Visiting Old Friends

One more pic of Bridget from the weekend, just because I'm loving them :)

Tuesday morning, while I was sitting at my desk wondering what mistakes in life led me to working in an office on such a gorgeous day, one of my old barn mates from the area sent a text hoping I might want to come for a ride later in the day and help her get some horses exercised. Yes please! I'm totally up for a surprise bonus sixth consecutive day of riding!

You might remember my very favorite Q Mare from the eventing barn...she's a big grey eventing machine that I used to hack out regularly, so we are old friends. I popped on her for some hill work and remembered all the reasons I love her - bold, powerful, and so very forward. And, rock steady. She's one of my favorites for sure, despite being rather oversized for me.

Such a pretty girl. She's 16.3hh which is much bigger than the 14hh pony I'm used to :)

Could not persuade her to put her ears up for you. Tacking up time = sleepy time, apparently.

As an extra special treat, Ginger and her new owner came along too! So cool to see them both. I'm so grateful Ginger ended up where she has - she's got the best owner and the best life and I can still see her sometimes too.

I even took a minute to say hi to my other favorite mare, Audrey. I haven't had a dressage lesson since Christmas, and Audrey being Audrey probably thinks that's just fine. She's not the cuddly affectionate sort pining for my company. I'm in money saving mode, so this whole not seeing each other anymore thing is probably best for both of us, lol.

The bittersweet part of today's story is that Q Mare's owner and best barn rat has a too good to pass up job offer in Ireland at a well known eventing yard and will likely be leaving soon to pursue some big dreams. I'm so excited for her, but I will miss her too! I was kind of hoping she'd still be around when I eventually bring Sophie down and have her in training (and myself back in lessons).

Of course, big changes like that mean Q Mare has also sold. She's going to a great home, but I won't lie, I've had a bit of a fantasy for a while now where I somehow managed to buy her, so I was a bit sad knowing this was likely my last ride on her.

Since my other favorite previous barn mate is also riding professionally in Ireland, you can be sure I'll be following the Irish event calendar from afar and cheering everyone on! I don't know about you, but even though my goals and dreams differ I find it super inspiring to see these girl's dedication and determination in going after what they want from life.