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In Loving Memory...
~ Gogo Fatale ~


6/2/01 - 10/11/11
~ Forever the Marest of Them All ~
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Monday, April 12, 2010

Fragile Life

I've had a very rollercoaster-esque week at work since my last post. In contemplating life and fragility, I've had plenty to think about surrounding life's recent events and everyone's comments, which I thank you all for. You all have had very valid arguments on both sides of the fence, most of which I had already been thinking about, but some of which that had not even occurred to me and gave me even more to digest. Thank you for that. Friday, I was reminded of just how fragile these huge animals can be sometimes. We had a client horse here at the farm who ate breakfast, pooped, drank water, went on the treadmill, and acted normally all morning. I was grooming horses all morning, and while on my third one at around 11:30am I heard someone pawing down the aisle. It didn't stop, so I went to go check, and here was the client horse, digging a hole to China in his stall and curling his lip. Awesome, he's colicing. Ok, call the owners, check his TPR (99.8/HR 32/RR 80!), give him 1000lbs of Banamine and start walking. He worsens within a half hour and so we get the vet on the phone. He continues to worsen and I pick up a whip to keep him on his feet. The vet is there within a half hour, and we sedate him and do a rectal. Hmmm, where is his colon? Not where it is supposed to be. That's... bad. We tube him as well and find nothing out of his ordinary. He also has a murmur. The second the sedation wears off, he is back to pawing like mad, so the moment the owners arrive I hook up my trailer, tell my staff to hold down the fort, and load him up with another dose of sedative on board. The moment he arrived at the clinic, he was back to being painful again, so surgery was almost a certain thing. I headed back to the farm, heard around 4pm that he was headed to surgery, and waited for news. At 6pm, they told me there were complications and they needed to remove a piece of colon with compromised blood flow. I heard nothing from them again until 8am; I had assumed the worst. But he had come through surgery by some miracle, and was back on his feet. As of today, he is still alive and doing fairly well, but we aren't out of the woods yet at this point. My first major emergency as a young professional... very scary stuff. Honestly, he was fine that morning. I checked on him during my morning rounds like I always do, and he was normal. I can't figure out how the hell these things happen sometimes. Just terrifying to think about, you know? Of course, the following day things did not improve around here. One of the big jumper mares was getting freelunging in the indoor in the morning, and she decided that she was going to make a break for it.... through a tiny half-door. There was a very small opening to the outside over the top of the swinging door, which can be shut in by a sliding garage door, but it was open at the time. This mare - who is HUGE I should mention - trotted to the opening, jumped, smashed her back into the roof of the doorframe, flipped forward and caught the heel of her hind shoe IN the drywall ABOVE the doorframe, hung there for a moment doing a handstand, and then front-flipped out of the doorway onto her side on the gravel driveway. I missed the entire thing and never heard the noise it made (the guys were blowing the aisle and I was in the office) so I was quite alarmed when my boss came flying in saying, "there's been an accident!!" Good lord, I had a heartattack. By some miracle, the mare is fine - a few cuts and scrapes, but honestly, nothing worse than that. She is sound and fine. Phew. So needless to say, I rather enjoyed my quiet day off yesterday. Anyhow, about Gogo... I'm not breeding her. Of course I WANT to - who doesn't WANT to? - but that doesn't mean at this point that I SHOULD. There are lots of reasons on both sides, obviously, as to why I should or should not, but in the end I know that while it really is a good time to do it, there are plenty of reasons to wait. Honestly, the biggest one for me isn't one that I talked about or any of the comments really touched upon. My biggest stop is this: what has she done to really prove that she deserves to spread her genes? Has she won Rolex? No. Had she gone to the Pan-Ams? No. Did she win a medal at the Olympics? Nope. And quite obviously, I don't want a horse that is ever going to do that, so that isn't the horse I'll be breeding for, but I want a horse capable of Prelim at least, you know? And quite frankly, even though her injury was just a stupid accident as far as we can tell and she SHOULD make a full recovery, what if there isn't some sort of long-term breakdown issue there? I won't know until we continue on into the future, and I won't be breeding her if there is. Once she proves herself a little more to me - if she can reach Prelim and stay sound after this injury, and she does well as it - then we'll talk. Yup, I'll be breaking a baby when I am closer to 40 than 30, and that's a little bit scary to me because I cannot POSSIBLY comprehend being that old. But that's life, you know? I'm a little hypocritical about breeding because I see human breeding and horse breeding in a similar way. As for myself, I know that, like Gogo, I am completely middle-of-the-line mediocre. Yeah, I'm athletic enough to not be a fattie on the couch. Yeah, I'm smart enough to not totally fail at life I guess. Yeah, I'm pretty nice. But I'm simple. I'm average. I'm nothing interesting or exciting. I'm okay with that. I'm not going to change any lives, save the world, or make the human race better for any reason, so I know that my genes are not worth passing along. Whether or not I end up wanting kids - sometimes, I think maybe I will - I have already opted to take myself out of the gene pool because I am not worth replicating. I'm just not. I see no reason to add another mediocre life into this world. We are SO overrun with extra lives and SO overpopulated as is. Why do mediocre people breed? Why don't just the good ones breed? And then if they also produce mediocrity, remove those individuals from breeding as well? (I mean let's let them live and be happy and stuff, let's not go the full Hitler or anything... just don't let them breed!) I don't understand and I never will. Same with horses though.... Gogo is just as mediocre as I am. So why am I breeding her? Because I love her and want another one similar to her? That's what human parents do... they replicate because they love each other, and then create more mediocre humans. In a way, it doesn't make sense. Too much to think about, on this gorgeous spring day. At least the weather has been like 90 degrees... love that. Om nom nom grass... icky bugs.

