Horse For Sale! NOT!

Sat Jun 30, 2007

Got out to see the horse last night! The little twerp pre-teen was there, so I drafted her into hauling my cart upstairs, and we attached the shafts! It's a start anyway.

The next day (today) is a big two-day show at the fairgrounds (put on by a regional ARABIAN club)(that I can't show at, *sob*), so the barn was hoppin' with people readying their horses. My friend was there banding her Paint's mane, and I sat and chatted a while...and deep down inside, I was GLAD I wasn't going, HA!

The horses were waaaay out in the pasture when I arrived, so I wasn't in any rush to go hiking after Coos. But after yakking for half an hour or so, I looked out the door, and here comes Himself, ambling up towards the gate to get a drink of water!! So I hopped across the arena (damn, that new dirt is soft and sinky!), called Quzqo's name when I got to the door...he looked up, and walked right to the gate & was waiting!

I grabbed a rope halter/lead off a nearby hook and hopped out there...goofy horse would NOT come through the gate on his own, he stood in the opening as I held it open, looking at me like "well???". So I had to put the halter on him, and THEN he deigned to walk nicely through the gate, LOL! GOOD...he's retained that much good manners.

The twerp pre-teen had been telling me more horror stories of how Coos had been abusing her when she tried to turn him out in the morning, LOL...dragging her, rearing, bucking, etc. Uh-huh. The consensus among the grown-ups is that she likes to tell stories, so I'm not worried any more.

I was worried about trying to bring in a horse while on crutches (me, not the horse)...but Mr. Angel Boy walked slowly beside me, stopped when I stopped, and was a perfect gentleman, all the way to the barn and even down the aisle!! I tied him to a post outside his stall and managed to give him the first proper grooming in 5 weeks!! He did spook violently when a horse in a nearby stall stuck its head out the door & poked him in the butt, but he was tied, and lunged back AWAY from me, LOL.

Coos TRIED to rush into the stall when we were done, but I reminded him of proper horse manners, and he remembered, and backed nicely, and stood in the door and waited until I said it was okay to come into the stall. Then we had a little discussion about how it's important for a good horse to stand calmly until the human removes the halter...it's obvious he'd been allowed to wreak holy havoc and pull nonsense a'plenty in my absense!! But he stood quietly even AFTER I got the halter and lead off of him, and then walked to his grain bucket!

Mom's back...better behave, HA!

He's got a NASTY witch's knot in his mane...gads...I tried soaking it in concentrated Show-Sheen, but no good even getting ONE hair loose. I left it in (obviously), so maybe today. Otherwise I'm going to have to cut it out. Well, we're pretty much FUBAR for any horse shows this summer, so it doesn't matter. Plus it's on the underside of his mane (right in the MIDDLE), so there's still 18" long mane hair to cover the gap. *sigh*, I fear the worst.

LOL...my farrier stopped by while I was in the stall, & apparently he's got a client looking for a "grey endurance Arabian" and asked me if I wanted to sell Quzqo (like, what, a horse breaks yer leg and all of a sudden you want to get rid of him??). Other than the fact I'd never sell my boy, he is NO endurance Arabian, LOL...hardly! Let's just say I made it clear I was NOT selling him, and my farrier chuckled and said "You can get triple what you paid for him!" and I said "What, $900???" LOL! I need more incentive than THAT.

No No NO...no selling Quzqo!! NEVAH!!!

GADS, he is FAT though (Quzqo...and my farrier, heh heh). I couldn't feel any ribs this time, and he's in his short summer coat. Well, maybe I can start free-lunging him in the indoor arena, that'd be something. Cripes, he might not fit his cart now, ha!

Good to see my boy anyway. He had HUGE manure blotches on his butt, barrel and shoulder on BOTH sides, and his bridlepath is about 2" long & sticking up like a mohawk. The dock of his tail is all rubbed and dry with hair sticking up, and that nasty witch's knot in his mane, and his hooves are chipped...except for being FAT, he looks about like when I first got him! Poor neglected orphan!!

