Oops I Did It Again

Mon Aug 14, 2006

Yep, got brave tonight after work, and jumped up on the horse bareback in the pasture to ride him back to the barn, Hoorah!!!

Trouble was, THIS time I had to lead him about 50 yards AWAY from the barn to get to that big pile of clay-dirt I used for a mounting block, and he was NOT enthused about that...he defintely wanted to go TO the barn, and not AWAY, and even though he balked a few times, got him by the clay pile

Then there was the issue of standing still. Last time he stood stock-still like A-#1 Best Horse in the World. Not today! Today he was Mr. Wiggle-Worm "Whatchoo doin', crazy monkey?" swing-the-butt-away horse! Round and round we went, me trying to stay up on the hill, trying to get him in close enough so I could hop on, having him stand still for two seconds without swinging his rear away...after moving about 3/4 of the way around the hill, he FINALLY got in a good position, he stood still, and without a second thought, I JUMPED up and was laying across his back...when he started moving off! AGH!

All I could think of was the BIG rocks below me, I'm out in the open in a 30 acre pasture, side-ways on my belly with the horse heading for the barn (all downhill!). While he's do-bopping towards the barn, I managed to clamber on board and ended up back by his croup practically, LOL! He got upset and hollowed his back & his head went up, I tried to pull him in a circle to the left...and the end of the lead rope I'd tied to his halter (to make "reins") pulled loose, and I only had one "rein"!

So now I'm on top of a hill in a 30 acre pasture, bareback (no helmet) on an agitated Arabian with only one rein and rocks below me (and I had my new digital camera in my back pocket, so I knew if I fell off, that camera was destroyed!)...basically now turning the horse in tight circles to the right, because that's the only side I had the rope connected to!!

By this time Quzqo had had enough of this nonsense and just started walking towards the barn, I had to keep turning him in tight circles, trying to NOT fall off, and trying to scooch up behind his withers where I belonged! Finally got him standing still, and was able to reach forward enough to grab his left cheekpiece (thank God he's a short/small horse, if he was some 18hh Warmblood, no way could I have reached it...not that I'd have been able to get on him in the first place!), and hauled his face around enough that I was able to re-tie the end of the lead to the ring on his halter!

Thus situated, we began our trek downhill...he wanted to go through the herd of horses in front, I wanted to go AROUND them...didn't know if anyone would attack him (and me!), didn't want to risk it...but he wanted to go THROUGH them...we
compromised and we sort of went halfway, which unfortunately also meant going down the steepest part of the hill! SOMEbody hasn't had his feet trimmed since June (he gets them done tomorrow), but thankfully any tripping he did was minor and I stayed on all right!

Then as we got closer to the barn, the flies showed up! They were all over him, and he was kicking at them, shuddering, shaking, turning and trying to bite...all very wiggly for someone riding bareback! We ended up with me doing the fly-shooing with my legs and one free hand, LOL...hey, he didn't mind, fine with me!

Made it back safe and sound...I think I might tote a 5 gallon bucket out there, keep that as a mounting block for future adventures!