The pretenders

Ask any performance shower, the best horse is the one that can do everything.

I wanted that in my real horse, too, but then I chose Olive.

I love her, but she's not going to do everything.

It's okay. Sometimes pretending is to do things is good enough.

In the two plus years we've been together, Olive has done a lot of pretending.

I can't say that she's actually mastered any of the skills associated with these tack sets...

maybe this one!

...but she looks cute in everything.

And really, that's all that matters, right?

Karen's new Icelandic horse came with an Icelandic halter. She hung it on the outside of her stall, and I started having ideas.

The ideas were not so much about the halter, but about Icelandic tack on my decidedly not Icelandic horse. She already had the bridle, Karen had a saddle... One thing led to another, and this happened.

Technically, she should have a dropped noseband to complete the look.

It might have helped in other ways, too.

But whatever, my Icelandolive pony is cute.

The saddle doesn't fit her well enough for an actual ride, but in my imagination we are tölting together, across the beaches and fjords of Iceland.

Skál!