All The Feels

A long, long time ago, I was dating pretty much the worst guy ever. But, being younger and oh so much dumber, I tried to make it work for 2 years. Part of trying to make it work involved compromising on the amount of time I spent riding (or doing pretty much anything that wasn't his idea/in his control).

Eventually, I smartened up, left, and bought my own place. And, he unfortunately looked for revenge. The police and legal system eventually had to get involved (and they were all super, by the way - if ever any of you are in a bad place, please don't be afraid to accept help and/or guidance from them.)

So, a bit of a bad time. Although I did my best to cope, I wanted to run away from my hometown and all that history. Even with the police and legal system backing me, I didn't feel safe living there. I was embarrassed that so many people were aware of things I felt were personal. So, I put my house for sale, quit my job, and went back to school. More importantly to this particular story, I sold my horse because time was now even tighter, as were finances, and mentally I was not in a place where I could easily handle the responsibility of caring for her.

As mentioned, that was a looong time ago. I'm giving you the backstory because A: After years of being ashamed, I've come to realize people need to talk openly about such experiences, and B: so you'll understand how lucky I feel that this lovely mare found her way back into my life in her old age.

Bridget meeting Josie for the first time. Josie is about 2 hands taller than B, so it's only pony 'tude and determination making B appear larger.

Josie is now in her early 20's. I owned her as a 5-8 year old, I think. She's a 16.1hh appendix QH, and apparently I am still listed as the owner on her papers. She's had great homes through the years, and her final and current owner is probably the best of the bunch.

Back in the day, Josie was a really green broke, opinionated mare, and I was a pretty clueless late teen/early 20 something with her first horse. We tackled a ton of trails, jumped a few jumps, and did some basic dressage (much to her disgust). Locally, Josie is still known for her somewhat 'opinionated' attitude. Bridget is pretty much a mini me temperament wise. So funny, perhaps I do have a type.

Josie is now retired, and moved to the barn a month or so ago. She sadly has navicular. The plan as I understand it is to give her a summer on the farm before her owner arranges for her to be put to sleep in the fall. Only a small part of Josie's life is my story to tell, but she has kept an important piece of my heart, and selling her is definitely one of my bigger regrets from that time. I'm so happy I get to say hello to her every day again, and so pleased she's always had so many good people in her life.

Neither of them tend to really like other horses, so this kissy face stuff they have going on is kinda cute.