*Phew*

The vet was out the other day to do teeth and coggins and I had him look at Vic's old injury. It's this hard plate-thing on his left hip that was from being kicked by another horse when he was a foal. It had been weighing on me for some time and I was worried that it might start to bother him as he ages. All these horrible scenarios were running through my mind. What if it does cause problems and he's lame for the rest of his life? How would I keep him fit if I couldn't exercise him? What if I had to retire him at such a young age? Could I afford to keep a horse that's going to wrack up tons of vet bills? What would happen if I ever had to sell him, God forbid?

However, the vet said it's just scar tissue and he doesn't think it'll ever affect him. THANK GOD.

That made my day. I've never been more glad to feel silly for worrying over a small, superficial thing. There's nothing like the relief you feel when you find out you worried for nothing.

I've also learned to never buy a horse without a pre-purchase exam again. I don't know why we didn't have a vet check when we bought him. What if the owner had been lying about it? Definitely not a smart move on my part. Especially since she lied about his age and training. She told us he was eight years old and was trained for eventing. I only found out years later that he was actually only five at the time. Just a baby. Which explains why he was a naughty little schmuck when we brought him home. But it worked out for the best. Buying him was the best dumb thing I've ever done. Go figure.

Your early horse-crazy years

I don't remember exactly when I became obsessed with horses, but I remember having a closet full of equine merchandise from very early on. I had My Little Ponies (the original ones, not those new, stumpy, weird-looking critters), Fantasy Fillies, and a battery-powered Barbie horse, among other things. I still have the pink Fantasy Filly and the Barbie horse. I think I still have most of my toy horses, actually. My poor Barbie horse had a rough life. He used to have a long mane and tail, but I took scissors and cut it all off. I guess I thought it would grow back. Now he has a cropped mane and a little bobtail. Poor thing. He still works, though! I probably had around a hundred toy horses at one time, and I had names and personalities for all of them. O.o

Our old house was a small ranch on about an eighth of an acre and I thought I was going to keep a mini horse in the backyard. I thought if I got a little tiny horse, I could just put a leash and collar on him and walk him around like a dog. He would be about the size of a large dog, so no one would have a problem with it, right?

I after I accepted that keeping a pony in the backyard wasn't going to work, I upgraded to Breyer horses and used them as an outlet for my horseless-ness. I couldn't have a real horse, so I collected as many model ones as possible.

Now that I have my own Real Little Ponies, I'm not as enthusiastic about Breyers. That's probably a good thing because I don't have money for Breyers anymore! When I have thirty-five bucks laying around, it usually goes toward feed or the farrier. lol