My latest time sucking, $$ squandering hobby.

The first picture of two horses is to give you an idea of the pasture that Revenue (on the left) and Dreamy (on the right, DUH!) get to enjoy every day. Dreamy is the lighter of the two geldings, a 17 yr old Bay Quarterhorse. Revenue is the dark, nearly black Morgan Horse that just turned 13 in June.

The first picture also gives you a glimpse of one of the fences that needed to be restrung. In fact, the horses couldn't go into that pasture until I pulled the electric fence wire from the creek bed from where the floodwaters deposited it. You cannot see it, but there is a meandering creek through that pasture. At least one other fence needs to be completely rebuilt this fall. Not an easy electric fence, but a board fence that runs along the house and back to the shed About 30 posts will need to be sunk, then nearly 100 boards will need to be nailed to the posts. At least, I think it is only 3 boards per and not 4. I really hope it isn't 4. I will be painting the whole thing before it is installed so that I can paint en masse using a sprayer and roller. That way I can avoid all the vertical surfaces.

So far, I have done very well in keeping my promise to myself that every time I go to the farm, I work on something to repair or improve and I ride Revenue. Not all projects have been as involved as the electric fence. And not all of the rides have been an hour long. Actually, none have been an hour long. I know I need to build up butt tolerance to the saddle. Lucky for me, even though Revenue is a broad backed horse, I have really long legs to wrap around him. After riding him, I don't find my tush to be sore, butt rather, my thigh muscles ache.

When I was first dating Wife, her dad asked me if I rode. I responded that I had ridden some in the past, but not well or frequently. He told me then that if I was going to successfully date his daughter, I would have to learn. Over the next six or seven years, I did learn quite a bit. Nowhere near her class, and what I did on a horse couldn't be called riding compared to how F-I-L handled his horse, but I did learn to ride. Usually to their amusement. FIL is gone now, but I like to think that he approves of me getting a riding pair of horses for Wife and I. Wife and I used to enjoy riding around the farm or even the neighbors farm. And I have very fond memories of Wife and I on a particular hilltop on saddle blankets while the horses grazed on grass nearby.

Yesterday, Wife and I rode together for the first time since a vacation ride in colorado nearly nine years ago. It was a very nice time. A short little ride along some of the timber we used to ride alot. Over the next 20 years, I plan to ride it alot more.