Riding the Sky

To ride a horse is to ride the sky. 

       Author Unknown

Mr. Tennis and Maddy experienced riding the sky on the very special Tiarra --

a beautiful brown Arabian.

Tiarra always took great care of my special riders,

and I am so grateful to her for that.

Mr. Tennis said she was a much better horse than he was a rider!

Recently, she was diagnosed with laminitis -

a debilitating and painful inflammation of her front legs. 

Extensive efforts were taken to assist her healing and after months

 of various therapy and constant pain meds,

it became very clear that her condition was worsening and she was in dreadful pain.

Mr. Tennis and Maddy made her last weekend on earth a happy one --

 taking special treats of apples, grapes,  carrots and sunflower seeds.

  She loved it! 

Peppermint candies were offered (as horses are rumored to love peppermints). 

Evidently, she had not gotten that message as she spit those right out!

At dawn on the morning of July 16, Tiarra took her final journey. 

She was loved and will be missed.

Sweet Girl

My sweet little tender-hearted girl!

Swimming lessons -- week 2 -- are going . . . swimmingly, but still make her a little nervous. She is really doing great and learning so much in such a short amount of time. But, every day, before her lesson, she says that her tummy hurts. I told her that mine used to do same thing before my swimming lessons and that seems to make her feel a bit better. Wish that she really loved it and would sign up for another two-week session!

And she's a little worried about and missing Mr. Tennis -- who is attending a horsey camp!

Yes, don't laugh -- it's some horse camp so he can learn to ride his stinky old horse better (bet you can't guess how I feel about the horse, eh?). Fingers crossed that he doesn't fall off and break his hip, leg or head. When Maddy learned he would be gone a few days, she cried and cried about how much she would miss him! Her little face looked so sad and then tears just started flowing. We're counting down the days and trying to think of things to keep her busy and happy -- like collecting the latest McD's happy meal Pokemon toys! Yep, I'm not above fast food to get her feeling better!

Mr. Tennis and Mr. Ed

While I am bit distracted with other things currently, I thought I would post some filler that I meant to write about last year.

How about a post on Mr. Tennis and his horse, who will be known for our purposes as Mr. Ed? My blog friend (hi Sharon) asked for a photo, and lo and behold, I found a couple. Her hubs was thinking of getting a new sports car -- which I think is a way better idea than a horse -- even though Mr. Ed is kind of cute!

At some point in time last year (unknown to me as to when it actually occurred because someone never informed me), Mr. Tennis took over ownership of a horse. Oh my word - a 25 year old horse! Guess what, I was surprised!! Mr. Tennis has never seemed the horsey type to me! I would think a horse would mess up his khakis and sports coats, but go figure, he jumped right in to horsey-ville! Check out those boots! :)

OK, I admit it, I am not fond of horses. Once when I was a little bitty girl, a horse (pony probably) at a carnival tried to rub me off on the fence, scratching up my leg and scarring me for life -- thus began my dislike/fear of horses, which has continued to this day. Plus, excuse me, but they are smelly, large creatures and mice are often found in horse barns! But if having a horse makes him happy, Maddy and I say, yay -- just don't ask me to clean out any horse barns! :)