A Milestone

So today I left my twenties and have entered into the next chapter of my life...the thirties.
Doesn't really feel that much different I have to admit.  Funny how some people get so bent out of shape about this particular birthday.
Oh well....

I have to say I am just happy that I hit my thirty mark being a horse owner.
Growing up owning my OWN horse was always my wildest dream and honestly even just over a year ago it seemed quite unlikely to happen anytime soon.

But then Gracie entered my life.

I had met her back in 2007 but only once. 
My trainer, Cathy Fox, was at the barn one weekend doing a clinic.  Gracie's original owner decided to bring her over to get Cathy to work with her some and then make a sale video.  At this time Gracie was only 5, and her owner was not keen on taking on a green horse.
But I still had only heard tales of Gracie and had never met her in person.
That was till I was walking down the barn aisle and a dark shape leaped from the back of one stall with teeth barred trying to kill me!!
I got out of the way just in time.  I look back and see a very snarky dark bay mare giving me the evil eye as I walked on.  What a bitch I thought.
This ended up being Gracie of course.  Go figure that she was to end up mine within the year.

Ok....lets back up a bit here.
So Gracie is a nursemare foal baby.  She was orphaned at 3 weeks old and placed into a rescue up in KY.
A very good friend of mine had called said rescue just before Gracie had arrived and asked if they ever got "dressage" prospect babies in.  They said not usually but would call if something came in like that.
Well...gracie arrived soon after.  She was home in TN within a week.
To the best of our knowledge Gracie is 3/4 Thoroughbred and 1/4 Standardbred.  Her sire was full TB, and was a big time stallion on the farm Gracie was born at.  They just wont reveal his identity.  So her daddy is probably famous to some degree.  Her dam on the other hand is a normal horse of no real note which is just fine of course.

Gracie's mom ended up not selling her at that time even though she did have a few offers.
Instead Gracie stayed in TN and spent some time living with a local teenager.  Things never did work out and she returned back to her home.  Though it was no fault of Gracie's that things didnt last I might add.
Granted the mare had some issues especially with sucking back, but that is a tale all its own.

So fast forward to last May.
I was leasing a great gelding by the name of Junior.  He was a solid citizen at 16 and was helping me restore my confidence in the saddle.  But I was starting to feel that it was time to move on to my next horse, though at the time I had no way to purchase a horse. 
So again it was a clinic weekend with Cathy Fox.  I had just finished riding Junior and was untacking him up in the barn.
Gracie was actually the next ride after me so I was not there to see her go. 
All of a sudden one of the other boarders comes up to  find me exclamining that "we have ALL decided that Gracie is the horse for you.  It's just too perfect..you have to take her."

????????!!!!!!!????????????
That about sums up the look I had on my face.
ME? With a young green horse that has some issues under saddle already?  I was quite convinced everyone had been hitting the bottle all morning and were not thinking straight. 
That or I was getting the brunt of a very mean joke.

But in the end they were all serious...including Cathy my trainer.
So the next day I rode Gracie.  And I fell in love with her.  I felt some connection with her, and knew that I could get her through her troubles.
Within a few weeks she came back to Merry Hour as my horse.
Her owner, who is also a good friend of mine, gave her to me basicly.  She had raised Gracie and just wanted to see her go to a good home.  I was that good home.

It has felt like an eternity since that day in May she became mine, and the road has been long and hard.
But the mare loves me, and I love her.  And at the end of the day thats what gets us through.

So on my thirtieth birthday I am happy to say I am a horse owner.
Dont be supirsed to know that all my bday money will be spent on things for her...not me.
I have learned that being a horse owner means that buying things for yourself is long gone. 
But I am soooo ok with that.

Tomorrow I plan on riding her again...
Im sure Ill update how that goes...