Oregon Vacation!

I've been out of touch for a couple of weeks, and with good reason. Casi and I took a much-needed trip to Oregon, managing to escape yet another week of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Part of that vacation was paying a visit to see my old horse that I've mentioned before on this blog. He's looking healthy and well, though his owner is having tough financial times and is now on self-care. He has a lovely shaded paddock to spend most of his time in, which is great for his arthritic legs since he can move around. It also keeps him much blacker to be out of the sun!

Even though he hasn't been my horse for a long time, it's always good to see him. He'll always be my first horse, the first one I trained from the time he was young. He taught me a lot about what to do, and more about what not to do with a young horse. I know I always go on and on about him, but he means a lot to me and always will. I hope that I can get back to Oregon permanently so that I can see him more frequently, even if it's just to pet his nose and tell him he's a good boy.

I also got to go on a ride with my friend Trish. I got to ride a western pleasure bred solid-paint named Romeo. I rode him last year too, and he definitely lives up to his name. His lope was pure pleasure - Trish was laughing at me because I was grinning so much the first time we loped around the polo field we were riding in.

Another fun thing was seeing a bunch of people I haven't seen in nearly 15 years - a random collection of some of the boarders at the barn where I first took riding lessons and boarded my first horse. It was crazy seeing everyone after all these years, but it was tons of fun, and I hope we can do it again! Everyone is so grown up now, including me.

The Sunny Hill Stables crew:

It was a great vacation, and we were far from happy to come back to the awful weather here. It was already 82 degrees when I woke up at 6:30 on Sunday, so Halo got the day off. I'm sure she doesn't mind, but I am itching to ride.