Bittersweet

It had been a wonderful, blissful day away from social media and private messages as I celebrated my daughter's 1st birthday. Our families had gone home after dinner, the kids were down for the night. I sat down on the couch, winding down after a busy day and picked up my phone to catch up on missed messages. 

"I had to put Mel down today."  

I immediately called A and we cried together. 

A is one of my oldest friends, we met freshman year in high school during swim team practice and  quickly found out we shared a lot of similar interests. During our college years, we would do rent-a-horse trail rides and always said that if we both owned horses someday, we'd board together and trail ride everywhere. 

Many years later, our dreams came true....I found Quest and A found Mel. 

I remember my first ride on him all those years ago. A told me she found someone looking to rehome a mustang gelding and she wanted to get my opinion of him. We drove to the owner's barn. I got to test ride him in the arena and I ponied A as she rode him outside in the yard. He hadn't been ridden much and spent most of his 18+ some years a pasture ornament but he was sweet and steady, with not a mean bone in his body. 

Mel was exactly what A needed and exactly what I needed when I needed saddle time while Quest recovered and rehabbed from her suspensory. 

Most of the time he was happy to plod along. He did have his sassy moments, but those were very few and far in between.

Out on the trail, Mel was rock steady as the day was long. A and I boarded together for 2-3 years and we made the most of it when our schedules allowed. We did everything together. 

 

 

Rest in peace, Mel - you were a very good boy. 

Daylight Savings

Once you have kids, the whole daylight savings thing starts to make a lot less sense. Our family morning routine and bedtime schedules have been out of whack for days...but I'm hoping things will get better soon. 

On the upside, additional daylight also means more hours in the day for barn visits to hang out with my best mareface.

We did a family barn visit this past weekend and managed to beat out the rain before it hit the area hard. 

I was so relieved to see that Quest's eye is 100% better, and no follow-up vet visit was warranted thankfully! She is certainly looking and feeling like her old self again. 

I gave her a nice grooming session- all the rain and pasture mud made that a FUN challenge. And I also did a quick maintenance trim while the rest of the family napped in the car waiting for me. Asides from that pesky RF mild clubfoot that we need to balance out, her feet are solid and easy to work with. I really appreciate a horse with decent feet. 

More daylight also means more trail time with Quest very soon. As mareface gets along in years though, I've been intentional in adjusting expectations as well. I recently read a great article What Ever Happened to “Serviceably” Sound?  that affirmed enjoying your horse doesn't end just because they aren't 100% in every shape and form. "A horse can be less than perfect and still be wonderful."

As long as Quest is ready for adventure, we'll be out enjoying our trails and daylight together until the day she tells me otherwise.

NaMoPaiMo 2024 - Complete

My model inspiration for this year's NaMoPaiMo event comes with a story. Back in October, I was browsing through my social media accounts when I stumbled upon a parent looking for a small memorial gift for her son who had to say goodbye to his beloved mare recently. 

After leaving a comment on her post that I painted model horses, the lady immediately reached out asking for my prices and work examples. I told her I was happy to gift it to her son completely free, she was overwhelmed. 

I had the model prepped and ready to go for months but the past few months were tough. My husband has been dealing with a ton of work stress and late nights since January and it was inevitably spilling over to me. My creative juices took a huge hit as a result. But art has always been my happy place and resolved to push through with finishing this project and managed to get it done for NaMoPaiMo as well. 

Rest in peace, Dolly. You were so very loved by your little boy.