41 comments:

Jennifer said...

As to human reproduction - Average parents can make an above average kid.

Think of how many families that "never got educated beyond high school" whose kids are doctors and lawyers and world changers.

I think human reproduction is a little different than horses. Maybe we're a little more like wild mustangs. :)

(Now, that's not to say I support families with dozens of little ones... For horses, puppies, bunnies, and people!) =)

Mrs. Mom said...

40 is good ;) We're wiser about a lot of things.

Andrea said...

This is true, Jennifer. I am in fact the offspring of a successful lawyer who was the first (and only) one in his family to go to college. As he later told me, it was because he "just wanted more than they did." I think he was a freak of nature, honestly, who defied his genes.

We were talking about this the other day... two totally average people created Angelina Jolie, and then and Brad met and bred - those are the kinds of people who should be breeding!! But then they produced Shiloh, and I dunno what happened with that.. two gorgeous, intelligent freaks of nature obviously still had the caca genes in them, apparently.

Andrea said...

And that may be Mrs Mom, but I worry about how much less I will bounce when I get bucked off a rambunctious 3 year old!

Unknown said...

I'm always impressed with how well you articulate your thinking, whether it be in regard to the weather, human breeding paradigms, or how cute your mare is when she's sleepy. I wish I could do that...

The only insight I would like to make is this - never underestimate how important it is to be important to someone else. My mare is never going to win a blessed thing but my life would be so much less without her. Doesn't mean I'm going to breed her (even though I really, REALLY want to one day... she's that adorable!), which is what this thread is dealing with ultimately, but I thought it was worth throwing out there as a comment. I try to keep it in mind when I get to feeling grumpy about my own mediocrity.

Jennifer said...

I don't know if every child that outdoes their parents to that level is a genetic accident though.

Kind of like the different schools of thought on bred-for-purpose ponies. HorseOwner Jane might breed the perfect WP mare to the perfect WP stallion, and end up with a dressage baby. How many racehorses end up with different jobs they're way better at? =)

Can't always breed for purpose - I think breed more for love (or promise of love), and with a plan in mind (with plenty of backup plans).

And I forgot earlier - So glad to hear the colic is getting better, and that jumper mare isn't more seriously hurt. Whew!

Daun said...

Bravo, Andrea. Very mature and well reasoned conclusion. You continue to make me very proud I call you a friend.

I culled my genes from the reproductive pool long ago. Doesn't keep me from trying though. ;)

Cathryn said...

I concur with your idea! Not breeding is a very wise decision.

me said...

Glad you made a decision you are happy with :) My only comment on the human reproduction question... it's far, far harder to judge each other, to say who is worth reproducing and who isn't, because we cannot measure a human life by show ring successes or races won or hours on the trail. So who can make the decision who is "good enough to breed" and who isn't?

