No one ever said barn moms have it easy. Navigating the waters of your tween’s adolescence is hard enough without throwing horses into the mix. Normal kids want a dog, carpool to soccer, and ask mom to hold a water bottle by the sidelines from time to time. Horse kids want a pony, a truck and trailer to pull it with, and ask mom to clean stalls, polish boots, and hold the (grumpy) pony for an hour outside the show ring, all before the sun is up.

Your mom pinched pennies, swallowed her fear, and shoveled more than her fair share of love nuggets, and this Mother’s Day, make sure you thank her for it. Here are a dozen reasons why you should.

1. Horses always scared her, but she put her fears aside so you could do what you loved.

Woman and Horse FREE

2. For years, she listened to you prattle on about horses, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and never seemed to complain.

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3. Haltering, leading, and picking feet are just a few of the skill sets she didn’t need to acquire.

Woman and Horse FREE

4. She never missed a lesson, even though watching you always made her nervous.

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5. She volunteered to sweat it out as your jog along when you were learning to trot.

Mom Daughter Trotting

6. She quietly looked the other way when you washed your horse blankets at the house.

Horse Blanket Gross FREE

7. She re-packed your trunk, reminded you to bring your wraps and clean underwear, and otherwise kept you organized at horse shows (you were hard to keep organized).

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8. In the winter, she drove you to a barn in the middle of nowhere and stood shivering in the cold for two hours so you could take a lesson.

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9. She gave up the fact that she could have lived her whole life without ever knowing that sheath cleaning is a thing, just so you could ride a gelding.

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10. At horse shows, she clapped when you won, dried your tears when you fell off, and gave you that much-needed reality check if you ever so much as thought about being a poor sport.

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11. She, "minimized the economic implications of your family’s participation in horseback-related activities." (Read: she hid the horse show bills from Dad).

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12. She shared and understood all the ups and downs of this crazy sport like no one else could.

Horse Mom and Daughter

 

Thank you to Barn Mom’s everywhere and Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at the Horse Network!

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