Have Crutches, Will Travel

Wed Jun 27, 2007

Went out to the barn tonight, and of course Quzqo was way the hell out in the field. I figured as much. Nobody was around, so I entertained myself by attaching my rein stops to the breeching of his harness. Pretty neat. Kind of sad, looking through my tack cupboards, because all the stuff from the show was dumped in there, including my lovely $100 Ariat, sliced in half! I wonder if the shoe repair place could fix it, LOL...I doubt that!

Then I thought to go try to find my cart, as I brought out the whip holder and trace clamps to install. I walked down the aisleway, admiring the new footing Bob had placed in the indoor arena FINALLY...he WAS going to do it last October...not like the man is a procrastinator or anything, HA!.

Coos was still way the hell out in the pasture, but he and his pals were back in the "Bad Boyz Pasture", not waaaaay out in "Cannonball Run" like they had been. Hmmm.... better footing in Bad Boyz...not as hilly...hmmm....I crutch-hopped down the slope, meaning to go into the lower part of the barn to see if my cart was there...but gol dang it, SOMEhow silly me ended up crutch-hopping my way out into Bad Boyz to see my horse! BWAHAHAHAAA!

This foolish lady somehow managed to crutch-hop the 1/4 to 3/10 of a mile UPhill out into a field (thankfully I could take the horse paths, which was pretty clear of weeds and firmly packed)...Coos was grazing happily, all his TAME pasture pals had already been brought in and were in their stalls, but he was out wild and free (I kept thinking of how he reportedly reared up at that girl last week).

Imagine my delight when he lifted his head, saw me...watched me a minute or two...then started ambling a good 50-60 feet over right to where I was!!! I had meant to sit down and just hang out, so I kept hopping a few more yards to an embankment, and he followed me right along, and got rewarded with SO many pats and rubs, and I was thrilled that he finally actually nickered at me, and rubbed his head against my hand for forehead scritches!!! I rubbed his forehead, inside his ears, gave him a good scratching on the chest and throat, which he leaned right into...I'd put my crutches down by now, so I was pretty much just standing on my own two feet, and doing a fine job of it (this cast can come off any time now, thank you!!)

He got a couple of peppermints, and I finally sat down & fed him clover flowers (lol...spoiled!!). When those ran out, he just grazed near where I sat. This went on for a few minutes, I managed to get up again, gave him the last peppermint and a pat, and told him I'd see him tomorrow! I started hopping back towards the barn...and he started following me!

That stinker followed, literally at my elbow, nearly the entire way back down towards the barn!! He did get ahead of me, but kept stopping and looking back, waiting for me to catch up!! Finally back by the gate, he went right to the gate and waited! He was a little hesitant to go out the gate, but with some urging, he did (I restrained the urge to wiggle a crutch at him...it works with dogs and chickens, but don't think I should try with a horse!). He went ahead to the outer gate and waited...I got that open, he ambled out, walked around a few seconds, didn't see any grass worth eating, and then walked right into the barn, down the aisleway, and right into his stall!

DAMN I've got a neat horse!! LOL! I'm just so chuffed he was FINALLY glad to see me! I think the fact we were out in the pasture helped...no distractions of Bob wheeling the grain cart around (luckily his grain was already in his bucket when he went into his stall tonight).

Anyway, my cart WAS where it was supposed to be, although the shafts are in my tack cupboard, and I can't find my ZipLoc bag with the bolts that hold them together (yet). I got the whip holder and the trace clamps attached, pretty classy lookin' rig!

I can hardly wait to get this damned cast off!!! 19 hours 'til my appointment!! I had NO pain whatsoever in the broken leg during tonight's adventure, though my left leg's sore, ha!

Damn, that was fun! I do love my guy, even if he did cost me $457 in ambulance fees!

Gonna Have My Hands Full

Thu Jun 21, 2007

Was talking with that dweeb of a teenage girl at the show last night (it was her first horse show, but she and her Morgan pony didn't place...but there were 8 in the class...plus the thunder, rain and lightning), and apparently Quzqo is becoming nigh unpleasant and attitudinal during his vacation. She said he won't let her catch him, and has begun rearing up at her!

