Not Again...

My parents, youngest brother and I went to look at a horse last night. His name is Rock...an 8-yr-old Tennessee Walker standing 16 hands tall...!!! He is beautiful! Unfortunately, he has poor manners. If I were to be completely honest with myself I would admit to seeing the same bad signs that Daddy talked about seeing as Rock was being saddled by his owner. Though he rested one of his hind legs like usual, his entire body stood in "will reverse at any second" mode. The owner had a hard time keeping Rock still enough to mount and then had to keep a tight rein on him. Can I just insert here that Rock moved beautifully?! He was smooth. He held his head high, his neck arched perfectly. He knows he looks good. I almost literally itched to ride him...but ach! It would be a long way down if he misbehaved and I did not stay on. So, suddenly Daddy goes to get on him. He starts out, with a looser rein, and it actually looks like things are going well...until the bucking session starts. I am not talking of attempts to rear up or a tiny kick to try and be the boss...I mean, any rougher and it could have been a light version of rodeo material. It went too fast and yet felt like slo-mo all at once. It looked like Daddy would stay on, but, well...he did not. He landed hard and for a minute I was really scared that he was seriously injured. Turns out he really just had the breath knocked out of him. He landed on his shoulder and pretty close to on his head so he was pretty light-headed for a little bit. Thankfully he was well enough to eat something and drive home - this morning, however, he stayed home. That is kinda a big deal since he does not stay home from work unless absolutely necessary. Mom said he passed out at some point in the wee hours this morning and they have been up since then, keeping Daddy awake just in case he has a concussion.

No, this is not the first time he has been bucked off. He tried a mule about a year ago and messed up his ribs on the left side. I guess the point of this post is two-fold: this is the second time we have been told about a great horse just to find out that it has bad behavior (we were all disappointed), and my daddy is not getting any younger. I am always shocked when I see signs of his aging probably because I still remember a time when he would have bounced back from a fall like that. He has always been strong in my eyes, an unshakable force. I have to insert an LOL here...what I have written so far makes it sound like he is fast approaching frailty. He is NOT in that kind of shape yet! I guess yesterday's tumble and seeing him home this morning, barely able to move for the soreness, just has me contemplating things.

The horse search continues...