I have quite a collection of scrappy horses of my own. Here are my three rejects. All free horses...but far from cheap! In the lead is my black mare from California, ears pinned as usual despite clearly controlling the entire round of playful activities with these boys. She came into my life with a lot of behavioral issues and a strange disease called temporohyoid osteoarthropathy. She and I have been through a lot and she has taught me more than one horse should be able to! The buckskin is my wonderful one eyed lesson horse, Keller, who came to me due to his severe uveitis symptoms, that caused the eye loss and the compromised other eye. He is my loyal business partner and I'm so thankful for what he patiently teaches my students! And picking up the rear is Bob, my troubled yet charming Midwestern bred Saddlebred that definitely makes me smile every day, and the barn would feel empty without.
I think I get more pleasure from seeing these unlikely rejects whose lives could have turned out so much differently, enjoy an afternoon loose and happy than I do from riding any horse around. For me, the riding is just an activity to do with a horse, not the point of having them around. Watching them live happy, healthy lives and loving it when they choose to come running over when they see me, because they are genuinely looking forward to a scratch, is such a great feeling.
The two photos with some green grass are from yesterday's rainy day. We all woke up a little less playful when we saw the white stuff everywhere!
For Mother's Day.You know you are surrounded by animal lovers when recently at a clinic of mine, one woman was talking about how she had recently adopted a baby. One of the first questions in response was, "What kind of baby?!" And the new mom answered without hesitation, "A baby human!"Happy Mother's Day! Whether your babies have four legs or two legs, your love and caring is appreciated.
