The End of an Era

First off, I have to be the world's worst blogger... Once again it's been almost a YEAR since my last post. *sigh*

For anyone who doesn't know and might come across this blog and the possible cliffhanger of my last post... I'll give a super fast update. I decided to name the mustang Calen. His training went well, but we did not go to the competition in Fort Collins. It was right around the time of the EHV-1 scare and it turned out that a man where I keep my horses had taken a real liking to Calen and wanted to adopt him. So I was allowed to swap from the Makeover into their Trainer's program and let the man adopt Calen straight from the BLM and me, without going to the competition. I was sad to have missed out on going, but overall I think it was a great outcome. Calen got to stay right here where he was comfortable. This man is good with his horses and takes excellent care of them. Best of all I still get to see Calen every day!

On to my post of current events...

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Ok, so my title might be a bit dramatic but, for the first time in almost 12 years I only have one horse. (and I almost had none)

A few months ago as a result of health problems, escalating hay costs, and I'm sad to say some general burnout on a lot of fronts, I decided to find homes for my horses, Hay has been twice what it normally costs all year - when I can find it. With winter coming I didn't want to get into a situation where I couldn't feed my horses. I felt financially, physically, and emotionally exhausted. At one point I had decided that they were all going to go, I just couldn't do it anymore. The horses, the trailer, the truck, the tack, anything that said horse was going to go. Luckily my husband talked me out of such drastic measures and he wanted me to keep Bo.

I first saw Bo when he was a month old; he'll be 11 next year. Over the years he has been my faithful compantion, my steady mount, the one I can "put away" for months and then go for a ride like we were never apart. Over the years this has caused him to be put on the back burner while I worked with a string of youngsters and training projects - both mine and other people's. As of last week when my last other horse left, it's just Bo and I. It never really has been just Bo and I. From the time I first had him, I had at least one other horse and at most, 6 other horses. All of the other ones needed more work, more training, more attention.

Through it all, Bo just watched and waited. Now he will be my focus.

I've had a lot of dreams with horses flicker and die out over the years as life and a string of bad luck after bad luck interfered. I've been trying to stoke the fires for the plans I once had with Bo, before getting sidetracked by all of the youngsters who came along and all of life's inevitable interruptions. I think maybe next year he and I will finally do more together. I'd like to show him and spend a lot more time riding in the mountains.

This is the first time I've ever had just one horse, but what a horse he is!

An Introduction

Hello cyberspace!

Ok, I know... that was cheesy. My name is Bobbie and this is my blog, sparse as it may be at the moment. I struggled with a name for the blog, because my interests and the things I will probably write about are pretty diverse. I finally settled on "Horses etc" because my number one interest and favorite topic is... you guessed it, horses. I also had a bit of a problem trying to decide what my first post should be about. I suppose an introduction is in order.

I was born in a little town called Rifle, Colorado. What, you haven't heard of it? You're not alone. I'm used to being met with a blank stare when I offer that answer to the question "where are you from?" Legend has it that way back in history when a group of settlers decided to stop in the area and make it their home they found a rifle leaning against a tree, hence the name of the town. I can't tell you what Rifle is like now, because I haven't lived there in many, many years. I can tell you that growing up as a kid it was a great place. Rifle was a small town in a ranching and farming area where the county fair coming to town each year was the big "to do". I remember my Granny entering her flower arrangements, baked goods and beautiful tatting projects in the fair. I remember going on camping and fishing trips with my grandparents all over the area. And I remember my Granddad and I walking the sidewalk along Railroad Ave ("main street") as he walked me to their insurance agency after school. Whenever we would see someone along these walks, Granddad knew them by name.

When I was 11 my mom moved the two of us to Aurora, Colorado and I hated it there. I was, and always will be, a small town country girl at heart and the city was like a prison to me compared to the wide-open spaces and beautiful views of Rifle. I did have some good friends there in Aurora and I had some good times, but I spent a lot of time hiking out on the open prairie nearby. It was the closest I could get to the "wild".

At 18 I left home and began my travels. Over the next several years I lived in Florida, Arizona, Georgia and California. All those trips were made in my first car, a 1985 Chevy Cavalier CS station wagon. I crammed everything I owned into that little car and set off across the country without a second thought. I did have some company, a retired racing Greyhound named Trudy. She was my faithful traveling companion and she is the one who started a lifelong love of the breed and an affirmation that I will always have a Greyhound in my life.

I was married at 23 and moved to California. He had enlisted in the Army and we were stationed at Fort Irwin, just north of Barstow. We were married just shy of 4 years and it was a train wreck. It was Hell, but I'll spare you the details... We split up and he left on orders to Texas. I stayed in California, lonely and miserable for another year. I'd had enough of the depressing brown desert and I longed for things like green grass, trees, water and yes, even snow. I missed those things so much that it hurt. Finally I escaped and moved to South Dakota, a place I'd visited many times and even lived in a couple of short times. I've always loved it up here and had always said I wanted to come back... So here I am!

As for what I plan to write here in my blog, I'm not quite sure yet. Most likely various odd rants and ramblings, whatever pops up I guess.

Stay tuned!