Melissa attended a clinic at Southern Promise Farms, Triune, TN which began early Saturday morning. In order to get her there on time we started our chores at the very crack of dawn, which was actually kind of pleasant. Some while after she left, I finished up with chores and I headed over there…it’s only 5 miles from home…. to watch her ride like a good horse husband ought to do. I did that for a little while and even managed to capture some (rather poor) images of her riding and jumping Bonnie on camera, but it was hot standing around in the sun, and frankly kind of boring being the only man watching a bunch of women ride at a clinic. I did enjoy a brief conversation with one of our blog followers who, given her equipment, looked to be much more adept than me with cameras….Hi to Kelly from Alabama !
After an hour, I had about as much fun as I thought I could stand and I was thinking long and hard about how to make an appropriate exit, leaving Melissa to her fun. About that time, I spotted my friend Jerry (who owns the farm with his wife Anita), with his truck parked and the doors open, in the shade under a grove of hackberry trees on a hill a quarter mile away (and well hidden) from the clinic. He had his feet resting on the dashboard and the seat reclined which looked pretty good to me. I bid farewell to Melissa and the other girls and eased our Tahoe up next to him for a visit.
In their retirement Jerry and his wife run their 800 acre farm. They board quite a bunch of horses and keep a large herd of cattle so Jerry and I usually have more things to discuss than we have time to get it done in. But we both had time this morning and we took advantage of it. Pretty soon, we forgot all about the girls and the clinic and were deep into discussing torque amplifier failures on International 986’s, followed by discussing construction progress on their lovely new riding arena and large new horse barn, followed by a deep discussion on scopes, weaponry and ammunition.
We also delved a little bit into how much it costs us in time, effort and money to keep our respective horse women mostly happy with a dash of sunshine, which we both realize is our main goal in life. Given how much “happiness plus horses” costs, I sometimes wish out loud for better results than I manage to achieve, but since I’m still married and since my lovely wife Melissa sometimes even uses the word “happily” when describing our union to others, I figure I must be doing something right ! 🙂
So ladies (and gentlemen), today’s topic is horse spouses and/or significant others, long suffering or otherwise. I’m always open for new ideas about how to increase the happiness quotient in my marriage, and, more importantly, I’m always open for good stories about spouses, children and significant others, so please feel free to share away !
Slinky, Lightening and Spike
B-Rad, Alex and Ogie grazing early in the morning as the sun was rising
Hemi making his way through the pasture
Homer, Leo and Apollo
A very faded Thomas
Ivan, Apollo, Trigger and Tony
Although I refer to 2010 as the year of the wild turkeys it could be the year of the rabbit as well; in the early evenings I basically trip over rabbits as I walk around the farm.
Norman, Lexi and Sparky
Apollo
Winston and Faune
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