Has a rough night, decides is actually sick with something. DH says stay in bed…only there is something that needs to be picked up at Post Office, and is worried that maybe some of my “taccidents” might be turning up…you know, the Kerrits top that’s usually $79.99 on sale at $39.99, and possibly a back up winter blanket,
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I once came to work one Monday morning with a black eye Alex gave me.
It was right after I first got him, and it was his first farrier visit. He was nervous; we had a chain on him; he swung his head to look at a passing car and caught me across the face with it.
“My horse gave me a black eye” was somehow deemed a dubious answer to the inevitable questions.
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Been there, done that.
I finally got a little huffy and said “Yes, I admit it! I’m in an abusive, co-dependent relationhip! With my HORSE!”
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I do not own these horses. They are the “lowly” lesson horses at the barns where I ride.
Let me see, my latest extravagance for these horses I don’t own, for my lesson horse he got a SmartPak clone of the BOT exercise sheet (it was $68.00 cheaper and his size was in stock) as well as BOT neck rugs for both horses. Yes, the neck rugs are made to be used with one particular BOT sheet and not as a riding accessory. We managed.
But there was a bitter North wind this morning for my lesson. For once I did not feel guilty at all for stopping to rest a minute or two. My normal lesson horse did not seem to mind it at all after a few minutes and I think he will like it even more when winter winds start to howl when I have my lesson rather early in the morning. I asked my riding teacher if she wanted to borrow it for the horse (to go along with the BOT exercise boots I lent him) and she said yes.
This is in addition to the Micklem bridles I use on each horse, the titanium bits I use on each horse, the BOT exercise boots, the Fenwick pastern wraps, the BOT or Fenwick saddle pads I use, the BOT poll cap, the Fenwick Face Mask with Ears, plus all the stuff I use on the saddle and the different types of reins I got so I can keep my hands more or less level.
I have MS. I am positive that I am a much more irritating rider than I was 50 years ago. I just figure that if the horses feel more comfortable and feel warm in the cold wind that they might decide that it is just not worth the effort to explode under me since I have listened to all their beefs and spend my own money to make these wonderful lessons horses more comfortable when I ride them. Even when a cold wind is howling my rides tend to be pretty peaceful affairs as the horses huddle under their clothes.
That is worth every penny I spend on these horses I do not own.
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…if you’re fairly easily convinced to buy a $3k saddle, but refuse to buy jeans that cost more than $30.
…if you think nothing of impulse ordering a $200 helmet, but gasp in pain at spending the same $200 on household goods and food at Costco.
…if you happily spend $75/mo on supplements for your horse, but won’t join the gym because $45/mo is too expensive. 
…if you order that $200 turnout blanket without even thinking, but are still running around in that old jacket you bought second hand 9 years ago for $40.
I have an interesting rationalization process for horse expenses. 
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When you have perfectly lovely Rambo blankets that someone gave you that worked “well enough” for your foster horse last winter (they are a little too big), but you are now scouring for better options that work for “bigger than a 72 but not quite a 75” 28 year old horse that you’ve now adopted because you absolutely adore her even though she’s a total PITA in terms of horse care. 
Also – when you are doing renovations on your main barn and the two horses have moved to the shed row barn temporarily. Said PITA horse requires a night light, but shed row barn does not have electricity. And you convince darling husband to go out and change the battery in the shop light you are using every three hours during the night.
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There was one memorable morning many years ago, back when I still had Coleridge, my trusty F150. I had come to church one Sunday morning. In the hall, somebody complimented me on my new truck. New truck? I haven’t got a new truck. Oh, must belong to somebody else, then.
But then the second person made the same remark. Third. By the fourth, I was getting curious, and I asked, “Why does everybody think I have a new truck?”
The woman who was fourth responded, “There’s a new-looking truck out there in the parking lot with several bales of hay in the back. I just thought that if anybody was bringing hay to church, it must be you.” 
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It’s holy hay now!
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You might be an equestrian if…
…you spend $200 every six weeks for your horse’s shoes, but traipse around in the $15 used Danskos you bought from your neighbor.
The only shoes I would EVER spend $200 on for myself would be tall boots :). And let’s be honest, I’d spend more!
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You might be an equestrian if all you think about on a nice day is getting out to ride or be around horses in some capacity.
Or maybe I’m not very well rounded in other outdoor activities haha. There’s no other fiery passion that comes back time and time again than horses.
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Well at Gardening Club I realised I was not passionate about gardening. The person speaking had books on gardens, videos on gardens and had been on an international trip to England to visit gardens.
I would never think of going on an international trip to see a garden, but at home, books, videos, memorabilia, trinkets of horses, horse forums, Google horse things and you bet I would travel internationally to see the SRS, if I had money to spare, there was no pandemic and I did not have this little thing about getting on a plane.
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You may be an equestrian if a friend comes over and on entering declaims, there are horses every place I look!
You then wonder, looking around, well yes, they are, and consider, was that a compliment or an eye-rolly worthy outcry?
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You might be an equestrian if …
Despite never having spent more than $20,000 on any vehicle, ever, you’re actually considering putting a deposit down on the new F150 Lightning (which start at $68,000) because it’s electric and “ticks all the boxes” (aka can tow a horse trailer).
.
.
.
I’m off to buy a lottery ticket.
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You are struggling through a golf course to appease your husband and all you can think about is the fantasy XC course your are daydreaming about running through that fairway.
when your iphone galley shows you “memories” of a Hawaiian vacation, and one of your lunging your horse on a gorgeous day and the memory you want to instantly re-live is working your horse and not returning to a tropical isle.
when 1/2 of your garage storage is dedicated to your horse
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Accurate statement right there.
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only half?
Amateurs.
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Garage? What’s a garage? That’s my second tack room!
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I think I qualify:
I can count on one hand the number of massages I have had in my entire life (I’m not young), but my horse has a standing appointment for a massage once a month and this has been going on for well over 10 years.
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Dreammaker Cobblestone Farm near Ann Arbor MI bought a 150 acre golf course and created Revel Run ! Currently they run thru Modified.
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haha! that is awesome. Glad someone with the means did the right thing!
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