Friday Ruminations

At school today (I substitute teach), one of the teachers over-heard me telling someone else my age. This teacher said, "Wow! I hope I look as good as you when I'M that old!" Hmmm.........I'm still lickin' and chewin' on that one! ha ha ha I suppose it was a compliment.............
I certainly don't feel old, in fact usually when someone asks me how old I am, I have to stop and do the math! It just doesn't matter to me. What I find fascinating is that, even at "my age," I still have the ability to change and grow and learn new things! I was stuck in a rut for more years than I care to remember but then along came this cute little gray pony................I think the first time I fell off him, he must have jarred some brain circuitry because that's when things began to change.....
I'm sure we've all had the experience of buying a horse or adopting a dog or taking a job or dating or marrying someone, all the while a nagging little voice in the back of our head was going, "Something's not right here. Don't do this." That happened to me with my first Welsh pony. I had been working at AppleCreek for 5 years and had had the very great honor to care for and ride "Big Al" (I know he's listening right now so.....Al, I love you and I miss you!!!!), Penny Apple's retired thoroughbred hunter. But it was time for me to get my own horse and a friend talked me into buying a green 3 year old Welsh cob. I was assured by the breeder that this horse would be "push button" to train and that he would give me many years of pleasure, both under saddle and in harness. I had my doubts but WANTED to believe, so the deal was struck and Brick came to live with me. From the get-go he was aggressive but I thought perhaps he was just lonely for his small herd of companions. He actually was very easy to back and to ride and the first autumn he was here, things went very well until about December. For some reason, he began to become very tense under saddle and would buck and rear and whirl around..........
I did everything - vet check, teeth checked, chiropractic work, saddle fit checked, farrier called out........nothing "clicked." (Pun intended.) I tried Parelli - for us that just exacerbated the issues.
This horse began rearing and striking out and even throwing himself over backward (I was never on him at the time). He began literally attacking my husband if he ventured into the pasture. Many times I heard my husband holler and when I looked outside, I'd see him rolling under the fence, the compost bowl and compost flying through the air, and Brick on the warpath! The final straw, however, was when he bit me in the face one night when I simply went to put his feed in his manger - something I'd done every night since he'd arrived at my place. I asked the breeder to take him back and sell him; I would pay for his expenses until she found a more suitable home. My husband told me to GIVE him back and we would just forget the money but I was told, "My horses are not teenagers. Once they leave home, they are not welcome back." I sent him to a trainer who agreed that this horse was not the horse for me and agreed that I should try to sell him. At the end of that summer, I found a buyer who wanted him despite full disclosure about his issues.
That experience plunged me into a dark funk - I'd failed. I'd never failed with a horse before but boy, I failed this one - big time! At the same time as all this was going on, my husband was injured and subsequent surgery left him with 2 pulmonary emboli from which the doctors were not sure he would recover. I was as far down mentally and emotionally as I've ever been........
(Thank you, Al and Penny for saving my sanity that summer and fall!!!) My husband recovered (it was truly a miracle) but I still had no horse of my own. My confidence had taken a severe beating but I was determined to find another horse. I wanted something dead broke - so dead that it would have no emotions and no opinions; it should be at my beck and call. I would be the boss. I would run the show. I would call the shots.
And then came the phone call from Peterborough, Ontario...........................
Of course, there's more. LOL!!! But I'm off to walk my little beagle, Jelly. She's a rescue. She was a mom in a puppy mill in Georgia who was transported to Mississippi and then here to upstate New York. Thanks to Split and our clicking, I was able to give this sweet beagle what she needed to become a member of our family. But that's a story for another day...........
Here's our quote for today (thank you, Eeyore!!!):

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."