11th Anniversary of My Day of Choosing

January 2025

I meant to have some cuddles and get pictures with Skeeter the other day (May 2nd, to be exact) to celebrate our Day of Choosing, the day she choose me from the pens in Canon City. Silly me, I went to Canon City thinking *I* was going to be in charge of picking my horse. Instead, she chose me, and I'm forever thankful.

This silly mare is everything I swore I'd never tolerate in a horse: pushy on the ground, food driven, heavy on the bit, and refuses to load in the trailer. Basically, she is Karma incarnate. Like those parents who say, "my child would never..." and then end up with hell children. Yeah, that's my Skeeter Bang.

But she's also loving and sweet. And, dang, I do love this girl.

She's not easy, but she's taught me so much in the 11 years since she chose me. My horsemanship has improved - I've had to learn new ways to approach things, and patience. I've had to learn so much patience. When Skeets gets her stubborn pants on, she likes to keep them on for a good long time. 

Trailer loading is worst skill, and her favorite time to don her stubborn pants. We've worked, and worked, and worked on it. She still hates it. There are times when I wish I could get her to understand that if she just gets on the trailer, we can go have adventures together. She loves adventure. There's a whole big world out there that we could explore. If she'd only get in the damn trailer.

She's a terrible mounted posse horse, but the most amazing parade horse you'll ever find. Hates the arena, but will go for miles on a mountain trail. Paws at the gate and hitch rail, but stands for the farrier. Pulls back when hard tied, but will stand with the lead rope just looped around the hitch rail. 

Thank you, Skeets, for choosing me. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm glad you chose me.

I'm So Ashamed

 For real.

#1: I haven't posted any horse content since May, 2021!

#2: Even worse, I haven't ridden my horse since November of 2023.

November 6, 2023

I'm lucky that Skeets is such an amazing horse, I really am. While I haven't been riding, I try to spend at least a few seconds with her each day, even if it's just for cuddles. I just don't seem to have enough time in the day to get everything done. I spent the summer of '23 building Whimsy with Mom. My focus was on helping Mom heal, and so we spend our time working on things other than the horses - she was still feeling a bit unsteady around them due to her TBI and the fact that her body took a beating during the accident. We kind of focused on Bill's death, but Mom spent time in the ICU for a collapsed lung, flail chest, TBI, and fractured jaw. Even though she's bionic, it takes time to fully heal from injuries like that.

We worked with the horses here and there, but always for very short periods of time. Despite my lack of attention, Skeeter continues to be a love bug and comes when called. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was under the weather, and she rested her forehead against my chest and just breathed. It's amazing how magical horses are, isn't it?

With my new-found grandma crochet skills, I crocheted each of the horses a Christmas hat and we've been making them do their Christmas pictures in their stocking caps. It's so stinkin' cute!

The Bionic Cowgirl with Washoe and Alloy

L.E. with Miss Pearl*

Me, with Skeets and Copper

I had thought to get our pictures taken with them under the archway in front of Whimsy, but they weren't really having it. Mom, of course, got Washoe to stand nicely under the archway, but it was too narrow for both of her boys to be in there with her. I'd taken Skeets and Copper through it several times prior, in an attempt to make picture day go easier, but it didn't help. They feed off my anxiety for Christmas pictures. It always seems like we're in a rush to get them done before the weather hits, or because our schedules are crazy and we only have an hour or so to complete them.

I'm working on the path under the arch, so this year there will be flagstone rather than slippery, crinkly cardboard, so I think the kiddos will be more amenable to walking through and standing.

January, 2025

Despite only getting scratches and kisses, along with very occasional outings, Skeeter still seeks me out. I am forever grateful for my mare.

*This is one of my favorite pictures of L.E. and Pearl, because Pearl's not a cuddly horse, so to see her leaning into L.E. makes my heart so happy.