August 31

The Texas Buxtons have arrived in Colorado.

Seth, the minivan...

and the bird got in on Tuesday.

Buddy spent one night in Seth's office.

I thought it would be a problem with the dogs - particularly Emma - but they were completely nonplused. Yay!

Seth's parents...

and his brother arrived yesterday.

The move went surprisingly well - a testament to all the hard work Seth and Jason did beforehand - so I was able to concentrate on the things I needed to do to get ready to leave. This included - but was not limited to - meeting with Olive's support staff,

making a week's worth of Smart Packs for all the animals,

hanging out with both my sons,

and, of course, packing.

FYI, the size restrictions for carry-ons and personal items on Icelandair are really small. This has been tough!

Speaking of tough, I went to say goodbye to Olive this morning. Despite all my good intentions, I could not resist climbing up on her bareback and riding her out to the mare field.

Normally, she stays and cuddles with me - looking for treats no doubt - after I take the halter off, but today she turned immediately and walked away. I love you, too, bad pony!

And with that, I guess I'm ready to go. This has been a very hard, very long month, but it's ending on multiple high notes. Bring on September!

Iceland

Like so many things in my life, the Iceland trip was born on the trail. 

As we'd ride along down the trail, sometimes in a group of three...

but more often in a group of four,

we'd talk about places we'd ridden...

and places we wanted to ride.

This was a real staple during the pandemic era, when the world was feeling extra small and closed in.

I was able to contribute three riding countries, aside from the U.S. - Mexico, Germany and the Netherlands. Everyone else was better traveled. Between the four of us, we'd ridden almost everywhere.

But no one had been to or ridden in Iceland.

This was notable because Iceland is a horse girl mecca.

So we started talking about the four of us going on a trip to Iceland.

I thought it was just idle talk, things to say as we rode down the trail.

Then someone actually booked a trip. She sent a confirmation notice to our group chat, and I was horrified. 

"I can not afford that," I said. "There is simply no way."

"It's not as expensive as you think," I was told. "You have a whole year. You can make it work."

I did the math, and while it was still pretty daunting, it did seem possible. I set up a new savings account and started picking up extra shifts at work. Instead of buying model horses, I started selling them. I didn't go to BreyerFest.

It worked. By the time spring rolled around, the trip was entirely paid for.

Unfortunately, by that time our friend group was no longer a friend group.

I will be forever sad that we weren't able to do this as a group of four...

but at this point, that's not just water under the bridge, it's water under a bridge we crossed a long time ago.

Later today, I will board a plane bound for Iceland with my best barn buddy.

It's perhaps not the Icelandic trip of my dreams, but it's so much more than I ever expected. My bags are packed. I am so excited.

All of the Olives

In order to better manage my stress, my doctor recommended a daily dose of Olive. 

Let's be clear about this: She was talking about capital O Olive.

Because small o olives like this...

and this...

and especially these...

are vile little oil nuggets that have no place on my plate.

Good Olive.

Bad olives.

Best Olives.

Olive jar by Angelo Žunić

At this time tomorrow, I will be at the airport. How am I going to live without my Olive?

Grounded

My doctor told me to continue seeing Olive every day, even when my life is busy and stressful. 

Especially when my life is busy and stressful.

But also, I've mostly stopped riding. Oh, there have been a couple little bareback toodles,

but at this point I'm mostly grooming...

and turning out.

Olive thinks this is just fine, thank you very much.

The weather has been nice, and I would love to do more, but...

Last summer, my barn buddy, Diana, was a couple weeks away from a trip to Greece. She went out for a ride on her good, solid horse, Guaranteed, and things went sideways - literally. He was fine, but she suffered eleven broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Instead of going to Greece, she went to the ICU. 

Two weeks ago, something similar happened to my work friend, Nanette. She was riding her horse in the arena and he tripped and went down. She broke her elbow, and her trip to Iceland - we were going to be there at the same time - and Norway had to be cancelled. 

I have spent the last twenty one months riding Olive. We've come a long way, and I feel safe on her. 

But still, she is a horse - and a reactive one at that.

I don't want to be Diana or Nanette. I really want to go to Iceland.

For the next couple days, my feet are staying firmly on the ground.

Seven million

Yesterday evening - in the midst of all the chaos - my blog crested the seven million pageview mark. 

Thank you to everyone who's helped achieve this milestone. I could have have written all these posts without you, but trust me, I would not have. Thank you, thank you!