One Year with Abby

Abby, my dear sweet girl, is slowly but surely becoming my horse and this week marks our first year together as partners....kind of....

Abby has been my horse on paper for just a month shy of seven years. Seven years!!! Whoa!! I just did the math. I cant believe I have owned her for that long and yet we have only just begun our journey together. Over the past few months I have been riding Abby fairly consistently and actually taking her out for a few lessons and some sessions on the flag. Up until September 1st I was still considering whether or not I would keep her and had not really committed to her being my horse. Don't get me wrong, I did NOT want to sell Abby, not for a second, but I had sworn that I was going to get down to one horse (I had three) and selling Hola was not an option. Hola is my pet, my baby, my love, my.... my horse. Abby is an absolutely AMAZING horse but she was not my pet. She was my reiner. A horse I invested in (financially not emotionally). Don't get me wrong, Abby is impossible not to love. She is the cutest damn mare, so funny and sweet but I hadn't ever had her at home where I could spend the time with her to become truly attached, at least not to anywhere near the degree to which I am attached to Hola. So I kept myself just a little aloof from her while I was still undecided. I had to either lease her, sell her, breed her, or keep her. Or I could lease, sell, breed or keep Hola. One or the other. Not both. I promised myself that I would make a decision by September 1st and stick with it. On September 1st I found myself unable to chose. Hola, my heart. Or Abby, my dreams. It was impossible. So I broke my promise and my rule and kept them both.

From that day on I opened my heart to Abby and I started riding her like she was my new partner. We are really starting to develop a partnership. She has helped me find confidence in my ability to ride. Riding a finished horse (or a least a horse that was finished and is still really damn broke if a little rusty) is so freakin' cool. And Abby on a flag is the coolest thing ever. She is so loaded with cow she just buzzes. My goal for the new year is to get her going on cows and then hopefully cut or do some reined cow horse in the Spring/Fall.

I am so blessed to have Abby and blessed again to have her daughter, Hola. I can live my dreams through them but I also get to go to the barn every day and spend time with two mares who are so full of love, good sense, kindness and oodles of goof-ball antics.