Gett'n Old

 It's amazing just how fast time passes when you look to the past.  I was looking through some of our family picture albums, trying to get more fodder for the next blog travel entry, and came across some pictures of our granddaughter Jynna Mae (good southern name) when she was just a little whipper snapper.  This picture was taken when Jynna was probably 6-8 months old with me, riding on Jim my quarter horse.  We had four horses in all but Jim was the oldest and best.  He was still a stallion and I used him to breed so we could get two of his sons.  Jynna spent the majority of her first year living with us while her momma worked.

And this is Jynna with Gpa on the tractor, obviously not doing much cause it was dark  and cold.  We were obviously getting ready to call it a day.

 

This is Jynna with her mom, our daughter Kristy, with Dusty.  He was born about the same time as Jynna and he became her horse.  Dusty was my stallion's 2nd son and a cross between Jim and an Arab mare.  Jynna and Dusty were as thick as thieves when she was visiting.

And Jynna Mae with her Dusty when they're both just over a year.

She was absolutely fearless around this guy.  Here she has her own saddle but at this point Dusty has not been broken to where she could ride him by herself

.  He's just so easy going that he didn't worry about Jynna Mae being on his back.  I had started conditioning him to saddle before he was a year old and was also putting weighted bags on the saddle prepping him for Jynna.  Now ain't that a cute picture?

Thought I'd add this in as well.  This is me working with Dusty in about 1998 when he was a little over 2 years old.  My neighbor, Bob, was steadying him with a lead rope while I put my weight in the saddle.  This was preceded by lots of pre-conditioning, getting him used to a bit in his mouth and ready to mount.  I had put my weight on the saddle but never in the saddle.  Note the stiff legs, head high, ears back and tight neck.  He's ready to blast off!!

 I made this maneuver numerous times just to get him somewhat used to the movement of my leg over the saddle.  I needed Bob there to steady Dusty's head and help keep him calmed.

 I had just managed to get my leg over his back and into the stirrup on the other side and was reversing the procedure when he decided he wasn't liking this new stuff.  So - off he went but with Bob holding the lead line he couldn't go far.  Cathy was taking the pictures and had the cel phone just in case she had to make an emergency call for an ambulance. 

 We did this several times until I finally decided - what the heck - let's get it over with.  I mounted, shifted my leg over his back into the stirrup on the other side and Dusty was just waiting for me.  He busted out, pulled the lead rope out of Bob's hands and took off across the corral.  He was bucking like a pro and I lasted about 5 seconds.  He threw me into a tree.  Needless to say - Cathy did not get that picture - she was already trying to dial the emergency number till I told her to stop.  It took me about a minute or so to get my breath back - then we started all over again.  He finally settled down and I just let him stand in place with me on his back - then he just walked off like it was nothing new.

 This is a picture of P-man or Panama.  He's a dark bay not black and a perfect quarter horse, just like his daddy, Jim.  P-man was real easy to break and super easy to ride.  Unfortunately, we could no longer afford to keep all the horses, so we brought Jim with us to Tennessee and gave Dusty and P-man to a good friend who had her own farm with horses.  They have a good home.  I wouldn't even think about getting in the saddle of an unbroken horse these days.  I just don't bounce like I used to and things break a lot easier now than back in those days.