Back in the saddle again

For those of you who may not know...I am definitely a country girl at heart. Don't let the shoe collection and coach addictions fool you. But I grew up in "po-dunk" Stanwood. My best friend lived on a dairy farm and in 5th grade I realized that I loved horses. My parent, alas, thought it was a "phase" and that someday soon I would grow out of it. However, I proved that scenario wrong and went full force into the horsey world and carved out a nice little niche for myself.

I started cleaning horse stalls every Saturday and Sunday beginning in 6th grade, just to be close to horses. Crazy, I know. I joined 4-H, worked for my horse trainer and basically slept, ate, breathed, lived horses all through Middle school and High school. I went to as many horse shows as I could find rides to and finally in 10th grade convinced my parents I was worthy of having a horse for my very own.

I wound up buying Trendy. She was the horse I had ridden since 7th grade. Trendy and I developed a huge bond and we went through many trials together- good and bad! I somehow hung on to her even through my first year of college, moving to Montana and "the event"....

However, the past couple years had been rough finding enough time for her. I always felt she deserved more time spent with someone, and plus it was fairly expensive to pay for all the upkeep. I could not bear to sell her to someone who didn't know her and love her like I did. So, I wound up giving her to some great friends of mine who I know will give her the best, loving home second to still being with me.

The past year since I have been without Trendy have been hard. I love horses so much and miss riding. I know my job keeps me from doing a lot of things that I love to do- simply cause I work some crazy hours, and lots of overtime hours on top of that. But I really started thinking about it and decided that this year was the year I am going to do something for myself. So, I found a horse to ride! I won't "own" him or anything like that, but the family I am leasing him from have two horses and just don't feel like Tigre is getting enough attention. Well, thats where I come in. I can come and ride Tigre whenever I want, and I can even take him to some horse shows (god, I hope those show clothes still fit....)

Tigre is the cutest bay Arabian, he's about 14 years old and is a little rusty on the training. But at least that makes things interesting. I am so looking forward to getting back in the saddle and riding again!