Independence

After three days on I-70 that took us from Athens, Ohio, to Boulder, Colorado, I’m finally back in the office and getting to work. 


I planned on having a horror story or a funny adventure to write in a blog post after I got back from this trip, but alas, things went as smoothly as possible. The horses drank, and we didn’t even need to feed them watermelons to keep them hydrated, as one reader so brilliantly suggested. My horse that kicks didn’t kick very much, and the one that paws kept that to a minimum too, so all was well in the trailer. 


The only blip came in Kansas City, when one of Corey’s two ball-pythons escaped while we were staying at the horse motel. Luckily, ‘Chuck’ had just curled himself up in my stack of saddle pads. (Note: I’m not a big fan of the snakes, so I just stood in one place and shook while Corey tore my tack compartment apart looking for him.)


Now that we’re out here, Corey and I are both feeling a good bit of independence — we’ve got a new house on a beautiful lake, good jobs, and two horses to ride. Not that we don’t both still need Mom’s and Dad’s help, but this is a heck of a start : ) 


I stole the title (and inspiration) of this post from editor Juli S. Thorson’s column this month. She talks about how important her independence is to her and the independence she gets from her horses. 

“The freedoms of horsedom have carried over into adulthood. Few things make me feel more like the captain of my own ship than having my horse in the trailer and going to or from some kind of equine activity.” — Juli S. Thorson Just Between Us July 2010

I’ve been lucky enough to live this adventure that Juli so eloquently talks about many a times. Thanks to Onyx, Naughty, Casady, and even Cherokee, I’ve gotten to captain my ship to and from small town rodeos across the East Coast, and now to Colorado. 


So how do your horses give you independence? What do they do for you that no one else can?











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