Adam@Home by Rob Harrell for September 24, 2013

And if something happens, you can’t imagine the vet bills….

I started saving for my “horse fund” when I was 14, but didn’t finally get a horse until I was 29- after years of riding lessons, hanging around (and helping out) at stables, and a summer teaching riding at a camp. It was a lot of work but a dream come true for about a year. Then he fell seriously ill and finally died, leaving me with vet bills that took over a year to pay off. I finally bought another horse when I was 35 and he was 3. I had him until my back gave out, so I gave him to my 14 year old niece, paying for his board myself. He eventually found a home with a family with 5 kids who cared for him and loved him until he died at age 24. The thing is, as with any pet, you have a kind of Chinese obligation to them. If you can’t keep them, you are morally obligated to pass them on to someone who’ll take good care of them. Sadly, too many pet owners just dump their pets—I hope that, in their afterlife, they experience all the misery they caused the animal they betrayed.

I think a trip to the Big Top is warranted!

I’m at work right now, I could use a cup of kickstarter right now. My “kickstarter” is a 5 hr energy with a coffee chaser. (Used very rarely, it’s usually one or the other)