I heart Horses

I love my mare. I wanted a horse so badly when I was a kid. I begged my parents everyday. I talked about horses constantly, in school, at home, at my friends houses, in the car, to myself. I'm sure I was known as the dorky horse girl to the kids at school. Whatever, we all have to have a passion, right? When I was four years old Santa left a little brown stuffed horse under the tree. She was not really bay and not really chestnut, but brown with a dark brown mane and tail. She was in a laying down position with each back leg tucked unnaturally on each each side and her front legs straight out. I named her Sugar and I still have her. She's snuggled away in my cedar chest. Sugar lit the flame of a lifelong blaze in my heart for horses. My parents never bought a horse for me. That's okay, I'm not traumatized, I simply bought one for myself when I graduated from college. I had an apartment and there was a barn down the street where I could board one. Long story short, I went through three geldings before I found the mare I currently have. The geldings were okay, but there were various reasons they didn't work out besides the fact that I discovered that I don't bond well with them. When I saw my mare the first time, we had an instant connection. We still do, and it deepens with time. I'm still the dorky horse girl and folks who aren't horse people might think it's strange to have such a bond with an animal. But I've never felt that I had to apologize for my love of horses. Some people don't get it, some do.

This time of year is fantastic for riding. My mare and I rode through the fields last Sunday enjoying the sunshine and crisp weather. All the crops have been brought in and the fields looked so inviting. We wandered along the edge of the fields for about two hours. No people, no houses. Just wheat colored fields and deep blue sky. The clouds in an autumn blue sky are always puffier with just a tinge of dark gray making them look more animated than other seasonal clouds. I breathed deep and closed my eyes so many times tilting my face to the sky. My mare was mostly on auto pilot. Her steady gait beat out a cadence that was soothing and rhythmic. She carries me effortlessly leaving me the luxury to be inspired and daydreamy. She loves rides like this too.

After our ride I wanted to capture it forever. I snapped a few shots of my mare back at the barn and thought I'd share a few.