The Little Everglades Steeplechase

Back in high school, I knew Hus-B was the guy for me by his willingness to clean stalls after school and give up his weekends to accompany my family to horse shows, toting around my grooming box all day and serving as a pin-cushion during those tense moments before I entered the show ring. I loved horse show weekends. Grooming my horse to perfection--from her braided mane to her polished hooves--getting up before sunrise to load up the horse trailer (and the hilarious antics of Mama trying to talk some sense into the horses when they didn't cooperate), Daddy polishing my boots the night before and packing up his hammock and a cooler full of more snacks than we could possibly eat in one day. Horses occupied much of my free time, certainly kept me out of trouble, and taught me responsibility--but they're not a cheap hobby. Years later, Hus-B took Daddy to lunch to ask for my hand in marriage. What were the first words out of Daddy's mouth? "Are you going to take the horses, too?" Yep, that was the deal. My two horses were my dowry. And never once has my sweet husband complained. Not in those first years of marriage when monthly barn board and training cost us more than rent and utilities for our little apartment (and no, the horse stalls did not have A/C or cable). Not when we had to take out a second mortgage on our house only a month after we moved in to pay for emergency colic surgery. He's grinned and borne every equine inconvenience being married to me has brought. Though I know he doesn't share my love of horses, he's always supported my passion for them and I don't tell him enough how much I love that about him. My high school and college competion horse died a couple of years ago (at the ripe old age of 27 with me hugging her neck as she took her last breath) and my other horse is pretty much a big, spoiled pet these days--she loves to get brushed and fed carrots and doesn't get ridden nearly as much as I would like. Our girls love to accompany me to the barn and I hope that as they grow up, horses will be a shared interest.

Me and Lacey:

We spent last Sunday at the Little Everglades Steeplechase with Daddy, my Brother B and his friend Ms. S. It was a beautiful day and a great event benefitting several wonderful charities. An afternoon in the country was so relaxing after 9 days of Strawberry Festival craziness.