Horsing Around

Well we should have had lots of blog posts about our big birthday celebrations and Fall Party 2009. Unfortunately we both had the flu (not H1N1) for our birthdays and Lee spent his fall break still recovering. It was a real bummer of a birthday weekend. I didn't feel well for Fall Party either and so no pictures were taken there either! But thankfully for my fall break we both had recovered and so no plans were ruined due to illness. This year our fall breaks were not the same. Lee spent his sick and I decided to go on a short road trip for the first two days of mine. My aunt lives in Findlay, OH and so I drove the 2.5 hours to visit her and do a little barn therapy. Those of you who know me well know that I got my first pony when I was two and rode and showed horses until I went to college. After college I had a year or so where I got to ride someone else's horse....and then I moved to northern Indiana and had to give up the hobby. It is something that I really really miss. My aunt has a horse that she gets to keep at the University of Findlay's equine campus. It's like the ideal set up for her, she has access to both indoor and outdoor arenas, really nice stalls and facilities, and she has an amazing horse. Here is my Aunt Bren and Magic her trusty steed.I drove out on Thursday, we ate lunch and headed to the barn. I rode her horse for over 2 hours just schooling him and enjoying riding. It was amazing. Then to give my tush a break we walked around the barns, looked at the horses, ignored the snotty people, and just enjoyed the atmosphere and smell of horses and barn. This is Baxter another "friend" we visited. In case you can't tell from the photos he is HUGE. Like gigantic. He could easily kiss the top of my head. The highest point of his back is about the same height as me, 5'6.
I got to ride A LOT. It was such a blessing to spend some time with my aunt, spend time in the barn, and do something that I love so much. It also made me kind of sad that something that was always such a huge part of my life and is such a huge stress reliever for me is missing now. Maybe someday........