I didn’t post a lot this year… must have been too busy riding!
11/16/06 Riding Season Over
Last weekend was awesome! We headed out to our favorite close by spot, Camp Moses and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. Nothing like riding in the fall in my book. But this week, I’m not liking this weather, folks. October is supposed to be one of my favorite times to ride and it really resembles November the last couple of days. Snow in Wayne? Ah, come on! Not yet! Since November is my LEAST favorite month, I feel like I am getting double dosed of gray skies. Not good. I hate to start whining about weather yet, but jeez. This just isnt right!
The fur coats are now on the herd. My black horses are black again; my beautiful bay and sorrel seem wooly and unkempt. GinnyBelle, the palomino, will not be clean until spring. I took some pictures of the herd recently and share them with you on this page.
Some friends returned from Rock Creek Station this past weekend. They rode both in Rock Creek and Rock Glen WMA and were pleased to report that the native grasses in the WMA have returned and the riding was gorgeous. Wayne Brandt, the superintendent of Rock Creek Station said that horse riding was down at the park this year. I know we only made it down there once, but our first excuse was fuel prices and then we just plain ran out of time. It will be on my list next spring. This park has been a great friend to horse trail riders and we need to give back by enjoying their trails.
I also had hoped to make it to Indian Cave at least once this year. Maybe in November well have an unseasonably nice day and we can sneak down there for a couple days.
I’ve exceeded two hundred Trail Time hours this year. The Trail Time program of the Nebraska Horse Trails Committee was started this past year and has so far been quite a hit! Although members renew annually, their hours continue to accrue. I’m hoping to finish out the year with 250 hours and earn my 500 hours by the end of 2007. You can enroll anytime in the year and log hours back until January 1 of that year. So there is still time to get your hours on the board!
This past month has been especially hard on a friend of mine who had to make a choice to let her injured horse die with dignity. Its a road many of us have been down and know how hard it is. To all of you who have lost a horse, I wish you peace. She shared with me a poem she found titled Where to Bury Your Horse. It seemed appropriate to include that poem on myTributes page. Blessings, my friend. ~Tammy
12/22/06 Thanksgiving
I never take my blessings for granted. I’m a forty five year old woman who in my head doesn’t feel a day over 27 (although the body reminds me now and then.) I am grateful to have a nice home, a good husband, and two happy boys (who only occasionally I would sell to the highest bidder.) I have a steady job that affords me the luxury of owning horses.
I am so grateful for having an ever changing picture out my kitchen window. There is just nothing better than looking out every day, in all seasons and seeing the horses grazing, or laying in the sun or running through the pasture. How do you explain that beauty to the people who think we are crazy for giving up shopping for new shoes so that instead our horses can be shod?
I am grateful that my husband is strong enough, smart enough and cares enough to fix the fences, clean the corrals and pick up farrier duties when needed. And ride along with my friends and I as we giggle and gossip and have a never ending dialogue about nothing but horses!
I watched my sons grow from being a passenger on a horse to becoming a rider and their faces showed it. I am grateful that I have horses they can call their own; that they trust enough so that we can share the trail together.
And at my age, I am grateful to have met so many new people who have become very important in my life. Once horse people, now my friends, who share my passion and share the trails.
Oh, money is tight like I’m sure it is for most people raising kids and feeding horses. When whining about spending recently, my oldest son reminded me that I shouldn’t buy so many horse things! Hah! I told him that I hadn’t been to a tack store in. well, a few weeks. (And then we promptly went to the open house of Messick Feed and Tack in Lincoln.) But I havent bought a new horse in over a year! A new record for me!
Oh sure, I could be 10 (or 20 or 30 or 40) pounds lighter. A better cook, a better housekeeper, a better wife & a better mom. But couldnt we all do better in life if all there was to do is work on perfection? My biggest complaint in life is that there are not enough hours in the day or days in a weekend to be who I am now! And fewer yet that are a perfect 80 degrees with a slight breeze. But once again, I’m grateful for what I can get. How many adults can look at their life and truly say, I’m living my dream. I am grateful that I can!
