PONY'TUDE Gets a Dose of Purple: Blogger Meetup!

best selfie ever!!

When Megan mentioned offhand that she was headed to pick up her custom boots from the tack shop last weekend, I (somewhat aggressively) informed her that the tack shop she would be at was ten minutes from my house and two minutes from my barn, and that I would be meeting her there and  then she would ride Dino and then we would get lunch.

It was, essentially the perfect day.

Megan's boots are gorgeous, even if we did have to spend about 15 minutes trying to wrestle her legs out of them after she rode, I actually spent money at the tack shop (gasp!), and Dino even approved of Megan as a rider, which is not always a guarantee!

I BOUGHT CHICKEN SOCKS.

It's easy for me to forget how tiny and cute Dino is since I see his mug every day, so it's always fun to introduce new friends to him and hear the constant stream of, "OH MY GOD! HE'S SO CUTE! HE'S SO LITTLE! OHHHH MYYYY GODDDDD IS HE EVEN REAL?!" that often results when Dino makes new acquaintances. Megan and I chatted away about ponies (of course) while we groomed and tacked up my noble steed, and she was such a good sport about making the first ride in her brand new boots on my under-sized little punk. Having to ride in new boots is awkward enough in itself without riding a horse so vastly different from your own!

Friends! Ponies! Great day!

And she gave my pony a great ride! I gave Megan a few little tips about some of his quirks, but pretty much just let her play around with him and have fun. She's a great rider, and Dino agreed. They toodled all around our jump field and popped over a few little jumps, and Dino only displayed some minor 'tude. I was SO happy that he gave Megan his stamp of approval! We ended the day with some cold beers and a delicious lunch, and more pony chat, naturally.

showing Miss Megan that sometimes he knows how to go to work

Wheeee! 

It's always interesting to get other riders' take on my pony, and what Megan had to say about my little guy really bolstered my confidence. She thought he was really cool (aw! thanks! me too!) and noted that he isn't an easy ride, and has a big, violent intense jump in him. When I get frustrated about where we are or how fast we aren't getting where I want to be, it's so good to remember words like this from respected horsepeople that know me and Dino. We've come a long way as a team, Dino hasn't made it easy, and it makes me SO happy to be able to share him with others and be reasonably certain that he won't have a total meltdown with someone else in the tack.

I'm so thankful for all of the amazing, fun, intelligent, wonderful people like Megan that blogging has connected me to! We had a fantastic day and are already planning another one, and will be dragging our SO's along for the fun next time!