If It Hadn't Been For Horses

Horses touch our lives in ways we can't fathom.  I've had horses forever & they've brought many people into my life.  In fact, I really can't think of any friends who didn't come to me through horses.  Looking back over the years, other than a couple of school friends, I don't think I've ever had a non-horsey friend.  Or they might have been non-horsey until they met me.   I truly am a bad influence.  LOL

In 2007 I was at my first endurance ride in a few years.  I heard someone call my name & when I turned, I saw someone who I'd known from endurance in the 1990s.  Jan & I talked a bit & even rode the last 4-5 miles together that day.  It was fun seeing an old endurance friend.  She was riding the daughter of the mare she'd ridden when I rode my Wraff.  We shared a lot of memories & had a lot of laughs in those few miles that day.

I think it was in 2009 that I got an email from a guy in CO asking about my family research.  We discovered that our paternal great-grandparents were one & the same.  We were COUSINS!  It was so fun because other than seeing our great-uncle once as a kid, I'd never met any of my Chapek relatives.  As we corresponded back & forth, it came out that I had horses & was an endurance rider.  Lo & behold, Chuck's sister also had horses & used to ride endurance.  He asked if he could connect us & it was an easy YES for me.  Not only did I have a new cousin, we both loved horses & endurance.

It wasn't long before I got the first email from Chuck's sister.  We "chatted" about our horses & she mentioned that her last ride was Washoe Valley in 2007.  WHAT?  I was at that ride.  I didn't say anything but I KNEW.  I asked for a picture & could only grin & smile when I saw it.  Chuck's sister was my old endurance friend Jan.  After a few more emails I finally told Jan that we actually knew each other.  What a small world!

Today Jan & I have rekindled an old friendship into a new, AWESOME friendship.  We've both gotten back in the saddle to RIDE...Really Ride.  It's so much fun having someone to share old endurance stories with while we're making new stories.  Her Angell & my Launi do very well together & we've had some great rides on my favorite trails, the WST (aka Tevis trail).  We've shared some breathtaking views, splashing in the American River, traversing some of the narrowest trails I'd want to be on, lots of laughs, a few remembrance tears, telling family stories, and some down right FUN times on the trails.  Bringing us even closer is the fact that we share a gorgeous black filly.

A highlight that's actually even better in some ways than Jan & I as riding partners, is the fact that we've reconnected her mother &  my father after 75 years.  It's so much fun when we all get together to see & hear our parents chatting about their childhoods & their family.  They're so cute together.  It's just so heartwarming that they've found family in their elder years. 

To think none of this would have happened if it hadn't been for horses.