The Horsepower Homestead

**This entry was transcribed from my handwritten journal, dated from December 11th, 2016. I thought it would provide interesting contrast to how things have turned out now. Enjoy. There are days when Apache is so perfect, that I imagine that she must be my soul mate. That no person or thing could complete my life more than she does. They say when you find your heart horse, you'll know.  And I would swear, that I knew it from the moment I saw her. Which, ironically, is more than I can say about any man that's ever been in my life. I've never looked at one of them and decided "yup, that's the one." Maybe that's part of the problem.  Apache isn't perfect. But we know how to communicate. I've learned her language. And she's learned mine. We respect each other.  I trust her. She trusts me too. Trust is a hard one for me. I find her easier to trust than I find most people. Even though she's an 1000 pound animal with the e...

Dating is hard. And dating as a "horse girl", in my opinion, is even harder. The challenge is finding someone who would muck stalls with you, someone who will video your lessons, someone you can call after every ride, who will listen to you cry through the hard rides and provide comfort, who will cheer you on when you accomplish something good, no matter how small. Ideally someone who loves horses too. Who would never ask you to "grow up". I tried internet dating. I made sure to include a picture of Apache and myself. Almost like I was trying to give them fair warning. But that's the thing about most people. They think that they like horses. Or that they're okay with horses. Until they get into the nitty gritty of it. And I wasn't the type to bring a string of strangers around the horses. They're like my kids. You have to earn meeting them. And the ones that insist that they can ride, because "it can't be that hard". They made me w...