PONIES!

I found them! They do exist in Fairbanks.

Okay. My husband found them. He even willingly drove me out to see them. He's a great guy. We went out to a tack store that was on the property. There are 39 horses! It's a nice looking facility, and the outdoor arena looked BEAUTIFUL. I talked to the owner for a while, and asked him a bazillion questions. Mainly, I wanted to know how in the heck do you keep horses in negative 50 degrees. He said it was easy. (Sure, if you're not the one taking care of them.) Heck, I use to freeze my butt off on Sundays taking care of ponies when it was 20 degrees out. I couldn't imagine doing it at negative 50. I'd die.

They do English and Western lessons at the barn. I asked him about the lesson program, and apparently there is currently a 20 person wait list! If I've learned one thing about wait lists, it is that you don't need to say "yes" when your turn comes up. SO, I'm now on some random list (if there even is one) for lessons. He asked me what kind of riding I did, and we talked about Dressage. I told him my only goal at this point is to STAY ON THE HORSE. If I can do that, then I'll be happy. I'm not sure what I'd want to do when/if my number comes up. It's weird how you feel once you have a kid. I worry I'll get hurt (again) and not be able to take care of Bug. I'm sure it will be fine. There are no Thoroughbreds at the barn.

The one thing that is exciting to me is that the barn is less than 10 miles from my house. I have NEVER been less than 10 miles from a barn. Heck, I use to spend more time sitting IN my car driving out to see Denali than I did actually spending it with Denali (or insert other horses I've leased here.)

Who knows. I'm just excited to see ponies. I'm happy. I may be able to polish up my boots after all.