We have this one life to live. Do it with no regrets. Life was meant to be lived.

Unfortunately I have had to defend having my horse on several occasions. My daughter and I are the only horse people in the family. My husband doesn't care either way and sometimes helps me when he wants to (he used to be a horse person but outgrew it as he hit his teen years).

I am regularly reminded that, with my income the way it is, I cannot afford a horse and therefore shouldn't have one. Family members regularly tell me that she isn't worth the money or time I put into her. It doesn't seem to matter that since I was a kid, I always wanted a horse of my own and now that I have achieved that dream, everyone wants to end it.

I have battled with depression for many years and my psychologist thinks it's great for me to have Gracie. It gives me a reason to get up every day and leave the house. The fact the she needs me to be there for her is a real motivator for me. I won't even go into the fact that when I am with her, I feel so much better and more relaxed than I do anywhere else.

Well i don't have a husband to dill with but i do have an overbaring father that thinks horses are a waste of time, money, and land. He thinks that horses are worthless!! Me and my mom even have to hide things from him b/c he will get mad about us spending our (not his) money on horse crap as he calls it. I have been to three shows so far and he hasn't been to a single one and me and my mother pay for everything!! I'm not asking him to pay for it i just want him to come and watch me once i don't think that is to much to ask. Sorry bout this just got back from the show last weekend so it's still fresh in my mind.

Jessica E.

Unfortunately, being upfront and honest about the horse habit doesn't always work with the hubby-to-be. My teen-years horse was sold when I went to college, so I was horseless when I met my (now ex) husband. After 10 years of horselessness, I gave up and started caring for my uncle's horse as a way to see if I could really fit a horse into my life. My family sat my (ex)DH down and explained just what "I'm just going to feed the horse" really means--the hours dedicated, the money, showing...all of it. My (ex)DH said he understood.

Sadly for us, he only understood the theoretical. When it actually came down to me spending time with my now-4 horses and horse people, he couldn't handle it. I heard nearly every comment on that t-shirt from him and his family. It didn't matter that I was good in the ring and winning national titles. His jealousy grew into emotional abuse and I'd escape to the barn. It was a vicious circle, but in the end, the horses won. I happily gave him the house and left his retirement fund intact in exchange for leaving my horses & all their "stuff" alone.

Full victory will not be seen until May, when I can finally move my horses from WI to VA. I'm crossing my fingers that we get a court date in November, so that the 6-month waiting period is over about the same time. I intend for May to be a very happy month!!

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Cat people, well, cat people are cat people and enough said.

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Hey!!! That's not fair! LOL. Are you saying we're wierd? I'm a mixed breed I guess. I love my cat, and I love my horses. People think I'm crazy when they find out how much time I spend with just animals, between my 3 horses, and mt 2 kitties. Its a lot.

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My obsessions often combine. Our horse has her own cat. It showed up about a week after we got Choctaw and he moved right into the barn with her. He sleeps in the hay manger. He eats her food. He sits under her for shade. He rubs back and forth between her legs. She accidently stepped on him once while she was eating. She felt so bad and nuzzled him. It is hard to work her in the round pen because he goes out there and lays in the way!

We have 8 other cats, two dogs, and of course the horse. I don't count Char as he is Choctaw's.

I always told my best fried that I would end up one of those crazy little old ladies that wears wild hats and has cats running everywhere, but I have amended it to include a horse grazing in the yard with a cat sitting on it.

I know a lot of people that spend more on their dog than I spend on my horses.

My horses and all of my other animals are my sanity. I won't ever again try to defend having them. I might as well not be alive if I can't have my critters!

I always tell people men may come and go in my life, but the horses stay.  After 2 divorces, they get the picture.  My current b/f isn't a horsey person, but he loves me enough to support me and my "girls'.  He is even looking forward to our first "baby"  together a half arab/paint due any day now.

Ha!  I'm in the same situation.  I've had my Annapolis for 21 years and am now married for the third time.  My new husband, Eric, like your bf, is supportive of my love for the horses.  In fact, he says, seeing how much joy they give me gives him happiness and he wants me to always have a horse or horses in my life.

Your bf is a keeper - hang on to him!

