2010s Photo Challenge

I see this one's making the rounds, starting over at May As Well Event, and it sounds like fun!  I... may have gotten carried away with photos.  It's one photo per horse per year; that's close enough, right?

(Also, hey, I'm still here! lol)

2010
This was one of the first years I started hanging out at the barn where I now board.  I don't have a lot of photos from this year, but I do have one that I think is worth sharing.

Back side - I have photos of both sides too.

This is one of those "why I wear a helmet every time" photos.  One of my now-BOs was wearing this helmet when she hopped on board a youngster that had already dumped her mom that day - just a baby thing, where she took off and mom, being not the best rider, came right on off.  Said youngster panicked a second time and took off with now-BO, who eventually decided to do an emergency dismount when it seemed like the "get away from human on back" panic was going to drive the little mare to try to jump the arena fence.

She landed ok at first, but quickly ended up flat on her back, plowing a few feet of arena, and was unconscious for probably a minute and a half.  No lasting damage, aside from needing to replace what started the day as a brand new helmet.

Every time, y'all.  Every time.

2011
...was apparently a really boring year.  lol More riding at the barn I would eventually board at, on whatever was trained for saddle and seemed safe, including a couple of times on this kind of daft little guy - one of only two horses that has ever licked me.  (So, so weird.)

This is his "you are not my mom" face.

2012
This was the year I met the other now-BO, as well as one of the crazy women who later went on to cause so much drama (and still are, omg), and I took photos while the others rode.

BO2's mare at the time; the mare has since passed away.

2013
The year I first started messing with Cessa, although I only have a few photos.  She'd been (temporarily) owned by a lady before this, one who just was not equipped to deal with her - much as I love her, Cess is just enough of a bitch that if you are spineless about enforcing discipline, she will take advantage of that - so even though I thought she was beautiful, I'd been hesitant to mess with her.  Her ownership transferred to BO1, and she assured me I could play with her all I wanted... so I did.

Mostly we played pretty princess, let's be honest here.

2014
It was a bumper crop of babies at the barn - as I recall, five that year?  I think this was also the last year the herd was as big as it was when I first started riding up there.  2015 would bring herd downsizing, particularly as we were in a lengthy drought.

A fraction of the herd - the white face in the middle is Boss Mare, with her son that's now a stud to the left of her and Cessa behind him.

2015
I'm not saying I had a problem, but I did buy a cheap halter and lead rope for a horse I didn't even own.  lol

Also, lesson learned: $2 nylon halters are not worth it...

And the year Justice was born.

Aww. So narrow. So cute.

Most importantly of all - in December of that year, I became a horse owner!  Of two horses, because I'm insane and my BOs are enablers.

2016
My first year as a horse owner!  Full of things that are really only exciting the first time you have sole responsibility of a horse, like "I have to buy a bag of grain!" and "I have to buy a blanket!" lol I... I may have been enthusiastic.

Pretty girl

One of my favorites of him

Sadly, I don't have a lot of not-head-shot photos of Justice for this year or the next.  He went through a series of godawful awkward stages.  Like "I have photos and I'm not going to share them, because there were times where I would come home and go look at his baby pictures so I could have faith there was going to be a nice horse come out the other side" godawful awkward stages.  I'd seen normal baby awkward growth, where they get fat and then convert all that fat into growth and ribbiness, and I'd seen draft baby awkwardness (which is a whole other thing indeed), but Justice took it to a whole new level.

2017
The year of the ridiculous selfies!

Yes, that's the spot where it itches...

And baby pony wearing a birthday hat!

Still makes me laugh. What are you even doing, little dude?

2018
2018 started off really rough, and never really recovered from there - by the end of the year, I'd had to put down a horse and a cat, and I lost a grandmother in between.

The horse?  Justice.

During his last month.

In July of 2017, we noticed he was having severe vision issues and his eyes had gone milky/cloudy where the pupil should be.  Medication helped some, but it never really went away.  If anything, it got worse.  By the end of the year, we knew he could only really see - at most - shadows and light.  Plans were in the works to get him to a specialist, but he also still needed his nuts chopped off (at two and a half, he had just started to realize that girls were a thing, so it was time).

The vet examined him for the gelding appointment in January and let us know that it would be best to put him down - and after watching him in the stall, where it was clear he had been relying on his sisters all this time and that he really couldn't see anything and it was freaking him out, I made the decision to do so that day.

On a happier note, my 12 year old broodmare finally got started under saddle.

And she was so thrilled about it, too.

2019
Which brings us to this year.  We got in some rides, but mostly it's been a quiet year.

OK, so maybe I took a selfie as proof I rode my horse. Maybe.

I'm looking forward to the new year - new opportunities to ride (and lord knows she and I both need the exercise, lol)... and possibly a new face, depending on what happens this spring...