The New Kid(s) on the Block

If 2026 keeps going the way it has begun, then it's going to be a very horsey year! (Which makes sense - it is the Year of the Horse.) 

Breyer has already released its 2026 line and the BreyerFest single-day Stablemates,

but I'll come back to those topics another time.

My big news is that there are two new horses at the barn!

Meet Penny (a red mare for all you red mare lovers),

and Bogo (who does tricks such as lying down on command.)

Early in December, Belle had begun looking for horses for her kids to ride. She'd send me pictures and videos and ask my opinion. 

Interested enough in one mare to go take a look, she went down to North Vernon with her son Austin and tried Penny, a 15 year old mare who was sweet and easy to handle for both Belle and Austin. The barn owner also thought she might be interested in Lanie, a black mare described as "just like a puppy, she likes people so much." Lanie had been there for training, and while there, the barn owner's teenage daughters had also taught her some tricks.

Belle showed me videos of both and asked me some questions, I had some for her as well, and then she talked to Tim about the mares to get his point of view on them. Tim hitched up the trailer and on December 23 they went to pick up Penny.

Except they ended up bringing home Lanie, too! And someone got a horse for Christmas! (That's Indianna, Belle's oldest daughter and a former student of Lisa's.)

While talking to Kyle and me the next day, Tim mentioned that he'd gone down to pick up one horse and come back with two. Kyle quipped, "Oh, you got a BOGO deal." Tim shared that with Indianna and Lanie became Bogo.

Bogo will also roll over and play dead. Indianna told me that she has fallen asleep a time or two like that. 

Yesterday I was feeling a little horsesick so I drove out to the barn. Eazy, Sultanna, and Penny were way out in the pasture, but Indianna was working with Bogo in the indoor arena.

She was SO EXCITED to show me Bogo, her very first horse. I couldn't help but remember how I'd felt when I'd gotten Amy, my own first horse and it did my heart good to watch Indianna working with her mare.

The trainer wasn't kidding when she described Bogo as a puppy. When Indianna was finished and brought her over to meet me, Bogo was super friendly and gently nudged me in greeting. She stood quietly while we talked and Indianna happily shared about her new mare. 

Indianna was so excited in fact, that she started texting me after I left and I was still receiving texts from her when I went to bed! The joy of your first horse is real.

While the temperatures are still below freezing, the snowpack and ice is gone, so I am more able to get out and about. That includes to the barn, too, and I am hoping to drop by again soon and meet Penny.

I have missed my time there.