Pay It Forward

(For those of you asking about Immy & Pmare, I'll hopefully get an update to share soon :) I haven't heard from the lessee all month! Immy has definitely found herself a permanent and loving companion-only home there, which is just awesome and I am so happy for her. It was absolutely the greatest thing I could have done, pulling her out of the situation she was in and getting her into the new situation. She'll never really be a reliable riding horse, but she'll be happy and cared for indefinitely - and I get her back if anything does change. I do want old Pmare to come home to me at some point too, as she is my last link to Metro, even though her lessee adores her and wants her to stay. I have a breeding to a very nice Oldenburg that I had planned for her last year, but never ended up doing.... the breeding is still good for this year, but not sure if I am going to do it or not as I'm not sure that she will be home. I could also breed one of the ladies I have now! The breeding expires in 2014, so either I forfeit it or use it. It was purchased under special sale terms so it can't be sold.... so we'll see what happens and who - if anybody - gets it. His offspring out of any mare are all stunning and typey either way! Scores and scores of Gold Premiums. Love that.) 

I've done a lot of satisfying things this year. One of the best things that I've been involved in has been a sort of unspoken pay-it-forward pact, helping out others who need some stuff. It all started when my longtime friend Kat heard me complaining about needing a neckstrap for O, and she sent me her really nice one, just because she thought I could use it. A few months later,  her mare needed some hoof boots, so I sent her an extra pair of Cavallos that I had. Not long after that, Funder listened to me talk about how badly I wanted a helmet cam, so she sent me hers, as long as I promised to make a lot of videos doing ridiculous things. (The weather has been too wet and crappy to make any videos yet booooo!) Later, she sent me some Really Awesome endurance stirrups, since my nasty western ones were making my ankles and feet hurt. Going through my stuff, I found a nice wicking cooler for Dixie to send to her in thanks. Friend and client M listened to me go on about my hackamore dilemmas, and exchanged her really excellent hackamore to me for a trim. Friend and client Becky also offered to give me her amazing fleecey-butt saver for my rock-hard saddle. The worst of it: Niamh had her tack room broken into last night and had everything stolen, saddle and all. I'm going to send her some things - bridle, boots, pads, whatever I have that can be useful. If you have anything that you can spare to send her, you should!
Edited to add, because how could I have forgotten!!: Bif and Davsgirl both sent me bits earlier in the year, a Mylar twist and a slow twist full cheeck, both of which were GREAT for getting some responsiveness and brakes installed. I can't thank you guys enough!!!

It has been really, really nice, and really inspiring to do these things, no matter how small. I hope next year to keep it up, and get more people involved. The only requirements to this are just to not abuse it - if you need something, ask for it, and if you have something that somebody else needs, send it if you can spare it. If people like the idea, I'm more than happy to put up a page with people's needs - you can put up what you want/need, and people can come look around and see if they have anything they can spare, or that they can offer in trade. It connects us in a tangible, physical way, even if we've never met each other, and that's my favorite part about it. There are a lot of bad people in this world, but there are just as many good and selfless people who are willing to lend a hand whenever they can, sometimes to total strangers. 

What have you done this year to help those around you? What will you do next year?