I was thrilled to find out that Equine Ink has received the “Honest Scrap” award from The Literary Horse. It really makes me happy to learn that people enjoy reading my blog, especially when it’s Jane because I so much enjoy her blog (and cannot believe that she is not funny in person).

Now comes the tough part. I am supposed to follow the rules here, which are:

• Recognize your award presenter and link back to their blog in your post.
• List 10 honest things about yourself.
• Present this award to 10 admirable bloggers who have moved you, and link to their blogs.
• Notify recipients they have been awarded, so they can retrieve it.

Of course Jane at the Literary Horse has already given the award to most of the blogs that jump immediately to my mind as worth recipients, so I’m going to have to dig deeper to come up with a few more recent blogs that move me.

I’ll start with 10 honest things about me.

1. I hate bad grammar. That doesn’t mean that I don’t slip up now and then, but as an English major, a lot of the writing I read (especially on the Web) puts my teeth on edge.
2. I don’t read a lot of blogs. By the time I check a few of them and write my own post it’s too late to surf.
3. I am addicted to mysteries. I read at least one a week and sometimes stay up way too late to finish them. I probably should be reading blogs.
4. I am a saddle addict. At present I have three at my house, one in my trailer and three at the barn. I only have one horse right now so that’s a bit embarrassing.
5. I spend waaaay too much time on the Chronicle of the Horse Forum.
6. I am a recovering eBay addict. I have mostly broken this habit (which is linked with the saddle addiction mentioned above).
7. I read http://www.perezhilton.com so I know who my children talk about. Okay, I’m supposed to be honest here. I like to read Perez Hilton.
8. I have too many animals. At last count that included two dogs, four of “our” cats, two kittens that we’re fostering for a rescue and a horse. At one time we were fostering five cats (mother and kittens) that was enough to put even me over the edge.
9. I am a masters swimmer who prefers distances (a mile is good) because I hate to sprint. My philosophy is that if you swim distances most people watching are too bored by the end to notice how fast you went.
10. I am starting an equine product review web site so that eventually I can declare my horse expenses (especially the saddles) as a business expense.

And now for a few blogs that I enjoy. I can’t come up with 10 that haven’t already received the award, but am working on it!

• Global Horse Culture. I find this blog really fun because it gives you a glimpse into other cultures. I love the photos. Since I’ve never commented, I doubt the author even knows how much I enjoy her blog!
• Rock and Racehorses. I think Sarah K. Andrew is an unbelievably talented equine photographer. I see her photos all over the web so it’s nice to have them in one place for easy viewing.
• Artistic Dressage: Reading this is my current substitute for taking a dressage lesson. What he writes makes sense.
• Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider. This is a blog I only just found and am really enjoying.