smellshorsey

How to Cross Railroad Tracks

Lily went to a hunter-pace event sponsored by The Camden Hunt a few weeks ago. She rode with a neighbor I hardly know, but I couldn't go out with her because Lucy isn't quite up to it. I haven't been hunting in years, but thing I remember well is that there are train tracks you must cross to enter hunt country (and to exit).

Though accidents have been rare, they have happened. A few years ago a hunt staffer's horse got tangled up in the tracks and bled out before help could arrive. Unfortunately, there's no other way into the woods.

Since Lily doesn't have any experience crossing train tracks while riding through our subdivision or at any of the local farms, I thought to ask her before she rode off. "Do you know how to cross train tracks?"

"Do you jump them?" she asked.

No, but I liked her attitude. I explained how she needed to give Buddy his head (more or less) and let him pick his way slowly across the tracks. I told her to get in two-point so it would be easier for him to carry her (nonexistent) weight. I said to be careful and go slowly. No jumping of the tracks.

I told her another option was to get off and lead him over, but since he's big he's no fun to get on without a mounting block. Still, it's always an option.

And I didn't tell her about the time I was there on Jack, who was young and green, when a freight train came by at a high speed, blasting its horn. I backed Jack into some underbrush with his back facing the tracks and prayed. Prayer works!

Buddy didn't want to cross the tracks but he followed the other horse. Smart Buddy. And they had a wonderful time and were only ten minutes too fast.

She's going cub hunting with our Pony Club for the first time on Saturday morning, which is also the first day of NaNoWriMo. I hope I will bring my laptop or AlphaSmart and sit in a comfortable place writing my 1,700 words for that day and not go hang out with the others.

I really need to get my novel written.

Truly Obnoxious Teenage Horse Girls

When I was young, Saintly Brother taught his horse to rear in the style of the Lone Ranger. Of course his mare was named Silver, and he also taught her to bow. He made Silver a trick horse. They were quite a pair.

One day when I was a teenager my friends and I got bored. Yes, it's me, not Lily, who is/was the truly obnoxious teenage horse girl.

We decided to use Silver's rearing trick to fool passersby into thinking that one of us (we took turns) had fallen off a rearing horse and gotten hurt. We wanted to see if people would stop to help. We'd get on Silver, get her to rear, and fall off. No one stopped, probably because three girls laughing their heads off don't appear too damaged. But Silver got tired of this trick and her rears got less and less spectacular.

So on my next turn, I asked her to rear so high that I pulled her over backwards. I fell off to the side. She landed on her back, crushing the saddle tree and flattening the cantle. Silver was thankfully all right, and I never did it again.

It didn't scare me then as much as it should have. But now I have a better understanding of physics and I can only be thankful that God looks after fools, such as I once was, and in many ways, still am.

Overheard in Our Pasture

Teenaged horse girls are different from non-teenaged horse girls. When Lily was younger, she asked for advice. Now she gives it to me.

"Mom, please don't untack my horse for me. Thanks anyway, but you do it wrong."

"Mom, I can see air between your legs and the horse's back." (I honestly believe I was stretching -- I was just going for a little bareback ride to give Lucy some exercise and enjoy the sunshine. Or maybe I can't ride worth dookey anymore.)

"Mom, you talk to the horses like you're asking them questions. Command them. They don't respect you."

"Mom, you're going to be killed. Please don't ride with no reins and your arms stretched out like airplane wings. MOM! Stop."

So I did.

Other than that, we've had fun riding together lately. Who knows. Maybe I'll learn how to do things right.

Looking at Horse Pr0n Again

My computer keeps crashing and I have so much to do but somehow I got distracted a little while ago (when I got the computer working again) so what do I do? Go look at horse Pr0n.

I've got a couple of questions that sound like they're mean but they're not. There are a gazillion "retired" racehorses offered on the Internet. Taking photos of horses is difficult, but it would probably help the horse get adopted/purchased quicker if the photo didn't have the horse standing there with every muscle in his body tensed, head as high as it will go, and the whites of the eyes showing. The horse looks a nanosecond from a bolt. Yes, the ears are forward, but you don't ride on the ears. I don't care if the description says that the horse is quiet and gentle. The horse looks like this is the first time he has ever stood still in his life.

Then there are the nutty but hopelessly optimistic descriptions. I was flabbergasted to read this description (below) of a 19-year-old horse with screws in his ankle who was raced for 13 years. They suggest that he probably has a career ahead of him as a barrel racer or an endurance horse. I'd say he had a career BEHIND him as an endurance horse. Poor fellow. Handsome, too.

15.2+ hands, 19 years old.        Here's a campaigner who had a LONG career and is now in need of a new        home. This guy raced until he was 13; he's spent the last few years just        hanging out on the farm. Owner says this guy has tons of energy - and,        quite obviously, a LOT of longevity! Sounds like a great endurance        prospect here. Owner also says he is very agile and handy and thinks this        guy would make a great barrel horse as well. He had some type of rear        ankle injury as a two year old and the ankle does have screws in it, but        we're told the horse has never taken a bad step on it and is completely        sound. $1,000 Nego.