Book Critique And Thoughts On Boarders

Tue Nov 23, 2004

Just for yucks I was reading one of those old "Favorite Horse Stories" books from 1962 or 1957 or whenever (hardcover, for 10 yr olds)...I think it was "The Buckskin Colt". They had their pasture done in barbed wire, and the colt paniced over being separated from the hero of the story, and when the kid came home from school he found the colt tangled up in barbed wire, cut and bleeding and gashed and crippled, and of course the whole "Brave child sitting up nights with the injured equine hero" scenario ensued...but the attitude of the boy's parents was that "That'll teach that horse to not run through a fence!" U-huh. I guess attitudes HAVE changed.

The colt's dam died giving birth to him, and although she was supposed to be a dear old pony mare that the boy loved, he sure seemd to have no problem when he found her dead with the newborn foal laying next to her...they just took the foal home and as far as the reader knows, that poor old mare is still out there, being picked at by crows and coyotes, *sigh*.

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The joys of a boarding stable...people drag their horses in from the pasture, tack 'em up (brushing? grooming??), jump on and start bombing around the arena (inside or out)...galloping the hell out of the horses, yanking on their faces, when they're done, they put 'em back outside all sweaty...and they wonder why they have trouble catching their horses the next time.

There's a new family there with a pretty red dun QH, ridden by a tiny girl (I think she's around 10, but very tiny), the dad LOOKS like a cowboy type (jeans, handlebar mustache, lol), but so far they've only ridden that horse with a halter & two lead ropes snapped to the rings...and the halter is very loose on the horse, so when the girl pulls back on the "reins", the noseband is up by the poor horse's eyes. Sheesh. And no, she doesn't ride well, doesn't steer well (how CAN she with that get-up), the horse almost walked out of the arena with her the other day (they removed the fencing from one end, so it's open into the stall areas)(that's where the cattle/ropin' chute goes). Makes ya wonder.

And Sunday another new lady was lunging a BIG QH in the indoor arena, and that horse did NOT know how to lunge, did NOT want to BE lunged, wanted NOTHING to do with that woman, he kept rearing and backing away or just turning and barging off in any direction, basically dragging the woman with him...it was funny until he headed towards where I had Quzqo tied up (I was brushing him in the aisleway) and proceeded to rear and barge sideways right by the rail...poor Coos didn't know what he was to do, I was worried that idiot horse would crash right through the rails... I mean, come on, there's a perfectly good round pen OUTside...get a lunge whip (she had none) and go out there. *sigh*.

I often say I enjoy being at a boarding stable because of the social interaction. I guess that could include some big brown horse crushing me and my horse to death.