Happy Mother's Day

Without mothers, most of us probably wouldn't have been able to indulge the horse bug. As such, our moms deserve extra thanks on their special day! I am blessed to have two moms, and both of them found ways to help me be with horses. 

My first mom was born into an equine loving family. Three of her brothers became farriers, and her mom eventually boarded horses and gave riding lessons.

This is Grandma Fleeta, my mom's mom, in 1968 with Gypsy.

When I was very young, my mom would drive us pretty regularly to visit Grandma and Grandpa. If I was lucky, Grandma would have time to give me a lesson on Sissy. And even when I didn't get to ride, I still loved watching her ride or just hanging out with the horses.

Now that I am an adult and have my own horses, my mom still loves hearing about my riding adventures. As you know, most of our friends and family go into a boredom coma when we prattle on about this show or that lesson. Not my mom, she thinks I'm the world's best rider, despite my efforts to convince her otherwise.

While my mom doesn't live close enough to go to shows, she has made a huge effort to go to several. She also loves to buy me tack and other horse related stuff. She helped me buy one of my endurance saddles, my Stübben bridle, and a host of other ooh, wouldn't that be nice to own items.

My mom and me at the 2013 Regional Adult Amateur Competition - Central Region.

My stepmom was just as horse crazy as a kid. She and her sister saved their money and bought their first horse together before she was even tall enough to bridle him. I think his name was Duster. I've heard many stories about his shenanigans, he was part Arab, as well as tales about Misty, her second horse.

When I first met my stepmom (I think I was eight), she still had Misty, so I got to ride her at least once. Misty passed shortly after, so my horse crazy stepmom was horseless. That didn't stop her from helping me though. When I moved in with my dad at age twelve, she used her connections to find me a lovely little Welsh/Morgan cross named Sunshine. 

Garberville Rodeo Queen - 1985?

There were other horses while I was growing up, but I think I had the most fun on Sunny. One summer I got the wild idea to run for rodeo queen. I would ride the school bus into Garberville, the biggest town in my part of the county, sell raffle tickets, and then my stepmom would pick me up after work and drive me home. She was also the one who took me to the contestants' dinner. 

My dad didn't mind the horses, but he wasn't exactly a willing participant either. I know it was my step mom who did a lot of behind the scenes maneuvering to make sure that I got to keep my horses.

My stepmom with a very pregnant Nakota - 1986?

While I didn't have the typical horse show mom experience that many kids had, I did have two moms who who loved me and worked hard to put horses in my life. And while horse show moms are great, I think it's far better to have two horse-loving moms as an adult. Adulthood lasts a lot longer than childhood!

Happy Mother's Day to two very wonderful moms. I love you both!