 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, I don't know why they were wasting their time looking at all those other horses, when I was patiently waiting for them in that barbed wire strewn pasture with all those fancy horses. Hummph. A French lady like me, having to wait.
When I first saw them, I knew they were the ones. They were giggling like school girls, despite being ladies of a certain age, and their hands were so soft as they stroked me. They believed in me when they asked the "trainer" to see if I'd jump that tiny little cross bar, and applauded when I did. About time I got some appreciation!
The big one got up on me to ride, and she did OK. Was a little nervous, I could tell, so I was pretty careful and didn't even canter too fast. She lost her stirrups anyway, so I slowed down for her to catch them, and she kept probing around, so I slowly came to a halt. She patted me on the neck for that, and I knew I was sold on them. She rode me some more and took me over a couple of jumps. I did very well, though they were just little old things and I didn't have to try much (course, they were the first jumps I'd ever been ridden over, not to brag or anything). I wanted them to like me!
Back to the barn we went, and again, all those soft hands rubbing me down... ah, heaven! The "trainer" always did what she called "knocking off a few", which meant very rapidly (and sometimes roughly) brushing a couple of us just to get the big clumps of mud off. Not a very pleasant experience.
Now for the clincher. Heh heh heh. They stood around talking after they put me back in my little house. Well! There was almost no water in my bucket! There I'd been on my best behavior, lounged, ridden by two people, even jumped, and no water! So, I did my best trick for them... I blew bubbles in the pitiful few inches of water and waited. Silence. I did it again, giving them a bit of a razz sound this time. Here they came! I could tell by the way they gabbled and laughed that I had a new home.
The new place was interesting. It was a long, red metal barn with lots more horses than the last one, some small ones (ponies I learned) and some tall ones, and a cat too. The Big One stayed with me most all of the day for a long time, sometimes sleeping on a tack trunk in front of my stall. I was nervous in the new place, since I didn't know anybody, so it was good to have her there. She even taught me to eat carrots! I'd never had them before, and now they are my favorite treat. The food there wasn't too bad at first, and the pasture was nice, though there were a lot of horses for the size. The Big One and I took lots of rides in the surrounding woods and fields, and I enjoyed this a lot. There were other horses on the trails not from our barn, so I never knew who I might meet. We also saw lots of deer, and sometimes chased them just for fun. But they are smaller than me, and would disappear into the brush. After a while, I was slimming down and getting to be quite the athlete, and so was the Big One. We always went on Sunday morning rides with the Other Two, the Little One and the Quiet One. On the trail, Big One rode me most of the time, but Little One did too sometimes. She was a little timid about my canter, and I feel badly now that I wasn't calmer for her, but I couldn't help it... it was getting colder out and I was so fit, and I adore cold weather! Then we'd go back and ride in the ring for a while, and Little One was more confident there (only trotting and walking). Quiet One always rode me last, and I was very careful with her. Big One told me to be, but I knew anyway.
Then they started to educate me. I had to learn to trot slower (that is always my sticky point), and to lift my back and belly (I have a tendency to get impatient and hollow them out because I want to get on with it and go fast, not behave and get all rhythmical). Big One tickled my mouth with the bit to get me to move my head here and there, and used her legs to get my hind legs under me. Sigh. It was so boring I could hardly pay attention!
But, then we got to walk and trot over poles, and that was fun. Big One made the poles spaced apart for a slow trot, which helped me get rhythmical, and then would space them further for a lark -- I liked them that way the best! To trot is to live!
The jumping came next. The poles were set so they ended in a little cross rail jump, and that was easy. Then Big One changed the cross rail to a straight rail, and that was easy too. Then we started doing different kinds of jumps, jumps that were spread apart (I really jumped high over those), jumps that were all kinds of colors, jumps with flowers on them, jumps with brush in them.... Big One tended to tip too far forward some times, so I had to stop fast a few times to teach her not to do that. How can I take off with her right on top of my take off parts? Sheesh.
By now, we were jumping things out on the trail too. There were always logs or branches to jump, but we rode further out into hunt country and there were bigger jumps there, rails and coops and things. I loved it... when I saw a jump coming up, it was like a magnet to me and I was pulled to it and up and over to the other side almost before I knew it. Fun fun! Big One just sort of held onto my mane and muttered something, but I know she liked it too.
But you know, the feed started getting skimpy. The pasture was all eaten down, nothing to graze on out there, and those stinky barn people were only giving me one flake of hay twice a day. And not much grain either, plus my water was frozen up a lot of the time. My ribs started sticking out!
I heard Big One arguing with them one day, but nothing changed except Big One started coming out when they weren't there and taking me in the barn to feed me extra and give me warm water to drink. It helped a little, but it was winter and even with my blanket on, I was getting cold. See in the picture how there isn't a blade of grass? And some of us were eating the bark off the trees! So, one day, all three came out and I watched them take my tack box away, and Big One saddled me up and rode me out the back way and over to another barn. This barn was half the size of the other one, and a nice snug one too, made of brick. It had more pasture, and two rings to ride in. The people seemed very nice, and the horses did too, even the giant gray one who was The Boss. My first meal at this barn was a huge improvement on the last barn. ALL the hay I could eat, and better grain stuff too. When I got to go out into the pasture with the others, there not only was still plenty of grazing left, but there were three big round bales of hay for us! Plus, there was a small lake we could drink from, and get our feet wet every day (important!). We had enough room to separate into several different groups of friends, and I decided I really liked this place. Never did change my mind.
On to More Words
Web design by Diana Linkous