I’ve opted out of a lot of TOA’s Blog Hop series because I figured people would get tired of me constantly talking about how awesome I think my horse is. But this one is like a collection of all those awesome things, therefore a summation, therefore I’m not sorry at all for what you’re about to endure.

Beka wrote: In honor of Archie’s 18th birthday, tell me 18 things you love about your horse. I could do 18 things about Sadie too but I figure there would really be zero readers left by the end of that, so we’ll stick to just Henry.

1. I love how goofy he is.

2. I love his color – bay with no white is easy.

3. I love his canter.

4. I love how we have the same personality. As in “EFF OFF! Oh wait, you have food, j/k luvs youse…”.

5. I love how willing he is to do new things.

6. I love that he always gives 100%.

7. I love that he’s such a fast learner and always retains things from one ride to the next.

8. I love that he’s a thoroughbred.

9. I love that he’s sensitive – it makes me a more self aware rider.

10. I love that he’s really easy to deal with for day-to-day stuff: clips, loads, stands well for the farrier, ties and crossties reliably, etc.

11. I love that he puts up with all my bullshit and hasn’t killed me yet.

12. I love how photogenic he is.

13. I love that he can have a week or two (or four) off and never needs a lunge.

14. I love that I can ride him bridleless.

15. I love that he’s good with cats and dogs and doesn’t mind them standing under him or running around him.

16. I love that he’s forgiving and doesn’t hold a grudge.

17. I love how proud of himself he is after XC.

18. I love that I found him on facebook and bought him through Paypal – it’s certainly the internet age!