50 Years

I don't know what it is about 1963, but it must have been an active year.  Seems that we're celebrating/remembering a lot of events from that year.  

I just finished a 50th-year story about Schweitzer, which opened Dec. 4, 1963, just a couple of weeks after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

My brother turns 50 this year, and my first horse would have been 50 today.  On this day last year, I reflected on Tiny, but it seems important to remember her once again on this milestone anniversary of her birth. 

We were in Michigan---Mother, Barbara, Laurie and I---when Tiny was born.  My dad reported her birth to us over the telephone, and the fact that she was such tiny little thing led to her barnyard name.

Tiny was a good friend to a lot of humans. She was lazy,  but that laziness led to the ultimate of patience as seen in these photos with Willie and Annie. 

So, happy 50th Tiny.  I'll never forget you even when you're 65 and hopefully I'm still alive.

I would hate to say out loud for fear of insulting my first horse, but my one of my present horses gave me a great ride last night.  

Good ol' Lily was a good ol' girl except for one little quirk.  

Last time I rode Lily with one of our other Lovestead horses---that would be Heather, I rode with Melissa Mundell. 

For the next three rides on Lily, I dealt with her fixation on "needing one of the barnyard" crew to go with her.

So, it was whinny, whinny, whinny and a little rebellion all along the way from home.   It took a while for her to get back in the groove of going solo.

Well, this week, Lily went on a short ride with another barnyard friend, Lefty.  

Lily develops habits quickly. 

When I saddled her up last night, she actually looked around to see if Lefty was saddled too.  Lefty was still in the barnyard.

I told her that there's only one of me and that I can't ride both horses at once.

My comment failed to assuage Lily's disappointment that Lefty was not going along on this ride.

So, off and on through most of the 3-mile ride, it was whinny, whinny, whinny. 

Fortunately, though, no rebel behavior.  

So, I thoroughly enjoyed my outing with dear Lily, and I must say that she responds to spurs so well that I don't have to use them.

One little nudge is all that's needed, which brings me back to Tiny. She needed a lot more nudges than Lily does, but she never whinnied when I rode her away from her herd.

Maybe, if I ride Lily tonight she'll forget her need to have Lefty alongside her.  

Happy Thursday, and Happy 50 years of reflection on my first-ever horse and a good ol' friend.