I was just thinking that my friend Nancy and I have Birthdays coming up.  I haven’t seen Nancy in probably 25 years or more, but we keep in touch via Facebook and this web page.  We live 1300 miles away from each other, but if we got together tomorrow it would be like nothing had ever changed.

We had many great years hunting together, and doing clinics every Saturday morning when we weren’t hunting.  How time does fly.

I know more horse people who are still active into their Senior years.  It’s almost like time stands still.  We think and act like we did 20 years ago.  It’s only looking in the mirror that we can see the difference.  Just don’t have mirrors or certainly don’t put your glasses on when you do look.  “Freaky!!!!!”

When I went to the drug store yesterday the woman said “are you a Senior today?”  “A…yeah, I’m a Senior everyday.”  She said “No, it’s Senior Discount Day.”  So of course I said “Yeah, I’m a Senior, sign me up.”  I used to love when they would “card me” when purchasing tobacco for Bob.  They stopped doing that.  Some senior got agitated.    You would hear.  “We’re old, leave us alone.”  “Do we look like teenagers to you?”  “Are you people nuts?”  So now I think they card under 40 years old.

So where am I going with this.  I have no idea, after all I’m a Senior.  Only kidding.  Bob’s favorite line is.  “Who are you and why are you in my house?  Age is not important.  Not for us or our horses.  I see people at restaurants who look like they are waiting for the Funeral Home to be picking them up any minute.  Their bodies are failing and there is no life left in their eyes.  The scarey thing is that they are younger than I am.  I look at people at the feed stores, who I know are my age or older, and they are doing fine.  Maybe a little hitch to their gait, but life in their eyes and energy for the stuff on their agenda.  The key is – they have a reason to get up in the morning.  More commonly known as “feeding the horses.”

My vet was telling me about a horse that she was called out to put down.  Now the story is that his owner was put in a nursing home and the people who took the horse wanted him put down because he was losing weight.  The horse is 30 for Pete’s sake.  My vet couldn’t find any health reason why this horse should be put down.  So true to form, she took him home, and now wants me to take him because of my love for old animals.  Now here you have the perfect example of old does not mean finished.

Then I had a woman call me with a horse she wants to board here that is 12 yrs old, and according to the vet, is finished.  I’ve had several people lately who have called about retiring young, permanently injured, horses.  I just shake my head and wonder why so many younger horses are being pushed beyond what their bodies can handle, thus bringing them to the end of their usefulness this early in life.  At least they are not looking to end their horses lives because they do not want to support them anymore.

In their mid to late twenties or thirties I can understand injuries catching up, but the younger ones……well it’s just wrong.  Someone dropped the ball on their care or conditioning.

Age doesn’t matter, attitude does.  If we are going to sit on the porch and watch life slip away, it will.  If we do not keep our horses bodies moving, all the old injuries will come creeping in.  You just got to keep out-running old age.  It will eventually catch up, but don’t sit idle and wait for it to pounce on you.

Horses keep us young, in mind, body, and spirit.  Let us do the same for them.

After thought –

I’ve probably written about this before.  Probably around my Birthday last year.  These things do happen.  And yes, you will all reach this point in your life, there’s no avoiding it.  Bob and I never believed it would happen to us.  Surprise!!!!!!