Whoa, Nelly!

Let me preface this by saying: I've not been on a horse in 25 years.

Until today.

So B has this new job, right? It's a boys ranch for kids on drugs or gettin' into trouble, etc. One of the owners is an NFL player (Scott something, I can never remember his last name - plays for the Titans.) They're going to have horses out there. They have the horses, but they're not building the stables until starting sometime next week. The cows are there already, and I think they're going to bring in buffalo. Why? I guess just cuz they can. So B hooks up with this guy that's a friend of a friend kind of thing, and this morning I find myself 10 ft in the air on the back of the horse (Okay, so it wasn't REALLY 10 ft, but it damn near felt like it, especially since I had a SHETLAND PONY for myself when we had horses back when I was a tiny person.) I did, however, get up without the aid of a stool, and with my hip issues, that's sayin' something. Thankfully, I'm still quite bendable (oh, look! There's something for them Blaze books right there! Brenda the Bendable. Sound kinky? Ya'll are nasty.)

It was fun up on the horse and brought back a ton of childhood memories. My dad had cattle and horses when we were little. We lived in the city (suburbs) so the animals weren't right there, but every Saturday, we went out to feed them. I even remember taking cattle into downtown Ft. Worth to the slaughter houses. Thankfully, my dad only allowed us to use the horses as pets, and never let us very close to the cows unless we were unloading hay. Otherwise, I'd have been a sobbing mess in the truck on the way to the slaughter house.

Being at this guy's house today though...Oh man, it makes me want to chuck this house and get some land and some horses. But the reality is: Horses are expensive. Not just the animal itself, but the trailers (and truck, since we have a mini-van) and saddles and vets and shoeing and all that other stuff. And with four kids, I'm thinking if I had serious thought of having horses now would be a guarantee for suicide. I already feel like I'm pulled 93485703458 ways, adding another thing would be downright stupid. But it's neat to dream.

And I'm really NOT a country girl. Yeah, I listen to country music. Yeah, I'm from Texas. Yeah, I'm comfortable around horses and cows and all that jazz. I can bridle a horse, saddle a horse, but I'm more the kind that needs to have a place to go ride when the fancy hits, without the responsibility of the upkeep.

Besides, I have too many stories to write, right? Right.

And this morning, I came up with a new one, perfect for Blaze. Puts a new spin on "Rode hard and put up wet", doesn't it? ~grin~