On community.

There is a horse forum I like to frequent, lately it seems I have been spending a lot of time there and was thinking about why. It is unmoderated and is generally full of people with interesting things to say, But there are some crazy folks who enjoy being rude and nasty thanks to the anonymity of the internet. I have learned a lot about different types of riding and horse keeping, gotten helpful advice and participated in some good discussions.

Mainly I guess it is about not feeling alone in your expensive, time consuming habit, My husband is super supportive of my riding but he doesn't get all geeked about the excitement of getting the correct lead or a good leg yield. I used to have a great horse community in the Upper Peninsula and I spent less time online then and more time talking horse and riding, I still do those things when I am up there and generally always pick up some horse work. I miss training for those people, and I miss people knowing who I am and getting good training jobs based on my capabilities.

I think I have a healthy relationship with the internet forums I belong to. Sometimes you just want to show someone pictures and have them go "wow, what a cute horse!"  Sometimes its nice to be able to help someone with an issue or check out someone's cute poneh.  I don't see the point of getting torqued over what people say though, there is a lot of nuance lost over internet communication and sometimes it is hard to have clarity and understanding. I don't post things I wouldn't say to someones face or that I would mind having some I know in real life read, which ended up being a good thing when I recently found out my Mom was reading what I posted.

There are some local people I enjoy riding with, but they have to trailer out and it is a bit of a drive, I wish there were more people around me who liked trail riding who aren't full of crazy. 

It is shitty and windy out today, I am cleaning tack and going to wash Joy's tail (since is pee colored, not a good look for a grey) I figure I want to be set for Sunday today so I can enjoy tomorrow without worrying to much,although I might bathe Joy tomorrow which is always as much fun as a barrel full of dirty, poo throwing monkeys. She gets highly offended when wet, although she likes getting a liniment wash down after a hard ride, so then she can roll and get as dirty as possible. Which is very very dirty.