This year has been a busy one. I've been working on a Masters degree in Systems Engineering. That came to a head with my senior thesis that I had to write this year. I started in June, and finished last month. The wonderful news is that I am done, and next week I'll graduate. HOORAY! It's a great sense of accomplishment to have that done. HOWEVER, all that time working on school has to be taken from family, life, and horses.
I also had an issue with my elbow last month. For some reason, it got all red and swollen. I had to be put in the hospital for 5 days. They treated it like a staff infection and it went away. We still have no idea what it was (cultures came back with nothing), or what caused it (no indication of anything out of the ordinary). I'll tell you, it sucks being stuck in a hospital when you don't feel sick.
I have done some horse stuff. Through the past few months, I have ridden Buck a few times out on some trails. Pictures below are the proof! He does well with a group of horses, but he is not confident and has to follow other horses. In a group setting he does fine as a follower, but he sure won't lead. He's got a herd sense about him that I am unsure how to fix.
 |
| This is Buck on his first trail ride! I stayed in the saddle the whole ride ... not bad. |
 |
| Ride #2. All went well. |
A few weeks back I attempted to drive the horses to start getting ready for Christmas rides on Park Street in Greenville TX. This is an event I have always done, and love to do. Unfortunately, as I started driving the horses again, I realized that all the time away from them has not been good to them. I have a spoiled group of horses that do not want to work at all. Driving the girls was fine for the first 15 minutes, but after that Pam was being openly defiant at wanting to go back out to pasture. It was sad to see. It also reminded me of this past spring when I did a horse pull and they refused to pull for me. After working them a second time with the same results, I had to make a call that I didn't want to make. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to do the Christmas rides this year. It is a setting with lots of people, and I have to have well behaved horses so that we don't have any incidents. It was a tough decision to make, and I hope Dennis Mathis will forgive me for having to bail and invite me back next year. It will be sad to be home those weekends this year.
 |
| This picture is from last year. It was on the front page of the paper today advertising for the wagon rides. Very sad that I had to back out this year. |
Another thing I did last week was to get our winter hay. I am proud to be the father of a boy who is finally big enough to handle a bale of hay on his own. My son Riley really pulled his own this year, and it was a big help to me. I think he was kind of proud of our work.
 |
| My son being proud of the load he helped load. |
Aside from all the other stuff going on in my life, I've been having personal struggles. I'm a young pup (turned 37 this year), but for some reason, I sure don't feel like one. I'm feeling old. My body feels to be growing weaker, and my energy/stamina seems to be vanishing. My whole life I've always felt invincible, like nothing could stop me, but I feel my mortality very much these days. A year ago I was all gung ho about working the horses and did whatever it took to have them ready, but this year, I just don't seem to have the energy and drive to get the time in they need. I've been struggling with this. I've heard stories about metabolism changes in guys around the 40 year mark, and I'm wondering if that's what I'm dealing with. Any way you slice it, it sucks. It sucks to not have the energy to do the things you want. It sucks to get winded after walking a single flight of stairs, or after running a short distance. It sucks to work a defiant horse and have to quit before you should because you just don't have the energy to continue. I'm kind of a natural kind of guy, so I'm typically against energy drinks and pills and the like. I just want my body to keep working the way I'm used to. As it stands, it seems like I'm sitting here watching myself deteriorate into a weak, sickly thing. It's a horrible thing to watch.
The good news is that I'm trying to get to the bottom of things and return to my normal self. I just gotta find a path that can get me there that isn't some kind of gimmick to make someone else some money. Probably going to start walking/running on a treadmill or something. We'll see how it goes.
I do plan on taking my family and some friends for a wagon ride up and down Park Street in Greenville on Christmas Eve. I've done this the past few years and it's a great tradition. I can at least post some pictures of that when I do it.
Thanks for listening to my personal ramblings. In short, I haven't posted much here, because I haven't been doing much with the horses. They just eat and look pretty. Hopefully I can change that and get them earning their keep again.
