It had to be 2003 when I first met Diane in person. We'd carried on a long distance friendship through email, while she was still on the east coast. When she & her Navy husband John moved to Whidbey Island, we finally met face-to-face :-) With four boys, Diane had a sewing business too & it wasn't long before she was horse shopping! Soon, I was invited over to see the beautiful black mare that she'd purchased from Montana. Not long after that, she was bitten by the endurance bug!
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| Elation & Diane at the NW Labor Day Ride 9-4-03 |
Just months earlier, I'd had my bad accident & was on crutches for the above ride. We drove down to see Pan Am in September of that year. I'd wanted to
crew for Tiffany & Glenda (the mare Tiff had purchased from us) but instead - rode around in a truck to the out checks. Really fun to at least be close to the action!
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| Glenda & Darlene at Pan Am |
Diane helped with the vetting, it was an amazing experience, my second time at Pan Am & we both enjoyed it a lot.
We started riding together every chance we had. I was riding Jas at that time, still horse shopping, while Diane was conditioning Elation. Jas was coming to the end of her competitive career. Diane went with me the day I went to see Khari - with the horse trailer in tow :-)
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| 7-05 Diane checks out Khari's legs~ |
Khari came home with me & it wasn't long before we were training together & having some amazing rides! The two mares were well matched & liked each other. Diane & Elation were winning rides, while I was getting over my fear issues & conditioning Khari.
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| Renegade 7-06-06 |
Our first official ride together was at Renegade in 2006. It was Khari's first - so she followed Elation's
lead :-) We stuck to the trail, passed a bunch of riders who'd gone off trail & ended up just out of the top ten. By 2007, we were going to rides together.
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| 2008, our tent at Home On the Range |
We made a couple trips up into Canada & really enjoyed the rides there.
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| Diane & Elation - Molton Creek - 4-27-09 |
Today, when we were reminiscing about the rides & the times with Kathy, Susan & Shelley - it just didn't seem possible that so many years have gone by!
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| Blanchard 2-17-10 |
I was darn sad to see Diane, John & the boys move away to CA. Khari was too - she
looked for Elation for months after they'd left. Since, we've stayed in touch - Facebook is great for that :-) Diane evolved her
Kozy Kids Company into
Crazy Legs Tights. Now, she & John have a barn full of talented endurance horses. Times do change, friends remain :-)
