I cannot believe that Chloe is going to be 20 years old this week!
I’ve had her in my life for nearly 12 years, a fact that seemed so impossible that I had to double check by searching my old emails for her purchase exam. The vet purchase emails were undeniably from 2008. At the risk of sounding cliche, the barn birthday celebrations I had for both her 10th birthday and “Sweet 16” feel like they happened just yesterday.
When I sat at my computer thinking about this timeline, I really did get a bit misty eyed. Chloe and I have been through so much. I purchased her when I was just newly married and living in a high rise condo in uptown Charlotte. She’s seen me through the lifecycles of many friendships, my first job out of law school, a move into my first house, the birth of two children and so on. If she has celebrated 12 birthdays in her time with me, than that means I have too. Eek!
When I bought Chloe, I had just started riding again after a 13 year or so hiatus from the sport. She was actually the first horse I really had ever sat on, having grown up doing the pony hunters. If you follow my blog and social media account you know that Chloe has never been a particularly easy ride. A fact that I should have been aware of when I purchased her, as I was her 7th owner in only 8 years. Truthfully, she still isn’t an easy ride and the sass is still there, but age has definitely mellowed her out (a tad).
In the last 6 years, ever since I was pregnant with my son, Tanner, I have on and off shared Chloe with many local riders. In the last few days, in anticipation of Chloe’s big 2-0, many of these riders have shared their own Chloe photos on social media and it’s been so fun to remember how many lives Chloe has been a part of. I never thought I would share Chloe and if you would have asked me 7 years ago, I would have said “no way is anyone else riding her!” However, pregnancy and motherhood have meant that I had to make what at the time I thought of as “sacrifices”. In retrospect, I am glad that Chloe had these wonderful girls in her life at a time where we both needed them. They gave her all the love, attention and treats that I just could not. I am grateful to them.
On that note, happiest of birthdays, Chloe! I am so happy our paths crossed and I know you have way more to teach us all!
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Andrea Wise graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2007, where afterwards she spent 7 years as a commercial real-estate attorney. In 2012, she launched the equestrian company, Pony Glam, which makes and sells the only colored hoof dressing for horses. She is also the voice behind the new equestrian lifestyle blog, Horse Glam. Andrea lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband, Zach, two young children, cat and horse, Chloe.
