Operation Olive

The first thing I thought when I saw a photo of the Stone Horses Olive portrait was, "Oh, it's Boo!"

The second thing was, "I want it."

And of course I did. A really good, one of a kind, original finish portrait of your own horse has got to be the ultimate holy grail for any model horse collector.

I absolutely, positively wanted it.

But then I looked up at my horse. 

My living, breathing, recovering horse whose five figure emergency care was not going to bankrupt my family.

I realized I had everything I needed.

Even though the model was absolutely gorgeous - and also absolutely Olive-like - I realized I didn't have to own it. It was okay for it to go to someone else.

Yesterday, I got up early and went to the barn. I cleaned Olive's stall, groomed her and took her for a short walk. After fifteen minutes, I tucked her back into her stall, and walked down to the white barn, where Kaffi was waiting. I spent some time with him, both in and out of the saddle. Then, I walked back up to the show barn, gave Olive another big hug and drove home.

I only had a little bit of time to clean up and eat before work. During that interval, the UPS man delivered a box. A Stone Horses box. Right away, I knew what was in it. I mean, come on. What else could it be?

Not gonna lie: My first reaction was no.

My second reaction was also no.

Third reaction  was - you guessed it! - no!

It wasn't that I didn't want little Olive. Of course, I did. I just felt like I had already been given so much. There was no need to add to it. I truly had everything I needed.

I sat with the box a little while before my greed curiosity got the best of me. Carefully, I opened the top and found a sweet card from Erin.

It included a list of all the members of "Operation Olive." There were so many names.

Finally, nestled in a bed of packing peanuts and bubblewrap, I found Olive.

She is even more beautiful in person,

and I absolutely love the bow.

Big Olive, little Olive and completely overwhelmed Jennifer.

I really don't have the words to adequately express my feelings right now. I am humbled. I am grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. Please stop being so nice to me. I can not handle this.