Have I Told You About Buttermilk?

When you think of buttermilk what comes to your thoughts?

Pancakes?
Biscuits?
Bitterness?

When I hear the word "buttermilk", I think of endless summer days, the wind in my hair, happiness, sunshine on my face.
The sensation of coarse hair whipping over my legs & sometimes getting a strand in my lips.

Buttermilk is that one horse I will never forget. 

He belonged to the family who bought the acreage from my daddy when I was around 10 years old. The husband & wife had a horse for them & 2 ponies for their 2 children. The wife didn't have the time to ride, Buttermilk needed exercise.

He was a palomino gelding, just 15.2 hands or 5 feet at his withers (base of his mane). He was very smart, a little bit stubborn. He would trot if I let him, yet, he had the pleasurable gait of going almost without a trot, right into a canter. He did this automatically, seemed to enjoy it.

Thus began my love for horses. I learned a lot about myself with him. He was the best teacher I ever had & no one like him since.

I have been riding off & on since I was 5 years old. Nothing fancy. Not a cutter or a barrel racer or a rodeo babe.

Just a girl who loves horses, wishes with all her heart for a horse of her own.

When people ask me what my dream for my life is, I tell them.

A sweet 2 - 3 bedroom home in a warm climate, close enough to a warm ocean to go to the beach every day that I wanted to. A horse of my own and 1 or 2 dobermans.

The next question is usually:

Don't you want a man in your life?

My answer?

He would have to love horses!