Priceless Friend

Look closely and you will see the Las Vegas Strip in the background.

Last weekend I had a work trip to Las Vegas.  One perk of my career is that I have made horse friends for life around the world.  Most times, no matter where on the planet work sends me, I know someone there.  True to that trend, I have a very good friend that lives in Las Vegas.  Some of you may remember pictures from the first blog, before I accidentally deleted it, that included this friend and her handsome Murgese gelding.  She is hands down my most missed horse friend from anywhere in the world.  We all know horse people are crazy and often have some super subjective and conflicting views on just about everything.  Not this friend.  She and I are on the same page about pretty much everything, to the nth degree.  From horses, to eating habits, and everything in between, this friend gets me 101% and what I wouldn't give to live closer to her.  But, I will take any visit I can get with her!

She and I even chased down someone one night that was hiding down the road from our barn, waiting for us to leave, so they could trespass on the property after we had told them to gtfo earlier when we had caught them.  She went one way, I went the other, and we met in the middle and caught the person and blocked them in until the cops got there.  You do not mess with us when it comes to our horses.  Period.

So, after not seeing each other for years, which we did not realize it would have been five this May, you would think the last time we had seen each other in person was the day before.  We had a great time.  The next day we went riding of course.

We always had the best of times riding, exploring, talking, match racing at a full gallop, exploring the arroyo down the road from the barn, conditioning in the desert, etc...  She will go anywhere, anytime and ride for real.  She has been there to take care of Klein for me when I went to schools for work and other random trips.  She is on the extremely short list of people I would trust to watch Klein and not give a second thought about.  She was also there when I had to have knee surgery, picking me up when I was on crutches and couldn't drive myself to the barn.  My last night in New Mexico before I moved to Georgia was actually at her house having dinner with her and her hubby.  She is a fantastic cook as a bonus to everything other amazing quality she has.

Nala, one of my most favorite dogs ever.  She is just the sweetest, best pup!

Here she is as a puppy in New Mexico!  We used to call her an Ewok because she looked just like one!

Miss this Nala Bear!

Oh, and we even found a sculpture of Klein mare in the Bellagio.

Though my weekend was physically and mentally exhausting, due to the seriousness of my work, it was so worth it.  We are talking about planning a trip for her to come out and visit me now and I cannot wait.