Talk about high maintenance...I wouldn't be surprised if he reverts back to his pre-Sue behavior, with the rearing and balking and bullshit... but then, a few weeks ago he let my friend walk right up to him in the open field and bring him in...but that was a few weeks ago. He's had almost a month to devise all these little schemes to mess with the humans!

And Monday he wouldn't let that boy catch him, and it was only luck he ran towards the barn instead of out into the field!

Wonderful. Well, I've had a nice rest myself, so, he'd better watch his flea-bitten butt, cuz I'll be all over him like flies on a meadow muffin, LOL!

My other friend, Sandy, who was at the show (w/o her horse either), said he hasn't been brought in at night either...probably because they can't catch him! She did mention he was in Monday...well, yeah, that's when I was there! So that means he got thundered and rained on last night.

Yep...better eat lots of Edy's so I can be big and strong to adjust somebody's attitude!!

Oh, I received my cart accessories from eBay over the weekend, can hardly wait to screw 'em on the cart! And no, I forgot to ask Sandy where she put my cart last night, ha! Mind like a metal sieve!

Wild and Untamed!

No Man Could Possess Him!

Only One Could Capture His Primitive Spirit...

Maybe I should refill his peppermint bag on his stall, that might help them catch him!

Must be feeling better

Thu Jun 14, 2007

I just spent $40 on harness/driving accessories on eBay, LOL! Lord Knows when I'll get to enjoy them though...but figured if I buy them NOW, I'll have them in time for my cast removal & lost weekend of horse bingeing on the 29th.

Got me a chrome whip holder for the cart, chrome rein guides for the harness (Dew would approve!), and brass trace holders for the cart's singletree (better than the leather strips in place now)

There's TWO two-day horse shows in July I could make it to...Hmmm....I've decided to be realistic and NOT even think of entering the one June 30th, LOL!

Got To Visit My Horse!

Wed Jun 6, 2007

Cocky with confidence at my ability to drive my car, and feeling pretty okay after work yesterday, I drove myself to the barn, parked in my new "handicapped spot" (by the back entrance, closest to Quzqo's end of the barn, no steps), and crutched myself on in! Coos wasn't in his stall, but happy day, all the geldings were gathered by the gate, waiting to be brought in for the evening. Lucky, too, because Bob has moved them to the BIG pasture for a few weeks to let the grass in the "Bad Boyz" pasture grow back...this is the big pasture where Coos was last year (3/8 mile hike out)...so lucky they all were in by the gate!

Coos was in the back of the herd, just hanging out & looking pretty, and the teen girl who was doing the evening chores was bringing them in one at a time. I had to holler out Quzqo's name (Well, my patented Quzqo-Call, which is a high-pitched "HEYYYCoos")...he turned his head and pricked his ears and saw me in the doorway. Well, by the time the girl brought in the next horse, Coos had sidled through the crowd (with a few pinning of the ears here and there) and stood RIGHT by the gate, and the gal had no choice but to bring him in next! He stopped where I was standing (HE stopped, the girl didn't stop him, LOL) and I got to talk to him and rub his face, then she lead him down the aisle to his stall, with me hobbling along behind.

There was no food in his stall, so when I caught up & opened the door, he was right there to say "Hi" and was in full "NO TOUCHEE" mode lol...if I didn't have treats, I couldn't touch Himself, but I got to pat his cheek and shoulder. But then I started scratching him on the chest, where all the nasty crusty fly bites are, and OH, the bliss!!! He leaned right into it and stuck his head STRAIGHT up in the air like a giraffe, it total bliss and getting scritched on the itchies!! Danged thing kept leaning and leaning, I had to back up and hold on to the door so he wouldn't knock me over, LOL!

But, I didn't have a good shoe on my left foot, so my foot got VERY sore standing like that, so I had to say adieu to my boy. Gads, has he porked out, LOL...lookin' good though, almost all shed out, so all the speckles are in their glory. He's got a huge witch's knot in his mane, *sigh*...but only one new bite on his neck...w/a 30 acre pasture, I hope he's able to get away from the other horses!

Sure did ME good to see him though! Best medicine in the world!