Chariton Valley News Press
The house is almost finished! The carpenters
should be able to finish up the outside this week. Larry and I took a break
from it all this weekend and had a little fun. Although we did do some cleaning
up around the yard and barn on Saturday, most of the afternoon was spent
getting tack checked and cleaned.
Sunday afternoon we loaded
up the bruts and headed south. One of our favorite places to ride is Rudolf
Bennett Conservation Area. We joined my brother, my nephew and his family and a
few friends for a long, lazy Sunday afternoon ride. Life is good again.
As we were riding along,
enjoying the cackles from my almost two year old great-nephew as he “drove” the
horse he was riding with his mom, Doug reminded Larry and I how he got started
riding in the first place. Back in the day, Jeana and Jake tended to get into
all kinds of trouble. Most was dealt with quickly and we moved on. There was
occasionally an incident though that the punishment lasted long term. Like the
time they got caught trying cigars in Jake’s bedroom and then snuffing them out
on the woodwork.
I don’t know why there
were cigars in the house but those two managed to find them and get into a HEAP
of trouble. Between them lighting up in Jake’s disaster of a bedroom and then
not thinking before they spoke when confronted about the butts left lying
around, they were doomed. The punishment lasted far longer than usual and both
kids lost privileges to ride anything – horse, bike, little tykes car,
scooters, roller blades – you name it, we took it away.
In order to get our point
across even better, we decided one Sunday afternoon to invite my niece and
nephew along on a trail ride. Jeana and Jake’s horses were free to use. They
were not happy about staying at Grandma’s while we all went riding. It served
as the exclamation point at the end of the “you messed up big this time”
message we were trying to get across.
Doug and Heather fell
deeply in love with our favorite pastime that day. Larry and I chuckled all the
way home as Doug sat in our truck plotting how he was going to talk his dad
into letting him buy a horse. My favorite scheme was his plan to not say
anything right away. Doug planned on “casually” mentioning it sometime in the
next week at the dinner table. His plan didn’t make it to the back door.
Doug hit the back door
screaming, “Dad, I want a horse”!
Larry and I couldn’t decide what was funnier – Doug’s impatience or the
look on John Darold’s face. He was doomed!
Before that summer was
over, John Darold and his family were all riding with us. Jeana and Jake
eventually got their “rides” back and our families have spent many weekends
riding together since. We’ve even managed to bring a few more family members
into the group of riders.
As we were reminiscing
Sunday afternoon, we had to chuckle. Jeana and Jake’s cigar encounter had them
in hot water for a while but what a great ending. Doug is now married and our
families still love to get together every chance we get to go riding. Doug is
also a ferrier by trade and provides for his family based on that love of
horses we found in him that sunny afternoon.
When many families find
the generations spending less time together, ours is usually on the phone every
Friday night deciding if we can find a time we can all go riding. Whether we
head south to the wooded trails that Rudolf Bennett provide or stay close to
home, we love to get together for a casual afternoon of riding and yes, there
is usually a whole lot of babbling going on as well.
I have heard the quote by Winston Churchhill many
times, “there is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the
inside of a man.” In our case,
that horse is also good for our family as a whole.
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