I am a proudly average woman... I have a genius IQ but I train horses for a living. I have never wanted to be a lawyer, doctor, astronaut, or anything like that... and who says that lawyers, doctors and astronauts are "better" than us lowly horse trainers? :D I have a wonderful husband who is just as average as me, works hard in his own job as a network engineer (even worked for the Olympics here recently, which was fun and had great perks!) We each have 1 child from previous relationships with average (or in hubby's ex's case, waaaayyyy below average, lol) former spouses, and I am now expecting our first child together. We hope for nothing more for our average children than that they are happy and fulfilled in their own lives, and we will do everything we can to give them the skills to make that happen. Our kids are still really young (2 and 3) but we can already tell that one is far more dynamic and intelligent than the other... but does that make him more important? More worthy of being born?

The bottom line is, average-ness is inevitable. The world wouldn't keep spinning without it. It's different with animals-- we play god with them on a daily basis. They rely on us to provide for them, in the vast majority of cases. Pets exist solely for the companionship and enjoyment of humans. Therefore, it's our right (and our responsibility) to ensure the best life possible for the ones we breed, by ensuring THEY have all the skills necessary to fill THEIR needs in the world-- the same way we do for human children. (Or should-- some parent's don't, just like some breeders don't.)

I've always said I do not consider myself pro-life or pro-choice, I consider myself pro-plan (which is supposed to be a joke because it's a dog food brand). But it's true. There are people out there who should NOT have children-- my husband's ex is unfortunately one of them, and their child is suffering because of it. She wanted a child for the wrong reasons. But at least the child will eventually have the ability to make his own decisions and better himself-- which the animals cannot do.

I never saw myself with kids and am in fact fairly "old" to have kids as young as mine (I was 29 when my son was born). I CERTAINLY never wanted THREE kids, but this is the nature of falling in love, you accept all of that person-- psycho ex, high-maintenance 3-year-old and all :)

I think whichever decision you'd made for Gogo would have been a good one, and like I said I'm glad you have made one that you are comfortable with. I'm sure you will do the same for yourself eventually :)

This is one reason I enjoy your blog so much-- it really makes me think!

eventer79 said...

I 100% agree about human and horse breeding. I am a committed non-breeder and you are absolutely right: human overpopulation is a real problem. Not many people seem to care since they don't actually have to SEE the starving people every day and somehow think their offspring will magically be something more than completely average -- which they are not. I think I love you.

Hannah said...

>I mean let's let them live and be happy and stuff, let's not go the full Hitler or anything... just don't let them breed!

That slope gets very, very slippery, very, very fast.

Sylvia said...

wow, andrea...quite a statement on breeding of humans. while i don't entirely disagree with your reasoning, i will admit i was a little taken aback by the child breeding/hitler/average vs. above average statement. (this is also a good time to mention i consider myself very average, not very eloquent with my words,and jewish ;)
i do agree that the animal world, and human world are over populated. i think that deciding who can "breed" as a human is a bit more on the touchy/sensitive side, however...as i am a mom to three young kids. who makes the decision on who gets to have children? would we go by looks or intelligence? you mentioned brad pitt and angelina jolie..but, didn't mention the extensive plastic surgery SHE has had. so, of course shiloh looks like the before. (i'm team zahara all the way, btw!)should we go the way of China, and make a rule that families can only have one child? except for the farm/rural families? then, have unwanted babies dying, abandoned, adopted out (adoption, i think is wonderful!) forced abortions or elective? (yet another can of worms!) then you're left with a shortage of mates. china is facing that problem now. i'm not saying we should go all Duggar style and have 19 (and counting?) children, of course. i guess i don't really know where i'm going with this,and i can't put my thoughts/words in writing very well.
i will say this...my husband is an ob/gyn. he brings babies in to the world everyday...and there are *many* times he says that (patient) shouldn't be allowed to have children! they have babies, babies, and more babies! drug addicts, alcoholics, and uneducated women.(that just perpetuate the problem)social services is at the hospital waiting for these babies to be born and dumped in to the system. over and over it happens. there was a doc here a long time ago...old school is how he is referred to. when a woman would come in to have her 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th kid, and it was a c-section, this old school doc would scar up her fallopian tubes so she wouldn't have anymore babies. sometimes i think he had the right idea.
(i guess i just completely contradicted myself, didn't i?) LOL!
sorry for the ramble, i admire and respect all that you do with/for Gogo and wish you both nothing but the best!

Nicku B said...

