Sidelines Magazine Article, Dog Birthday, and Pre-Purchase Exam!

This past Tuesday, I opened my mailbox and found my October issue of Sidelines magazine. If you’re not familiar with Sidelines, it is like a horse lover’s version of People magazine.  I wrote an article for this issue about a trail ride to the Hollywood sign that my husband and I took back in July.  As if that weren’t cool enough (a  little ol’ history teacher having a story in a national horse mag), I was asked to write a column for the publication! I feel like Dear Abby, minus all the manners advice.

If you’re ever  in CA and want to ride in Hollywood,  try this ride. I’m trying to steer left as there’s a huge drop off on the right. Yikes!

I don’t feel like an expert on horses by any stretch of the imagination, so when I was first approached, I was skittish. Then I thought about it some and realized that even though I’m currently horseless and not a professional rider and I haven’t shown in years (and when I did, it wasn’t like they were ultra high end shows), I do love horses and I love to write and so why not take on a challenge of combining my avocations?

So my column is called “California Hoofbeats” and I would be honored if you have the inclination to check it out. My mom now has a two-year subscription to Sidelines which includes the print and digital version. You can get a year’s digital version for around the price of two or three fancy lattes, but that’s “too modern” for my parents.

Now on to some VERY exciting news…

Today is my pre-purchase exam for the big beautiful horse that I’m NOT falling head over heels for until the vet says it’s okay to do so. There are so many fun facts about this potential steed that I will have blog material to last for days. Because I’m NOT going to get my hopes up, I will only tell you one fun fact now: If this gelding is the horse for me, I will be two degrees of separation away from America’s favorite chestnut horse–California Chrome!

Also, this morning I got an email from the AKC saying happy birthday to Catom’s Little Miss Muffet. That’s my Doberman Missie. She’s three today. I knew her birthday was coming up, but I had sort of forgotten with all the excitement. I hope I can get her a horse for her birthday.

Birthday dog relaxing in the kitchen. New Sidelines mag on island. How DO you take good pics of black dogs?

This has been a very eventful week!

Question: Do you celebrate pets’ birthdays? If so, how? And if you’ve ever bought a horse before, did you do anything special to commemorate the event?

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