The latest...

Tag with the star, Patsy without.

We try to plan our futures as best we can. The thing is, we can't know what the future plans for us moment to moment. My last post was months ago, and not much that I planned has come about. Embracing the "go with the flow" mind set is not easy for one like me; however, I'm learning.

Mom is feeling better after finally getting diagnosed with ulcers. I can't help but think that if she were a horse, I would have seen the signs, lol. She is back to working out at the Y and doing all her normal daily routines again. My family and I are very relieved.

It became clear that at 25, Tag was losing his quality of life. Physically his hind end restricted his movements and at times was quite hard to watch. He definitely changed mentally as well. His normal joi de vive was no where near the same. He was quietly and calmly put down and cremated December 5th. Patsy and I are still absorbing the change. I didn't plan - there's that word again - on him leaving us this winter; otherwise, I would have planned for Patsy and I to go south for the winter. We truly don't like the winter. Tag had a toughness about him where he would always grow a wonderful coat. Patsy grows a coat, but it's not robust, not does her skin do well with changes in weather. I hope to create a plan for next winter for both of us to be in warmer climes.

I decided that I should retire from working with the horses that have major issues. I have had too many concussions and falls for a 57 year-old. I was able to confidently train and help the reactive horse when I was younger. I'd like to have fewer surgeries and keep a few more years without constant pain as I get older.

I'm not going to stop riding. My hope is to focus on Patsy and give her as adventurous a life, or more so, as Tag had. She's quite a lovely mover and enjoys the dressage work more than Tag did. He just wanted to run and jump :) Their racing stories are quite different. He was retired at 5 with an injury. She was retired at 4 without an injury. He had the heart of one that loved to be first. She has a big heart for socializing. She really cracks me up, and look out for those teeth! She is demonstrative with every fiber of her body - especially her feet. To watch her play outside, you'd think she'd make a great circus horse or movie star with her dramatic rears that she adds a spin to every now and again. I look forward to our adventures, but I won't make huge 'plans'. One day at a time.