A girl and her horse........

 McKenzie was always our horse lover.  I remember like it was yesterday when we welcomed our first horse into our family.  McKenzie was 9 years old and Abasha was around seventeen I guess.  I thought she would always love horses.  There have been many other horses that have come and gone over the years.  Some were loved horses that ended with sad stories, and others we were glad to see go!  Marc and I neither one are really "horse people".  We have invested a lot of time and money into horses because it was McKenzie's passion during her childhood and teen years.  I think it filled a huge need in her life during that time and we would do it all again.

Madeline likes horses too, but it isn't her passion.  We kind of wondered if maybe, just maybe.... we could do away with the whole horse thing.  When your feed bill is more than your grocery bill for the week it IS kind of disheartening!

Then there is Mariah............

 Mariah loves horses every  bit as much as McKenzie did.  McKenzie took riding lessons from the time she was six years old.  Mariah......... hasn't had the first lesson.  She has grown up around horses though and doesn't know life without them.

 When she was six years old she was kicked by one (one of those horses we were glad to see go!)  It was a very scary experience and one that landed her in the hospital for a few days with a ruptured spleen.  You would think that she would never want to get near them again.  When a girl loves horses that much, it doesn't seem like they have much fear of them.  It wasn't long after that when she was riding one of our older horses and fell off. (Later she told us that she hit him with a crop, which made him take off. He wasn't the kind of horse that needed encouragement to go!)  That time she got away with just a broken arm.  Thankfully it has been years now with no horse accidents!

 Now that she is old enough to saddle up on her own, she is out there all the time.  She and Candy are making lots of memories this summer.

I watch her ride and wonder if she will always love horses or if it will be a passing phase.  Who knows......... but for now I am soaking up these days of a girl and her horse.