December 5, 2007

I've been missing my horses lately and trying to make decisions about the future of my horseback riding hobby. It's a wonderful hobby. But it's an expensive one: emotionally as well as financially. Lately it's been a huge red hole in both categories.

I currently have three horses and will soon have four. One of the horses is the old quarter horse, Doc, who lives on our place in Smithville, Texas, where he pretty much has the run of the place and all the hay he can eat. He's retired from competition and hasn't seen a saddle in years. There's nothing wrong with him other than he's getting a little long in the tooth. Maybe he doesn't even have teeth at this point. Two of my horses are on the injured list. One is my cutting horse who recently ripped half of his hoof off. For those of you who might equate this with ripping half a toe nail off, it's not quite the same deal even though the hoof of a horse does have it's root in the same place as our toe nail. But this has resulted in lameness and possible long term disability. He is at rest for six to nine months and could founder (I'll discuss this another time, but suffice it to say it could kill him). The other horse is a filly; the daughter of two very nicely bred parents and a fine specimen herself. I consider her to be quite valuable and was getting ready to put her in training when she slipped and broke her pelvis. No problem after x-rays under anesthesia. The veterinarian's work is on a cash basis. (Not like the physician's work which is controlled by the insurance companies and our government.) Oh, wait, this is supposed to be about my horses. Sorry. So what's the treatment? Three months of stall rest and then gradual "legging up," or conditioning her to get back in shape so maybe she can be trained to compete in my favorite sports of reining and working cow horse.

It's not a happy thing. I have no horse to ride. What's a girl to do? I can ride my friend's horses but I want to ride my own. If you keep horses you will know the highest highs and the lowest lows. They are fragile creatures and taking care of them is like guarding china tea sets on the Santa Fe trail. The more expensive the porcelein the more likely they were not to make it. The cheap stuff made the trip fine. My old retiree out in Smithville...clay pottery. I haven't spent a dime on him in years.

However, they give us so much pleasure. Just to hang out in the barn with Rainy (the cutting horse with half a hoof) is 100% happiness. His little ears flicking forward and back, he anticipates a treat. His big brown eyes give no indication of fear, anxiety. He doesn't worry about himself. He is cared for and loved and he knows it. Like my favorite tea cup...the porcelein...not the pottery.