Quzqo Dumps a Rider

Sat Aug 13, 2005

This afternoon my niece brought out her SIX children for Pony Rides...okay, the one boy is only a year old, so he didn't get a ride, but the other FIVE did. Hey, Quzqo got an entire bag of peeled and washed baby carrots for his trouble, he wasn't suffering, LOL!

Used my trail saddle and the bitless bridle, my niece was VERY worried about THAT...she's used to dealing with Tezlu (he threw her into a fence once, sent her to the hospital), but I rode Quzqo first, and put on a demonstration for her on how nice he is with it. Truth be told, that's the first time I've cantered him with the bitless bridle, LOL, I'm happy to report he did GREAT (phew!). Then she allowed the oldest kid, a boy, around 8, to ride. Of course he didn't want to be lead around like a little kid, and since he's ridden both Quzqo AND Tezlu before, we just let him go. He did okay for a boy, Quzqo pretty much ignored him, LOL...he had big fat sneakers on (do they still call them sneakers? probably not) so Quzqo could ignore any kicks to his side. But they did okay once the boy got the hang of it, even did a little trotting (what little he could get Quzqo to DO, heh heh). Kid rides like a sack of potatoes, but he had fun, and wasn't as enthused about "going fast" after he trotted Quzqo a few minutes. Quzqo is VERY bouncy, and when you're a kid who can't even reach the stirrups....not real comfortable, heh heh.

Then the oldest daughter (6) rode, she's a little pro, sits a horse like she'd been doing it forever, VERY confident and doesn't take crap from any ole Horse, she had Quzqo dancing to her tune pretty quickly, even with the reins hanging and uneven lengths ...she even got him to go across the ground poles and through the (empty) water obstacle. She tried a little trotting but he wouldn't move for her, so we put him on a lunge line (so she wouldn't have to worry about steering)...she got him into a trot, and was bouncing around like a ball on his back, when suddenly she just bounced right off his right side to the ground! Very slow-motion, he was stopped before she hit the (very soft sandy) ground! His forehoof landed nearly ON her little leg (I'm sure it was within an inch or two!), phew, but she was totally unscathed, and nope, no crying or hysterics, in fact she jumped up with a grin on her face and said "I'm gettin' back on!!" And she did!

Her mom and dad about died of heart failure, but they survived as well. AND she was wearing a helmet...gotta add that!

Then it was pretty much the other tiny tots who got led around, and my niece took a turn...I felt bad for Quzqo...she'd gained a bit since she got married, and she barely fit in the saddle, but he even trotted for her...she tried posting and got the right diagonal, not bad for not having done it in 10 years or so! But he wore her right out within 5 minutes. We couldn't get her husband to ride, he's afraid of horses, even little short slow ones that a 6 year old can bully, ha!

So, we've got our Lead Line crew lined up for the barn show on Labor Day weekend, we figured maybe the 6 yr old could even go into the "Walk Only" class, and put the 4 yr old into Lead Line! If I can get him to the fun show Wednesday night, we'll do leadline then as well.

Tomorrow another group of wild middle-aged ladies are heading out on a trail ride, but we're leaving at Noon. Should be interesting... Quzqo's older twin, "Chickadee" (fleabit Arabian mare who acts more like Tezlu than Tezlu ever did) will be along. I'm sure I'll have an interesting report then...one way or another!