2 months.

 

Today marks the 2 month anniversary that I let Piney go. Some days are easier than others. I find that if I don’t think too much about it my day will be easier. But then some days something will come up and remind me of him. Like when I was going through my tack the other day I grabbed a piece and set it aside because I wanted to try it out on Piney. Then I realized how foolish that was. Last week I went out to Big Iron, which is a HUGE farm show out at the fairgrounds in Fargo, that showcases all the newest farm equipment, technology and all other things farm related. I work for a farm so I went to do some research, even though If I really wanted to see the newest technology in farm equipment I would head on out to the shop and have a look around. But we went into one of the buildings that the new John Deere equipment. They had all the equipment in one of the arenas and had the dirt covered up with big fluffy pine shavings. My heart sank. I used to love the smell of fresh pine shavings but now when I see them and smell them I think of this.

This was the last picture I have of Piney. I have no idea why I took it, but I probably did because I thought that he would bounce back and I’d have a picture as a reminder of the time I almost lost him. I was going through my phone pictures last week and I saw this. I didn’t know if I should keep it or not. I decided that I should. It was part of our story and journey. Which is why I posted it here.

 

The funny thing is that sometimes when I look at Pistol I see Piney. Pistol has warmed up considerably to me, but he still isn’t at Piney’s level of “love all the people!”  He wants to love people but he still has some lingering trust issues. They are fading with time and I hope he realizes that I love him and won’t hurt him.

Pistol is such a sweet horse, and he's got alot of the same qualities I loved in Piney. Like the fact that he isn't bothered when there is a ton of stuff going on around him. Especially when I feed him and not only do the cats try to help him finish his food, but the dogs do too.  Or when the cats rub up against his hind legs and he doesn't flinch. The same action causes Duke to blow up and bolt across the pasture. He doesn't realize that the 2 pound cat is not a huge tiger trying to attack him. Pistol knows that fly spray is helping him and he doesn't "forget" every single time I bring it out like his buddy Duke. I swear I sprayed that horse once a day and Duke still thought that the fly spray was trying to kill him.

I like riding Pistol, but as I said I still have a bit of fear that I try to leave back at home when I take him out. Obviously he is recovering from his hoof isues and I haven't ridden in a while. But I need to remember that I am a good rider, and he is a good horse. Even if he pulls some crap when we get back home to the driveway. That is something we can work on and I wouldn't put a beginner on him until that is figured out. But he's a good horse and he is fun to ride because he is actually going somewhere when he walks, Piney was the slowest horse in the world. I wish more people could have ridden him so they could experience what the laziest horse in the world felt like. 

Piney really was my once in a lifetime horse. But it's time to make new memories with new horses.