 Boy do I understand!! I do animal rescue, small and large, and have had to defend myself A LOT.  My boyfriend of over four years is super supportive in everything I do, and while he hadn't been around horses before me, he has dove in head first for it.  My biggest 'un'supporter is actually my grandmother, but I think most of hers is just becuase she worries about me.  I am 19, paying my way through college, working part time, and I have four cats, three dogs, a hand-raised bird, a pig, and  two (soon to be three) horses.  Most all of them are rescues.  The cats she is fine with, one dog is 12, and she has always disliked him.  When I rescued one dog, Saedee, 2 1/2 yrs ago, she thru a fit, mostly because Saed is a pit mix that was severly abused.  Now she loves her.  She is ok with the bird, who I raised from the day he hatched, and one of the horses (I have had him for 12 years, and he wil be 24 this year)  The other horse was one my farrier actually rescued, and then gave to me.  He was supposed to be a 12 yr old.  He is a roughly 28 yr old 16h 1/4 draft, with Cushings.  My grandma was not happy. The pig, a friend of mine got home to find a piglet under his porch.  Again, not happy.  Now I am about to get a weanling.  Oh well, what makes you happy?  Mine are rescues, and I refuse to stop saving lives.  I work my butt off to help these critters, they are my stressor, but also my main therapy.  I am good at it, it is what I love.  If someone doesn't like it, oh well, don't talk to me about them then!  Tell your husband to go play golf, and then repeat what he says to you back!

p.s. My boyfriend new from the beginning that I was a package deal. He knew if he had a problem with my critters, or any critter really, he would be the one going, not them.  This point was super clear when, after we had been dating about 8 months, he made the comment that he knew I loved my horse more than him, and if he made me choose (which he wouldn't anyway, he is soo sweet) Rascal would stay, and Travis would go!

 Shannon, Just tell people what you wrote here - that you are living your dream and then ask why he/she wants you to put an end to that dream? It's your dream, not theirs, so it is not theirs to end.

You only have one life to live, so do with your time and money what makes you happy. My belief is that God put us here on this earth, and gave each of us a love for somethign be that a horse or golf or whatever. You won't be happy if you don't fulfill who you are (what you find gives you joy). For me, that is having an equine partner to ride, groom, and hang out with. I also have rediscovered my love of violin, although now I mostly play fiddle rather than classical.

Enjoy your horse! You deserve her!

I've been asked why I spend so much money, time, whatever on horses and I don't bother defending it. It's who I am and if you don't like it, go away and don't bother me! Before I was married, my old boyfriend thought horses belonged in the glue factory. I told him, the horses will be here long after you're gone. I was right. His loss. I don't care what someone else thinks of my "addiction". And besides, golf courses would be better used if they were pastures for horses. I have heard that golf is a beautiful walk in the park spoiled by a little white ball, so why not saddle up your favorite steed and take a ride on the golf course! Sorry to anyone on here who likes golf! Just MHO!

Holly:

you need all of this stuff just for a horse

   That's pretty funny.

 

Around here - people think we're nuts because we have horses on our pasture instead of cattle.  Why own something that costs you, when you can own something that you make money off of, right?

 

  I don't even have my horse yet.  So far I have to defend the very idea of buying one.  I just say thet no one makes parents defend having their children and they cost a zillion times more to feed clothe insure etc.  That's not even counting college.  Then I remind them..I have no children, (human anyway) so I can afford one little ol' horse.

I've never had to defend owning a horse, mainly because I never owned one. With that said, I have had to defend many of my hobbies (damn the artistic type!). Kinda like you guys spending the money of breeches and saddles, I get often told that they just can't understand how I can spend as much on a piece of wood that would practically buy me a car.

 Hi!  I totally agree with your philosophy..recently my 86 year old mother ask me why i still have those horses.  I just said. That is what makes me hapy.  She decided to come outand watch me do some trainng after her griping to my sister got her the same answer.  She was amazed at what i was doing..Liberty work with a three year old mare named after her over cavalettis.  Now she is much more supportive.  Or at least not jealous of the time i spend with my herd...I play the violin/fiddle too .  I started orchestra and learned classical thenswitched to blue grass.  I took a master class from Issac Perlman and he called his strad a fiddle and let me play it!!! WOW  It was kind of like how I think it would be to ride Ravel.