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."