Laura and Bubba the Wonder Horse

Another Old Photo

Laura rides Bubba the Wonder Horse in a horse show in this old photo from around 1999, scanned in from a negative. And they are both smiling for the camera! A continuation of the Old Photo series.

Back in the old days when we had time for such things, Laura would occasionally ride Bubba the Wonder Horse in some of the different Tennessee Walking Horse shows in our area. This photo is from one of those shows, although it was not taken during the actual competition. Instead, this photo was taken before Laura and Bubba rode in the show, probably either near our horse trailer or in the warmup area.

Back in those days, Bubba was just a spring chicken. Or I guess a spring horse. He was around 8 years old at that point. And now, he is 31 years old. That is a good, long life, especially when you consider that the average horse lifespan is around 25 years. Bubba always has been above average. That is what makes him a Wonder Horse.

Laura’s visits to horse shows ended not too long after another youngster wandered into our lives. So we had a little more time on our hands back then.

Things Change

As you probably know if you have lived any amount of time on this earth, things change over time. And suddenly we find ourselves not having time for the things that we once enjoyed. And then when we do have time for them again, our horses are too old. Or in your case, something else might have changed.

Change is a normal part of life. Nothing stays the same. Expect change, and embrace it when you can. Remember the past, but don’t dwell on it to the point of sadness.

And in the meantime, right here and now while our verbs are in the present tense, take lots of photos and videos. These days, digital cameras and phones make it easy. You really can’t take too many. You just might want to have those memories to look back on in the future.

About the Photo

Wouldn’t it be nice if these old negatives had a date on them somewhere? I know some cameras used to put the date on the picture itself, and I never was a big fan of that. In fact, I am still glad that these photos did not have the date on the photo. If they did, I would try to remove it digitally. But it would be a little nice to know for certain when some photos were taken.

I am fairly certain that this photo was from 1999, because I scanned it in with several photos of construction progress on our house, and I know when that was. So I believe this was at the same time.

I am also fairly certain that this photo was taken with Laura’s camera. It appears that a flash was used, and I rarely put the external flash on my camera at that time. That probably matters more to me than to you, but I thought I would tell you anyway.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. - 1 Peter 3:8