Related: Teddi Mellencamp Speaks Out After Affair News: ‘I Won’t Confirm or Deny’
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Teddi Mellencamp Shares Horseback Riding Photos After Affair Claims
Teddi Mellencamp’s love of horses hasn’t wavered since news broke last month of her alleged affair with her horse trainer, Simon Schroeder.
Mellencamp, 43, enjoyed an afternoon at the stables on Sunday, December 22, with her daughters Slate, 12, and Dove, 4, according to her Instagram Stories.
“Frog Santa is my fave Santa,” she captioned one photo with Dove, who wore Christmas tree-shaped glasses on her face that looked a little like a frog.
Mellencamp was all smiles in the snap, wearing black riding pants and boots, a white Nike sweatshirt and her helmet. The mother-daughter duo posed by a hose wearing a Santa hat.
The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star also shared several videos of both Slate and Dove riding different horses. One of the animals even wore reindeer antlers as Slate galloped.
Slate and Dove, whom Mellencamp shares with her estranged husband, Edwin Arroyave, also dressed up for the festive riding day. (Mellencamp and Arroyave also share son Cruz, 10, and Arroyave, 47, is the father of daughter Isabella from a previous relationship.)
Dove traded in her tree glasses for sparkly reindeer glasses to ride with her big sister, who added antlers to her helmet.
“Santa’s little helper,” Mellencamp captioned a separate Instagram Story video of her youngest child walking one of the horses out of its stable.
Later that day, Mellencamp posted photos of Slate and Cruz with friends during their VIP experience at Cirque du Soleil Kooza in Santa Monica, California.
The reality’s star’s family-filled weekend came nearly two months after she announced on November 2 that she and Arroyave split after 13 years of marriage.
Mellencamp initially requested sole physical and legal custody of the pair’s three children with Arroyave having “reasonable and frequent” visitation. However, Us Weekly confirmed on November 22 that she changed her petition, asking the court for joint physical and legal custody of the kids.
Arroyave, for his part, previously asked for joint legal and physical custody of the kids in his November response to Mellencamp’s filing. “Edwin and Teddi have always wanted to keep this amicable for the children,” a source told Us at the time, claiming that “Teddi and Edwin both knew each other were filing — it was not a surprise.”
While the estranged spouses appear to be handling their divorce amicably, Mellencamp has remained in the hot seat over the past two months for other extramarital affairs.
Us confirmed on November 13 that Mellencamp had an affair with her horse trainer, Schroeder, months before she filed for divorce.
“Simon and Teddi had a thing several months ago but it’s not still happening,” a source exclusively told Us last month, claiming that Mellencamp and Arroyave were both unfaithful during their marriage.
While the insider said, “Teddi isn’t excusing her behavior,” they alleged it was “the first and only time she strayed outside the marriage.” The source added that Mellencamp says “there’s two sides to the story” and both she and Arroyave are to “blame.”
A second insider told Us that Arroyave “insists he has not had an affair since” he cheated on Mellencamp eight years ago. “Since then, he’s been focused on family and faith,” the source claimed.
Following their separation, Mellencamp has kept quiet about what led to the split. She briefly touched upon the rumors during the November 14 episode of her “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast, saying, “There’s multiple sides to every story.”
She added, “I’m not going to confirm or deny anything. But there’s many people involved.”
Mellencamp has since begun to pick up the pieces in her life, revealing during the December 5 episode of Erika Jayne’s “Diamonds in the Rough” podcast that she is living part-time with RHOBH’s Kyle Richards. She is also splitting time with Arroyave in their marital home with their kids, which she called “nesting.”
“Some places you can just file for divorce … in California, there’s a six-month cooling-off period,” Mellencamp explained. “During that six months, you can do a multitude of things. The way I learned about nesting was one of my good girlfriends, she’s a divorce coach. She told me about nesting. It’s where the kids stay [in the marital home] and the parents come and go.”
She noted that both she and her estranged husband “can be there for sporting events” and other activities for the kids. “We’re completely happy to be around one another,” Mellencamp claimed.