Quzqo Hits The Road

Sun Sep 2, 2007

And it didn't hit back!

Yep, a beautiful day for a Sunday drive! Mid-upper 70's, blue sky, low traffic due to the Holiday weekend, horse spent the night outside so he was tired, all according to my plans!

Got out to the barn this morning, happy to see the church parking lot full of cars...better they be in the parking lot than out driving about on the same road I planned to drive on! Got Coos harnessed up & hitched up in the cross-ties and managed to lead him down the aisle outside... trouble is we went past this injured horse's stall (somebody kicked him and tore a hole in his butt...it's pretty gross...I have a suspicion just which little grey horse might have done it too!)...that horse is TERRIFIED of the cart...never mind last time I lead Coos & cart past he didn't care (that was BEFORE we spooked him outside & he dislocated his mistress' finger & ran galloping off into an empty field)...Mr. "Memoir" cared this time & to have a 16hh TB trying to scramble up his stall walls in terror...yikes! (I checked him later and he was fine, no harm done!)

His owner is not enchanted with my driving pursuits, so... enough said.

Y'know, it's probably not the BEST conditions to drive when you've got 10-20mph sustained winds...just for future reference!

Coos was a little...um...excited, I had to lead him down to the arena so he'd stand still long enough for me to get in the cart, then I decided to drive him around the yard a bit just to get the edge off. Well, it seems a horse and cart is VERY interesting to the two horses Bob had in the side pasture...those big shits came GALLOPING up to the fence and started snorting and ripping back and forth. Coos apparently saw them galloping towards him (we were maybe 20 feet from the wire), and the goof spooks, spins 90 degrees and starts bolting!!! ShitShitShitShit!!! I managed to get him down to a trot (he only got like one stride at the canter) and quickly to a walk & got him organized again, and we walked back by those horses three or four times until all parties concerned settled down and got bored! Well, that answered a lot of "what-if's" I had in the back of my mind, LOL. Just glad he listened to me!

It's also not a great idea to leave the barn property using the driveway with the blind spot on the left caused by a huge bush growing about 30 feet away by the road. I SWEAR as we were approaching I didn't see ANYbody coming in either direction...it's only as we leave the drive and go into the road, and the horse is totally in the right hand lane and I clear the blind spot do I see a black SUV heading right for us!! ARRUGH!!! I quick popped Coos on the butt and got him trotting across the road to the other side & gave a friendly/sheepish wave to the driver, who HAD slowed down (I found out coming back that way that the driver had a much better view of that driveway and probably saw the horse before the horse even stepped onto the pavement). GAD, needless to say THAT has been haunting me...what if.... So...not using that driveway EVER again (hell, Bob's got four driveways, plenty of choices)

We walked about 1/2 mile down the road (very narrow shoulder, I hate it!), with TONS of traffic whipping past us! Of course, by that time it was after Noon...church had let out! Great! Thankfully everybody at least moved into the opposite lane to give us plenty of room, the really nice ones slowed down as well. One MORON honked his horn, but thankfully AFTER he'd passed...I hope he looked in his rear view, expecting to see a panicked horse, and got a good look at my upraised middle finger instead! Shithead. (the horse didn't react one bit, good boy!)

THANKFULLY we made it to the quiet residential street I'd aimed for and not only was traffic non-existent, the shoulders wide and grassy, but the trees cut the wind down to nothing! I tell ya, you could hardly hear the oncoming traffic for all the wind noise!

Coos did pretty good...he spooked in place a couple of times at scary blowing leaves. We made it past the TWH farm on that road (he had a traumatic experience with their stallion whose paddock was right on the road two years ago), & actually made it across the county line to a nice wide dirt road that leads to the State Forest & the campgrounds/etc. Soon as we hit the dirt I got Himself into a wonderful trot...a bit bouncy due to the rough road surface, but he just lowered his head and trotted SO nice! That was FUN!!! It got to be a bit woodsy, but no oncoming traffic, so I kept him trotting...suddenly he JAMS on the brakes and thankfully I had my feet braced against the front of the cart! He suddenly decided the dappled sunlight and shadows were SCARY! He was trying his darndest to give them the hairy eyeball and side-step (hard to do with blinders and a cart)...durn horse! I will say I AM getting better with the whip, and encouraged him to keep moving forward, thank yew very much! We got past that scary stuff and made it to a crossroads (right where Tezlu dumped me that time we were chased by dirt bikes), turned around and headed back. I'd have loved to go on to the camp ground, but there's SO many blind curves, it's nerve-wracking riding a horse with an elevated POV...it'd be foolish to do it lower and behind a horse!

Again he decided the dappled sunlight was out to get him, but we made it past the worst of it, and I got him trotting again, which he did with a LOT more enthusiasm since he knew he was heading HOME, LOL! I'll admit I had trouble slowing him down, durn thing, he was HAULING! Got him walking long before we hit an intersection, and was happy he actually stopped when I asked him (well, there WAS a stop sign, after all).

An uneventful walk back down the residential road (it's about a mile or so long)...LOL, as we went past the TWH farm, their herd of Walkers was in the front pasture (BEAUTIFUL palominos and duns!), and they went BERSERK at this horrific sight (horse and cart)! They were running-walking and snorting and carrying on...Coos didn't care, he was on a mission (to go home!).

The trip back along the main road to the barn was also uneventful, thank GOD! (I was prayin', you better believe me!)....wider shoulder, less traffic, and that's when I saw that the SUV driver had a lot better view of Bob's driveway than I thought, phew!

Brought Coos in the back door to the barn into a set of cross-ties, so we wouldn't have to go near Mr. Memoir and get him upset again, sheesh. I should hold a Cart Sensitivity/Desensitivity Training Clinic...Get used to it, horses!

Coos enjoyed his Sunday bran mash, he actually had some sweat this time, ha! But man, that wind was driving ME crazy, much less the horse! Won't do that again in a hurry (would have been just as nuts as if I'd ridden him on a trail ride). But he did seem to enjoy the trotting....as did I! I'm trying to figure out a route to the other dirt road I'd use for cantering (when riding that is)....unfortunately it involves more road driving, and going down a very steep (but unpaved) hill with a blind spot at the top. *sigh*. What I'd LOVE is if somebody would ride their horse with me, sort of as an outrider, but crap, everybody's horses are afraid of the cart (or they no longer board there, like my friend w/the Paint mare). Well, we shall see.

Best part was, we were out for about 90 minutes, and I don't have any blisters on my mahooky-doo, LOL!