I am glad you reached such a well thought out conclusion. The comments you got on the topic were really intense! For what it is worth, I think the choice you made is the correct one (given the information I have at hand about your life/situation) and if nothing else will 100% help keep your life a little more simple and peaceful. As for the comments about your averageness or peoples' right to procreation based on their percieved worth/averageness/value...I'm staying out of that debate. I think you're way too hard on yourself.

Andrea said...

LOl okay you know I didn't for real mean culling people! Just, you know... sneaky cut out their ovaries or something! That's horrible, I can't believe I just said that.

starrynights said...

Have you ready any of Kurt Vonnegut's short stories? If not, you should. I can't remember the names of the stories, but I remember several that dealt with the idea of forced sterilization and the dangers of governmental control.

Just more food for thought.

Dressager said...

And that's why I'm adopting.... when I'm of adopting age and circumstance.

Gogo's young, you're in no rush to breed her. And who knows, by the time you do, maybe you'll be able to grow the baby in an incubator or something so you don't have to worry about any risks!

It sounded like you handled that colic situation extremely well. You should be commended.

Anonymous said...

I am the very proud parent of the most brilliant, beautiful, strong, creative, talented, delightful, intense, dynamic, insightful, funny and magical person! The gene pool managed a miracle.

Andrea said...

Oh Mom!

Merideth said...

I'm a Christian and i have to agree with the bible on this one, it says that humans cannot judge other humans, it would be like pointing out a splinter in someone else's eye and missing the log in your own. Only God can judge a human because he is perfect.
i also believe that no human is average, people in my life that some would consider average are anything but, outside appearances like beauty and IQ mean nothing compared to their soul, which is anything but average. They are the people that make a bigger difference than anyone else, because they are the people that are most likely to be down to earth.
Don't judge people on their outside, in the end the outside doesn't matter.

Andrea said...

So what does that mean for my soul? It is completely average and very not-Christian.

Melissa said...

"i have to agree with the bible on this one, it says that humans cannot judge other humans, it would be like pointing out a splinter in someone else's eye and missing the log in your own. Only God can judge a human because he is perfect."

Not quite. The 'missing the log in your own eye' was hyperbole about overlooking major sin in your own life. Jesus used a lot of hyperbole. There's also the case of the woman caught in adultery who by law should have been stoned, but Jesus said 'let he who is perfect throw the first stone', then told the woman to 'go and sin no more'. Yes, in the end, God is the only one who judges (and forgives) sin and decides the matter of salvation, and recognition that we're all less than perfect is important, but that doesn't negate the authority of the elders in the church, and it certainly doesn't do away with common sense. The Bible is very clear about certain forms of sin - don't call yourself a Christian, and then expect other Christians to let serious misbehavior slide because 'we shouldn't judge'. Paul talks about throwing people out of the Church if they've been reprimanded by the appropriate authorities and refused to change their ways. Also, this is about sinfulness, and nothing about personal value or reproduction.

Sorry for the sermon. The whole 'don't judge' thing gets misapplied so often, it's one of my pet peeves. And in case it's not totally self-evident, Christian rules are for Christians, and it'd be ridiculous to get upset with a non-Christian for not following them.

My $.02 on the reproduction issue is that 'merely average' people should have kids - if they don't, the ones who are too dumb to use birth control will take over the world. (Okay, I'm only half joking.) I know people with serious health issues who have taken themselves out of the gene pool, I also know people who decided to adopt because they preferred to help the kids who already need it, and I know people who just don't want to have the little buggers, and I think that's totally cool. But I'm sorry to hear anyone say that they don't feel they're worthy to pass themselves on to the future. Upward progress in the human race is good, but does it really need to be rushed that much? I don't think it's the end goal of humanity, or at least I don't think it should be. (Overpopulation is a different kettle of worms... not going to dive into that one tonight though.)

Val said...

Hi Andrea,
Although I only know you from your blog, it is plain to see that you are FAR from mediocre! That goes for Gogo, too. I understand your reasons not to breed Gogo at this time, but please do not project them onto yourself! ~Val

Andrea said...

Melissa, thank you! Most of my life I've been getting the you're-a-sinner-who-is-going-to-rot-in-hell thing for no real reason, so I am always impressed when someone has a logical theological point to make. I completely agree... why should Christian prinicples apply to non-Christians? I can't ever remember hearing anyone say that to me before.

SmartAlex said...

Don't get me started on the over population of the earth.... I, for one, will not be held responsible for bringing an innocent soul into this mess who will some day tell me "Mom I wish I had never been born." Don't worry non-existent kid-o'mone, I got yer back.

