a year of quiet moments

Today's date marks a number of significant and special occasions in my life. Funny how certain dates tend to collect meaning like that.

paperwork officially signed, ownership officially transferred. 

For today tho, I'd like to celebrate one full year since first meeting Charlie at the OTTB adoption facility. He hadn't been on my list (or even on the website) when I went - and yet he was the one who made such a great impression on me.

getting started with my first ever pony!

And, naturally, the rest is history.

celebrating holidays

In thinking about how I wanted to write this post or - more realistically - what pictures I wanted to highlight, originally I thought I would do some sort of progression on his training and development over the past year.

and field trips too

But.... Idk, I feel like if you've been following along you already have a pretty good sense of where Charlie is these days in his training.

gosh he's pretty

I'm not ruling out doing some sort of before/after recap at some point or another.... It just didn't seem to be exactly what I want to focus on in marking one year of Charlie.

and kinda goofy too

Because actually there is maybe a bigger or more important story here than looking at jump form or body condition or whatever.

he's always been good at snuggles tho

For me, the most notable aspect of all things Charlie over the past year is just what a wonderful horse he's been for me in every single way - but especially in all those quiet in-between moments.

supremely huggable

More than just the action shots, more than any sort of tangible proof that the horse is doing things or whatever, it's these candid shots from quieter moments of us just hangin out enjoying each other's company that really capture how special this horse is to me.

we've taken lots of walkies this past year

Charlie is simply a downright pleasant horse to be around. The time I spend with him is often the highlight of my day.

and selfies!

He was a bit of a gamble in terms of suitability, honestly. There were perhaps plenty of reasons to keep looking at other prospective horses.

and he's always up for new experiences

He was only four weeks off the track and was therefore not yet restarted as a riding horse - but was also still in the throes of all the body soreness and associated physical ailments that often go hand in hand with a lengthy career on the track.

even if he's never quite sure what the big deal is all about

Charlie's size was also a mark against him - freshly off the track TB that hasn't had any retraining who is also giant?

hint: it's him. the big deal is him.

Plus, with the whole "not being restarted" thing, obviously nobody had ridden him yet at the facility and there was no test ride. I only saw him trot and canter around as a large, foot sore horse in a small round pen on hard ground.

such a star

Suffice it to say, there was nothing really awe-inspiring in any of that. The "action" of the day wasn't really what caught my attention. He wasn't flashy, didn't show any incredible aptitude or athleticism.

definitely not spoiled rotten either

 Rather, it was Charlie himself who stood out among the crowd. His temperament, attitude and disposition.

ok, maybe he's a little spoiled

He looked for all the world like a horse I would enjoy spending time with. And he's proven to be that and so much more to me.

he's earned it tho <3

There's really no quantifying just how crazy I am about this horse. I still don't know how I got so lucky in finding him.

So I'm taking this day to celebrate all those quiet and wonderful moments in between the action. The days' action, somewhat coincidentally, being Charlie's fall season return to Fair Hill. Somehow, it feels very fitting ;)