I wanted to start a thread for pictures of our pets

[magical thyme]

81. she must have had some natural resistance...

summer riders don't have the fullblown version of the disease, which drives you to have them in your backyard so you can spend your winters lugging hot water from the kitchen to the barn and dragging muck-buckets full of manure through 3 feet of snow in 15 below temperatures in exchange for a few rides over the summer, spend every discretionary penny you have on them, and when your elderly one dies and you finally have some time to put into the youngster, you spend the next 18 months scrimping and saving to buy another one to keep the youngster company.

But oh, the fragrance of their warm breath on your face, the gentleness of the caress when they nuzzle the back of your neck, the joy of galloping across a field or just walking down a path through the woods...there's nothing to compare.