As for mediocre... I accepted a few years ago that I am mediocre. My horses have been mediocre. But you still find flashes of brilliance in the mediocre.

I love breeding horses on my own small scale, and it also terrifies me. I am passionate and knowledgeable about the history of my breed (Saddlebreds) and I am addicted to the thrill and possibilities of breeding a good horse. But sometimes the responsibilty of it all overwhelms me, and I regret ever getting into it. The farmer in me wants to create lots of top quality livestock. The modern day horse owner in me trembles in awe at the power of bringing a new life into this complicated predicament we call the Horse Industry.

Asta said...

Hello,

I'm a follower of your blog and I must admit that it's my favourite web journal in the horse (and non-horse) world. You and Gogo are my equestrian heroes and I'd like to be more like you one day.

However, I'm a scientist and I must say that evolution is not what you (seem to) think it is.
If you care about the improvement of your horse's breed (eg, Hanoverian), it is sensible to breed outstanding individuals or individuals that have traits useful for the breed. Still, in the case of the only foal the result might be random. However, if you just want to have a foal, that merely meets your personal expectations and you are not completely irresponsible (I am more than sure that you are not), there's nothing bad in breeding your mare.
As to humans -- we breed horses (it's artificial selection - we try to get the results we want) but we don't breed people. Breeding people is called eugenics and, as I'm sure you know, the results have been truly questionable. Evolution is natural selection and we can't direct it nor see its direction -- all we can do is have children and only "Mother Nature" has the right to decide if they are suitable for their environment, so do not feel average (by the way, average is good from evolution's point of view), it's not up to you to decide this. :)

Lisa said...

In relation to your client's horse that had colic - I rode my 19 year old OTTB gelding and then fed him on a very unremarkable Tuesday evening last month. He neighed for his dinner, trotted after me, 100% normal when being ridden (and it was a very easy ride too, he was being a baby-sitter/safety net for the filly I am breaking in).

30 minutes later when I checked on him to see if he had finished his dinner, he was flat out in the paddock, steam rising off him. 2 hours, one vet and 3 sedatives later, I opted to euth him, as surgery was sadly not an option for him.

For such a big animal, one who takes up so much space both physically and in the heart, they are way too fragile, and that scares me. I'm glad your client's horse pulled through, I hope he makes a full recovery.

Unknown said...

In response to Asta...
Could you not say, though, that at this point humans have taken themselves out of the evolutionary process? I myself have HORRIBLE eyesight. Were I subject to natural selection, a cheetah (or a damn car even) would have taken me out at a very early age. I am BLIND without my glasses. I'd be dead. Do I really want to pass my serious semi-blindness onto my offspring? They'd be cheetah food too.
With all the advances in modern medicine and technology, we are able to keep many individuals alive who quite honestly should not be, and should not have lived long enough to pass on their undesireable genes. Disease and malformation exist for a reason, and it's only going to get tougher in its efforts to curb our rapid growth. Are we seriously foolish enough to think we can outsmart nature forever? We cannot evolve when we aren't being naturally selected ourselves for culling or for reproducing. So in a way, we are already artificially reproducing. There's nothing natural about it anymore.

Two cents.

And Lese & Nat, so sorry to hear about your loss :(

SmartAlex said...

Andrea said...
With all the advances in modern medicine and technology, we are able to keep many individuals alive who quite honestly should not be, and should not have lived long enough to pass on their undesireable genes.

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! And it is also a contributing factor to why health care is so expensive. If I ever need a face transplant, please just let me die in the Emergency Room. Oh wait, the Emergency Room exists solely to preserve life at all costs... but I digress.

Melissa said...

"I completely agree... why should Christian prinicples apply to non-Christians? I can't ever remember hearing anyone say that to me before."

Wow, really? I guess I always thought it was self-evident, but then I had sensible parents and go to a sensible church (yes, they do exist). Because it's the obvious question, no, I have no issue with you being gay. If you claimed to be a Christian, I'd ask how you reconcile homosexual activity (which falls under the 'sex outside of marriage' heading, I don't think the Bible recognizes gay marriage) with the teachings of the New Testament, but hey, you don't claim to be Christian! So no issue. And even inside the church, committed homosexual relationships bother me a lot less than heteros who sleep around.

Unknown said...

