Teddy and Gretta

I stayed home this past weekend so I don't have any updates on the house or any of our other many projects.  I am, however, told that progress is being made on the closet and that I will be pleasantly surprised when I see it this coming weekend.  I have also put wedding planning on the back burner for a bit while I focus on packing, moving and job hunting.  So, in lieu of no post at all, I thought I would introduce the world wide web to the other loves of my life (and sometimes source of stress headaches), my horses.  I began riding horses before I can even remember.  I believe the story is that I was under a year old when I had my first pony ride.  My mom got me into the horse world and it turned into not only a wonderful activity that we shared, but an entire way of life that most of my  memories revolve around.  From spending all day, every day of a hot summer doing barn chores to bundling up on the coldest days to smash the ice out of water buckets, my favorite memories are the years we spent together with our horses.  I will never forget riding side by side with my mom along the perimeters of each field as we checked for broken fence boards and feeling like the rest of the world was miles away.  Horses became my entire world and I enjoyed simply being at the barn just as much, or even more than, riding.  Not only did the great people we met through horses become our family, but so did the actual horses.  My mom bought Gretta when I was 10 years old and I got Teddy when I was 11.  They have distinct personalities- Gretta is a typical mare and such a graceful lady that tries to hide her sweet nature while Teddy is the dorky little boy allergic to everything that is so excited to see you that his ears look like they are going to pop off.  The were truly fun and frustrating horses to ride and show, and now that they are retired, they are still just as fun and frustrating.  Gretta was a dressage horse who loved to get in the show ring.  She was retired after she developed Navicular in both her front feet and deemed too lame to consistently ride.  Now at 27, she runs everyday through her field kicking up her heels and showing off her beautiful gaits; stick a saddle on her and put her in a ring and she can't trot a straight line without looking lame.  As for Teddy, after 10 years of doing everything from eventing to Western shows with me, he developed severe allergies and COPD and seems to cough at the sight of a halter coming toward him.  This past summer was extremely hard on him and he currently is being treated for a build-up of scar tissue in his lungs, yet when I go to see him in the field, he trots right up to me looking as happy as he can be.  I know it must sound strange to everyone else, but Teddy and Gretta really are members of my family.  So much has changed in the past 15 years, but the one constant thing in my life has been these horses that have seen me through the good times and the bad, the happiness and the heartbreak.  I still get excited to see them every time I drive down the barn driveway.  I hope they are as ready to move and start this next chapter as I am.