Hi Yo Quzqo Awayyy!

Mon Apr 3, 2006

Yep, Quzqo and I went for a trail ride yesterday, all by ourselves, which is kind of relaxing and actually more fun than going with others...got a LOT more trotting and cantering in, and since we were alone, the horse paid more attention to ME rather than what the other horses might be doing! Course the little shit started his hissy fits literally as soon as we set foot off the barn property...not much, just a half-rear and spin on the haunches, which earned him his head yanked back around and some input from the Spur Twins (I left Mr. Whip back at the barn)(I have to be careful not to use that phrase when I'm with my friend with the Paint, because her last name IS "Whipp", and she might think I'm referring to her husband, LOL!)

Well, from that point on, it was pretty much an exercise in keeping the horse moving forward, because the INSTANT I relented and let him slow, he'd jam on the brakes, rear up and start spinning! Stop, Rear, Spin...I tried to not let him get past the stopping part, but he got a couple of good rears in, and of course I just hauled him to the side and a good jab with the Spur Twins and forward we went. He's got his certain areas where he tries that shit, and I'm glad I know where they are...in my farrier's hay field...up on the dirt road...through the woods...then I get a respite as we cross another field and go through some thick woods, but as soon as we get to the next dirt road, it all starts again (the little goober tried it as we were crossing a PAVED road...not impressed). I was just glad I know what I'm doing (and what he's doing), and I can see WHY they probably put him up for sale, LOL! If I were a timid sort, I sure wouldn't want a horse that did that!

He reminds me of another horse owned by a lady at the barn...she had a fat Appaloosa named "Larry", and one day she came on a ride with Tez and me. We got a few miles from the barn when Larry decided he'd gone far enough and started rearing and spinning!! The lady was TERRIFIED (for the record, she's the same lady who got bucked off Thursday night), and totally intimidated by Larry, and we ended up turning around and going back, which is what Larry wanted to do, of course. A few days later we went for another trail ride, and this time we barely got 200 yards from the barn when Larry started rearing and spinning, rearing and spinning (not fast or high, about the same ferocity as Cusco). She wouldn't kick him, she wouldn't turn him, she REFUSED to carry a crop (which was my first bit of advice for her...Tezlu never reared, but he was expert at the stopping and spinning bit, LOL). Well, she ended up selling Larry, he was just too much horse for her and she couldn't deal with his barn-sourness. Probably the same thing with Quzqo.

As I told Quzqo the first time I took him out on the trail and we got about 150 yards before he started rearing..."I owned Tezlu for 15 years, you ain't NOTHIN'!", LOL! (Heck, Tez dumped me 8 times the first year I owned him, Quzqo's only done it once!). We got some NICE trotting on the long, straight dirt road, even some cantering on his least-favorite lead (the left, for the record)...down a two-track into the forest, onto the Michigan Shore-To-Shore Riding & Hiking trail, and O, mercy did the hissy fits begin THERE! Only with the added bonus of big trees on all sides (yeah, I had my helmet). He did NOT want to go down the hill, there was no way he was going down the hill, I could just drop dead and go to HELL, he was NOT going down the hill, we're going to rear, we're going to spin, we're going to squeeze between beech trees and try to get back up the hill, we are NOT going down! Yeah, he eventually went, he wasn't happy about it...lucky for him there was a lot of ice-snow further down in the swamp, so we did turn around on MY say-so, and came back up to the two-track.

Wasn't ready to go home, so we turned right and went further down the two-track...but gosh darn it, there was another hill and By God we are NOT going down there! Oh, NO ma'am, we're going to stop and REAR and Spin And snort and Rear and spin and back up and snort and freeze and stare and snort and back...then for bonus we'll turn and clamber UP the steep dirt roadside and go through the trees before The Spur Twins convince us to get back DOWN the bank back onto the road, and then we'll be more convinced to go down The Scary Hill! OOOOOH! What a maroon!

We made it as far as the little stream that runs through the woods, rested there a bit, then, on MY say-so, turned (nicely on the haunches), and orderly, and slowly, walked like a civilized horse (and rider) back to the top of the hill. Then we TROTTED pretty much the entire way out of the woods, BWAHAHAHAHAaa...I MADE him move his fat butt whether he wanted to or not, LOL! He'd start out VERY perky and Tezlu-esque but within the minute start petering out, 'til I squeezed him and he'd jump up and move out into a very nice ground-covering workmanlike trot. No worries about diagonals or headsets or anything, just to be moving!

For all that carrying on and Drama Queen antics, I'll say he didn't spook ONCE...guess it's better to have the predictable antics vs the unpredictable ones! It's sure nice to be able to just get up and go and NOT have any fear or uncertainty (like this time last year, let's say). I also noticed my back didn't hurt either...sure bugged me during the lesson Saturday, that could have been
tension though. Like I tell people...Arabians are "Interesting" to ride, LOL!

Well, today the high temp was 40 and we had an inch of snow with 40 mph winds all day! The horses were out, of course, but Quzqo has REALLY lost his fuzzy winter coat, and is down to what equals a Light Spring Jacket, fur-wise. When I got out there tonight the poor guy was SHIVERING!!! The sun was out and he was pretty much dry, but he was so chilled! He got his comfy cooler on and I mixed some hot water into his grain (have to remember to tote some bran out there for such emergencies). Poor guy...he obviously hadn't gotten a drink all day either, because he was trying to drink from the poopy mud puddles again...thankfully once he got to the trough he sucked that down an inch or two!

When I got him in his stall & took the cooler off, THEN I see the two LOVELY bloody red scrapes on his left hind...he's got a good inch+ of skin missing from the hock, and about an inch-round chunk missing from his knee, with a 1/2" of flapping loose skin! Oh, ter-fricking-riffic!!! No blood, nothing was bleeding, and he let me touch them...I put some anti-bacterial ointment on them, and there was some oozing from the round wound (I suspect the cold and wind might have kept any bleeding down). Great. Poor guy, can't imagine how the hell THAT happened, unless he slipped in the snow, which is a possibility. Thankfully it's all pretty much melted by now and no more in the forecast, but still...

He was in a VERY bad mood tonight..."I've had a shitty day, alright!??? Now leave me alone!!", LOL! Poor guy. He'll get bugged tomorrow.