Other Things in My Backyard

Trees aren't the only thing in my back yard/pasture. This is my horse Zero. Zero is a calm gentle horse. The only kind I like. I'm a "fair weather cowgirl" so most of the time he just eats. But the weather is getting pretty so he may get some riding time in with me. My mother-in-law rides him some so he gets a little bit of exercise.



When I was a born, Mom and Dad had a stud horse named Dude and a mare named Molly. A month after I was born, Molly had a colt, and they named him Jenna's Little Dude or as we called him, "Little Dude." Dude from then on became "Big Dude." We still have both horses. Big Dude is now around 27 and recently had testicular cancer and had to be retired as a stud horse. He had his last colt last year, and he's a beauty. Little Dude just hangs out in the pasture with the other older horses. He's the same age as me...24. When I was younger I rode Little Dude a lot. I really enjoyed riding. I was a little nervous sometimes, because I'm a weenie but for the most part, I enjoyed riding. He was a slow horse, he never got in a hurry for anything and was always the horse in the back of all the riders. It's no secret that I'm scared to ride horses now, I'm around them daily but riding isn't something I'm good at. I think I'm scared because it's been so long since I've ridden and also becuase I'm around "professional" horse riders daily, and I'm a little bit intimidated. Sean's started giving me lessons last summer to help with my confidence level. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion the real reason I'm nervous around horses now is because of an accident I had when I was in Elementary school.

I was riding Little Dude and had stopped at the house to go inside for a drink because it was summer and I was hot and I needed some Ice water. I tied Little Dude's reins to our wooden fence in the back yard. After enjoying my refreshing drink, I went to get back on him Little Dude and his reins had become untied and fallen to the ground. Little Dude was munching on some grass, and you know they say, "The grass is always greener on the other side," and apparently Little Dude thought so because he had his head under the fence rail eating the grass on the other side of the fence. I was a little annoyed that my knot hadn't stayed put and that Little Dude was loose so I walked up and grabbed the reins and spooked Little Dude. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal he would've just raised his head real fast and checked out was was going on, but because he was eating grass on the other side of the fence when he lifted his head to see who I was he hit it on the fence and knocked himself out. As he rolled to the ground he rolled on top of me and I fell against the fence so hard that my back broke the bottom fence rung, horse still on top of me. (now this fence rung was round and about 5 inches through the middle, needless to say it hurt) Little Dude quickly came back to and jumped off of me, but it was too late. The mental damage had already been done. I still have a scar on my back. Little Dude still has a scar on his face from hitting the fence. The star in the middle of his forehead doesn't grow back complete anymore. Dad says it's always been like that but I beg to differ. Little Dude is now 24, the same age as me, and isn't really young enough to be ridden anymore. That is why I have Zero here instead of Little Dude. I've started riding a little bit more since I've been married to Sean and hopefully I can conquer my nervousness around horses.