I looked at it and saw a picture of Olive.

"Oh no," I said to a co-worker. "Seth is at the barn without me."

For the next hour or so my phone kept pinging and pinging.

Every time I checked it, there was a new photo.

Some were Olive and Seth.

Others were just Olive.

I will never stop laughing at this one.

My shift ended at about the same time as the photos. I drove home in the dark. When I got there, Seth was walking out the door on his way back to the barn. Of course, I went with him.

Seth worked on the stall, while I cuddled Olive, who he refers to as "our pony."

I guess we won't really know until the next storm, but the glacier is gone,

and Olive's gutter appears to be working properly.

So many of my real horse friends have spouses who resent their ponies. I am so glad that is not my husband. If he wants to claim part of Olive as his own, that is fine by me!

Thanksgiving extra

I had so much fun entering the October Happy Horsing Around Show on Facebook, I decided to do it again this month.

Two of the themed classes called for Thanksgiving props.

I did what any reasonable person would do and bought a Mojo turkey and made a 1:9 scale pilgrim hat.

Here's the photo I planned to post here on Thanksgiving day. Better late than never?

That was going to be the extent of my Thanksgiving photo taking, but then I had an another idea that was just too good to resist.

This was the first time I've taken show pictures since last April's basement flood took out my photo table. I've definitely missed it. I guess it's time to rebuild.

Thanksgiving week

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, especially when I share cooking duties with my best friend, Carol.

We had to take a few years off due to Europe and the pandemic, but last year was a glorious return to form.

This year was supposed to be more of the same. The tickets were purchased, the plans were made, we were ready.

Then Carol cancelled.

It wasn't personal, she had a really good reason, I totally understand and support her.

But also #WorstFriendEver.

Without Carol to help me, the holiday I'd been looking forward to all year suddenly felt like nothing more than a whole bunch of work.

Instead of focusing on my disappointment, I tried to distract myself with an "All of Olive" week. That worked - kind of - for a day or two, but most of last week was sad and depressing.

And then it was Thanksgiving.

The first half of the day was, in fact, a whole bunch of work, Then the guests began to arrive, and suddenly - magically - it was my favorite holiday again.

This year's group included Seth and I, our sons, Ryan and James, Ryan's girlfriend, Sarah, his roommate, Curtis, my friend, Angelo, her wife Tori and their dogs, Archie and Soot. The rest of the post is pictures from our day. Thank you, everyone, for coming. Let's do it again next year, with Carol!

Pictures from today's ride

Today is my friend, Mary Jo's birthday. 

Traditionally, we always mark the occasion with a fun  group ride. Last year, that ride did not include me. Olive was just too new. 

I had some serious reservation about today's ride as well. I haven't ridden her much lately, and her last trail ride was... not great. All of that coupled with slick footing felt like a recipe for mayhem.

Still, it's Mary Jo's birthday. I didn't want to miss out again. 

"Please be good," I said to Olive when I arrived at the barn this morning. "This is important to me."

She must have been listening because she was perfect, and not just in a low standards kind of way.

The footing left a lot to be desired, but we went slow and it was fine.

Better than fine.

What a fun ride!

After we were done, we continued the celebration at our favorite watering hole.

What a fun day! I'm so glad I didn't chicken out. Happy birthday, Mary Jo!

No more no but

When I was little and almost too shy to talk, my mom would tell people,  "Jennifer loves horses. " If they asked if I had a horse of my own, she'd say, "No, but she has lots of Breyers!"

Eventually, I learned to speak for myself, and no surprise, my favorite topic was horses. When people asked if I had a horse of my own, I'd say, "No, but I take riding lessons."

After that, it was, "No, but I take care of a friend's pony."

"No, but I work on the horse staff of a local day camp."

"No, but I ride the un-leased camp horses during the off season."

"No, but I'm a working student for a local trainer."

"No, but I'm an equine science student at CSU."

"No, but I ride at my friend's place every weekend."

"No, but I work as a wrangler at a guest ranch."

"No, but I work as a wrangler at another guest ranch."

"No, but I work at a tack shop on the A show hunter/jumper circuit."

"No, but people let me ride their six figure horses, and I'm too stupid to get a single photo."

"No, but I work as a buyer for the biggest tack shop in the Rocky Mountain region."

"No, but I ride my friend's horses."

"No, but I lease a Welsh Cob."

"No, but I lease an Arabian."

"No, but I lease another Arabian."

"No, but I ride all the horses, all the time."

"No, but I work at a tack shop again."

"No, but I make model horse tack, show performance and am sort of a famous person in a really niche, horse nerd kind of way."

"No, but you don't need to own a horse to be a horse girl!"

For almost fifty years, my answer to the "Do you own a horse?" query started with the words, "No, but..."

Then I decided I was tired of all the buts.

Today at work, a customer will ask me if I have a horse of my own. My answer will be one simple word, "Yes."