Sadie Acres Family History

Although we've just recently gotten back into the "horse business", or as I prefer to call it the "horse expense", our love for these animals goes back a long time.  In honor of Throwback Thursday, here is some Sadie Acres family history.  

I got my first pony, Brandy, when I was just 18 months old.  From that day forward there was nowhere I'd rather be than in the saddle.

When my Mom was shopping for a pony, her main criteria was finding one that couldn't outrun her.  Brandy was perfect, I, on the other hand...

My favorite trick was to kick Brandy as hard as I could on the side my Mom wasn't leading so we could pick up the pace. I'm sure poor Brandy got blamed for being a naughty pony!  Sorry, Brandy!

My other favorite game was to drop the reins at full speed, stand up in my stirrups and scream "statue of liberty!".   Sorry, Mom! 

It's pretty amazing that through all of that I only ended up with one sprained arm.  

My Sister, Heather, was quite the equestrian at an early age.  She started out with a pony named Macaroni and soon upgraded to her horse Dusty.

Heather and Dusty even won money barrel racing, here she is showing off her check.

Heather thought that horseback riding was the greatest thing ever, she even thought her kittens would like to try it, so she plopped them right down bareback on her horse...as you can imagine that didn't end well.  Really, we are SO sorry, Mom!  

Although we must have caused my Mom countless grey hairs and sleepless nights, she knew the joy of being raised with horses and truly loved sharing the experiences with us.  

Here she is on what I assume was her first horseback ride.  

Mom also spent countless hours in the saddle as a kid.  To this day our trail rides are often spent with her telling me all about her adventures and the amazing horses she had growing up.  We both feel like we are living out our second childhood!

I posted these pics on our horses page, but they are absolutely worth posting again.  

My Dad has also had a lifelong love of horses.  He raised and trained his Tennessee Walker/Morgan cross from a foal and would even sleep in the stall with her. 

He had an amazing bond with her and although he had to sell her when he started college and began a family he was able to visit her years later and they picked up right where they left off.

This was their reunion when Penny was 20 years old.  Even after many years, it was obvious she remembered him.  Definitely one of my favorite horse stories.