Horse Life and Homemade Horse Cookies

This is a painting of Sable, and I, in Sunlight Basin. (We were featured in a magazine, inspiring a friend to paint this.) We rode down that mountain, shown in the background of this painting. And that's why people thought it was a pretty big deal. Sable's head is cocked at an angle because she's waiting for her cookie.

There's this meme going around on social media. Asking: What do you have, now, that you didn't have as a child? 

It's implying that adult life isn't all it's cracked up to be. You have everything now that you had as a child, back then your parents paid the bills. Therefore life was easier way back when.

This is a better photo of my partner in crime, Sweet Sable.
* Note that she is not tied up. She is free to run wherever she pleases.
She prefers to hang with me. (It's because of the cookies.)

What do you have, now, that you didn't have as a child? 

A PONY!!! I responded. Took me 20 years!!! Best midlife crisis. EVER!

Sable and I have traveled far and wide together. 
My turquoise camper provided a soft bed after a long backcountry ride.

I was "That Girl." The one who started begging for a pony when she was 4 years old. I was still begging for a pony in my 40's. And that's when I decided to grow up and buy my own.

That's me in the middle. Monument Valley.
When we hired a Native American guide to helps us navigate the backcountry.

Point Reyes National Seashore

Here we are in Iceland. Sable doesn't fit on a plane. Well, she could, but who can afford that plane ticket?? We did this adventure on rental horses.

We've ridden in lots of wonderful places, all in the middle of nowhere. 

And this is where the great debate begins. Because most horse owners throw a fit about giving their horses treats. I figure the horse is working much harder than I am, she deserves a wee bit of appreciation.

That's Sable, facing the camera.
* I don't know why people say that my riding buddy and I have look alike horses. Sable is clearly much prettier.

My riding buddy is one of those women who thinks it's a bad idea to give her horse a treat. So here's the story I like to tell, to defend my point of view. 

We were in the middle of nowhere, high in the mountains. Sitting on a rock, eating our lunch. When a freak storm hit. High winds. Lightening and thunder. Both horses bolted. And there we were. Stuck walking 12 miles back to our truck and horse trailer. In the rain. In bear and cougar country. As we were walking through the tall trees, we heard a terrible crash. Something running toward us. Oh my gods, I'll bet it's a bear. But it wasn't a bear. It was my cookie-loving horse Sable who came back to find me. She gave us both a ride the 12 miles back to the trailer. Where the horse who never gets a cookie, was casually grazing, waiting on our return.

* Horses aren't like dogs. She had no interest in saving me. She was basically just hoping she could eat another one of these: 

Oat & Molasses Horse Cookies

• 2 cups grated carrot
• 2 cups apple sauce
• 4 tablespoons corn oil
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups flour

Easy Prep:
Stir together carrots, apples, oil, and molasses.
Mix in salt, oats, and flour.
Spread onto a cookie sheet and bake @ 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Mine contain extra carrots because that's what Sable prefers!

Be careful. The horses 'mobbed' me when I walked into the corral sporting these cookies. I know they meant well but oats & molasses is to horses what wine & chocolate is to us...

Also. Before you cast judgement that I must be rich to own a horse, let me assure that is not the case. 

I'm not rich. I'm irresponsible!