Half Moon Bay, CA.
Not being able to swim worth a plug nickel myself, it was freeing to be able to brave the surf and ocean, knowing I had Mariah to hang onto.
She LOVED it too!
We rode into town frequently on my days off, doing laundry & grocery shopping.
Most of the stores in town had hitching posts out front, so Mariah was not the only horse in town most of the time.
A few months after we started, the bos hired a "cowboy" and his wife, and he & I didn't get along very well right from the start.
It came to the point where it was he or I, & the boss picked him over me. :-(
(I heard a few weeks later that the boss & cowby had a major falling out (almost came to blows) and he & his wife left them in a lurch! So they lost out on having me too!)
I went North - back to Contra Costa County to Buckeye Ranch in Lafayette.
Was one of my first inklings that Mt. Diablo had a hold on me & keeps calling me back!