Whoa, ponies!

This evening at work while I was helping feed the horses on the ranch, I started thinking about how ridiculous the size of their herd is relative to the amount of time Trina spends with them. In the past seven days, Trina has made excuses on five of them about why she can't or won't ride. These excuses are pathetic, and Marlene and I have been discussing how long it will be before Trina stops riding altogether. If that really does happen, what are they going to do with all these horses?

Just to give you an idea of the sheer number of horses on the ranch, I thought I'd list them all here. Keep in mind that, save for two horses owned by Marlene and two boarded by one of Trina's friends, every single one of these horses is Trina's. That's right-- every single horse technically "belongs" to her.

Turbo- Trina's favorite. If she rides just one horse, it'll be him. She uses him for the obstacle course, and sometimes in poles.
Louis- A gelding purchased late this winter to be used in poles. This has become Trina's second-favorite horse.
Jet- An aging barrel horse. One of Trina's favorites, but she doesn't ride him much since they got Louis and Morgan.
Morgan- A barrel horse. Very fast, and a little unpredictable. Trina never rides her unless she's competing.
Gage- A roping horse. Trina doesn't rope very often. She'll go through phases. She didn't ride him at all for five months over the winter, but has been riding him once a week or so lately.
Belle- Belle used to be Trina's pole horse, but they decided they didn't like her when Trina kept knocking poles over, and ended up with Louis. Guess what? She still knocks over poles. Belle is my personal favorite, and for all intents and purposes is "my" horse. I'm the only one that rides her now, and everyone on the ranch refers to her as mine. If I had the money to keep a horse, I'd buy her off of them in an instant.
Beauty- They bought Beauty for Trina to "train." Er... Yeah. Right. Marlene trained her. Trina has ridden her, to my knowledge, one time in the last eight months.
Moxy- They bought Moxy for Trina to "train," too. Same story as above. Marlene trained her to run the obstacle course, and now they're doing a partial lease to another girl who is using her in rodeos.
Cash- They bought Cash to be Trina's barrel horse. I have no idea how long she actually used him before they got a different horse for her. Cash has a good personality, though, so they've kept him around.
Starsky- A retired horse that used to do the obstacle course and flags. Not sure why they bought him. I think Trina has ridden him twice since I've worked on the ranch, for about fifteen minutes each time.
King- They bought King for Trina to show. I don't think she's shown a horse in years.
Queen- They bought Queen so King wouldn't be lonely, and so Trina would have another show horse. I can't remember the last time she even brushed either one.
Prince and Princess- Two horses that belong to one of Trina's friends.
Texas- Tex was supposed to be Trina's pole horse. She didn't like him. They sold him to Marlene, and he still lives on the ranch.
Puma- The other horse that lives on the ranch that belongs to Marlene.

This list doesn't include the horses they've sold or bought and sold in the past seven months-- Halle, Greco, Disco, and Fox, or the two horses they own that don't live on their property-- Jeeves and Sully.

Don't get me wrong- I understand completely why Trina doesn't ride every horse she owns. It would be completely overwhelming. And the fact that she rides only one or two of them regularly means I have a job, which, although not ideal, is better than a lot of people have right now. But honestly, what's the point in having them if she's not going to use them? That's anywhere from twelve to sixteen horses that need to be groomed and ridden on a regular basis, and fed daily. It's a huge responsibility, and one that requires two to four full-time employees working every day of the week. All for a single, seventeen year-old girl.