Ha! Actually I didn't even think about the gay part. I forget that people have a problem with it sometimes. Actually most days, I forget that I'm gay at all, much in the same way that I don't really think about my hair color on a day-to-day basis. Okay that's a lie... I think about my hair color WAY more than I think about being gay.

Melissa said...

That's good. I'm glad you don't have a chip on your shoulder about it. :-)

Merideth said...

melissa: oops my bad!! thanks for clarifying that verse


sorry if i offended you andrea, i didn't mean to. And your defiantly not average, how many people can ride a mare like GoGo??

Andrea said...

You didn't offend me! :) I'm just not Christian is all. And I've had lots of people use God as an excuse to berate and belitte me over the years so I get a little sore around that subject understandably!

Mel said...

I actually did think of the reason you stated for not breeding, BUT I figured you were so set on breeding that the question wasn't whether to breed or not, the question was WHEN to breed. :)

I guess that's why I'm not considering breeding my mare - why is she so special? What is she doing that I couldn't train another horse to do? Maybe will change in the future? Not sure. I guess it depends on how she retires and if I found the perfect stud.

Good for you for stepping back and going through your choices.

Merideth said...

i'm glad i didn't offend you, i seem to have a talent for offending people :P

Did they try to belittle you because your gay??

sally said...

Hey Andrea .....I started following your blog over a year ago and I have to say I haven't found you average at all. You're the sort of person who I'd like to know more about in person and befriend. A bit hard since I live in NZ but anyway be kind to your self. As for the getting closer to 40. Its the 'new' nearly 30. I've decided its all a state of mind. Sure I have a few more laugh lines ....but I still feel 21 so hey its all good. The down side is yes you dont bounce quite the same when you fall off ......I leave more of an impression. I'd say ride the silly young horses in wet weather. Mud is more forgiving(and softer)....oh and the impression washes away so no one knows

MARGIE said...

Andrea,

First, you're way, way, way, way, better than average. Way better.

Second, I agree with your decision and the reasons for it. I see people around here breeding horses just because they can. Horses have it BAD in many cases because of the irresponsible breeding that goes on. Gogo, on the other hand, like you, is so much more than the average. My husband and I made the decision years ago to not have children. We see so much misery in the world due to people having kids, just because they can. If I want to, I'll adopt. I'll help my community. I'll help neglected and abandoned animals. I'll help my neices and nephews. I can make my mark, without adding to the population.

Asta said...

Humans have not taken themselves out of the evolutionary process. Medicine, hygiene, etc. is adaptation. All the species try to do this in their own ways: everyone is fighting the natural selection, people are doing what they can too. It is easy to think that there are too many people in the world (there are more bacteria and viruses), however, there are no optimal numbers in evolutionary terms. Your children will probably never be killed by cheetahs, because even if they accidentally become blind, it is very unlikely that you'll leave them among wild animals (who do not attack monkeys). I've noticed that people find it very difficult to realise that the goals of evolution are not what we think they are. You might think that it's "bad" being blind, but evolution does not "care" about it as long as you stay alive in given conditions. If the situation changes, "blind" people will die. You are the perfect individual from evolution's point of view; evolution is not planning, it's merely selecting. There's no rule that there can only be, say, 10% suitable individuals: as long as you meet the basic requirements (no one cares how you do it) -- you live.
However, if you don't want children, it's definitely your choice and there's nothing bad. I just wanted to say that there can be a different reasoning behind the given problem.

I wish you the best of luck with Gogo, keeping my fingers crossed. :)

P. S. I am awfully sorry for my English -- it's not my mother tongue.

Unknown said...

Asta, that gave me quite a bit to think about just then. Thank you for that!

Terry said...

Andrea, don't be afraid of the clock. I am 58 years old. I ride my beautiful horse Paj every day the weather permits. I sat on him the first time on my 50th birthday. He was 2. I started him when he was 3. My point is that you and Go-Go have a lifetime ahead of you. Life is for living. Enjoy!

Kristen Eleni Shellenbarger said...

mediocre...seriously?! You are crazy. I just read this and had to laugh. I was admiring Gogo thru the last several post and thought..so pretty, so talented..and then read your 'we are mediocre' post and thought..what?!?! And your talent, your love/care of horses...I mean, what?! I agree with what you are saying about breeding and I like your thinking, but just wanted to remind you from a real mediocre rider, you two are pretty amazing. :)