I was looking through some photos for a new header for Northernhorse today when I came upon some photos from last summer of Dave and Buzz.

Although Dave probably wouldn’t be still riding horses were it not for my passion for doing so, he likes them a lot. And, because he has kept riding all these years (mostly to be nice to me), he still really enjoys going for a nice quiet ride across the pasture. That and the fact he still has Buzz.

He will watch and help when I am schooling a young horse in the riding ring or halter training a youngster but has no interest to work on such things himself.

Lead departures are irrelevant to Dave. He never lopes. He doesn’t want to lope. He could care less about a “head set” just that the horse keeps an eye out for gopher holes along the trail.

Buzz on the other hand knows all that stuff. He was a reiner. Although Buzz is still remarkably sound and trouble free at 25 years old, he has no interest in the “fancy” stuff like spins and sliding any more either. He too prefers to just tour across the field, stealing the odd mouthful of grass when it is so high that it is virtually “falling into his mouth” or so Dave says.

The only time Buzz has a fit is when he thinks he is being attacked by bugs. Then, if you realize you forgot to put the bug spray on him, you may just as well head ‘er back home ’cause Buzz, like the little prince he really is, will soon have you convinced that the situation is unbearable.

Dave and Buzz have been a team for a few years now. Buzz has kept Dave riding. I am really grateful for that.

I feel a little twinge of joy though when I see him springing along like a young horse which he does most often when he is “heading home”.  Surely that soundness and happiness means that he will be having some more trips with Dave. Quite a few things in life are becoming harder as we age. Our confidence on a horse is one of them. For old friends like Dave and Buzz it is not an issue.

There are few things more beautiful than the bond between an old man and an old horse. I love them both.