I was reminded of something this evening while letting my dogs outside. I spotted my saddle in the basement, carefully stored away and sadly collecting dust. I was sad for a moment as I thought about how riding fills my heart and eases my mind. I know that sounds ridiculous to some of you, but to a horse-crazy little girl that “never grew out of it,” there’s no other way to explain it.

Sylvester, my Thoroughbred gelding, is currently leased to a hunter-jumper barn where he’s giving lessons to horse-crazy little girls. It makes me sad to not be able to burrow my face into his neck when I’m having a bad day or laugh at his grumpy antics, but I know it’s the right place for him right now. I don’t know if he’ll come back to me or if maybe a little girl will fall in love with him, but I do know that it feels like a little piece of me is missing every time I see that saddle in the basement.

But it’s almost Thanksgiving, and rather than dwell on what I’ve vowed to be a temporary unfortunate situation, I’d rather say THANK YOU.  Thank you to everyone who has ever helped fill my heart with the kind of love only a horse-lover could understand.  …and a huge thank you to my family – for accepting (and enabling) my obsession.

Thank you to my Mom & Dad

I’ll never be able to thank you both enough. I know there’s NOTHING convenient about owning for a horse. From the rainy trips to the barn, sweaty days stacking hay and cold winters breaking ice – you’ve always encouraged and supported me. You’ve both been my biggest fans and I love sharing my passion with you at every chance.

Dad – Thank you for all the times you bagged sawdust and hauled hay. Thank you for helping me get my trail-ride guide job. Who knew how that one summer would lead to an internship and so many other opportunities! I truly appreciate all the days you dropped everything to help and encourage me.

Mom – Thanks for all the amazing western show shirts you sewed in college… and for making me ride even on the days when I realllly didn’t feel like it. Thanks for showing me the true joy of velvety soft muzzle kisses and all those knowing-smiles you gave me, as you saw my love of horses and knew you felt the same.

Thank you to my sisters, Karen & Christy

Christy – I still laugh at the thought of you nervously watching my jumping lessons, easing off your bench and holding your breath with each jump. ….or how you’d wait until I walked out of our house in Baltimore, headed to a riding lesson, and you’d throw open the window and whistle and yell at me as I walked sprinted to my car in shame. Sisterly love…

Karen – I still laugh at the thought of you and your friends wanting to pick a fight with the snotty girls at the barn in my defense. I know we all crack up, remembering how I’d ride my bike on Main St to go feed my horses and how your friends loved to honk and cat call at me as I peddled feverishly… but I also know that you would have been the first person to come to my defense if need be.

My family has endured years of cars that smell like horses, shoes that smell like a barn and Christmas lists pulled straight out of a horse catalog. …and yet, they still love me!

How thankful I am to have a family that supports my hobby. I know you’ve all sacrificed in some way, at some point, to help me have the things that make my heart leap – and for that – I love you and thank you endlessly.

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