Bronco Buster

Wed December 1, 2007

My niece has decided it'd be fun to lease a horse at the barn for a couple of months this winter so the kids could get some real riding in! I talked w/Bob, & he agreed to lease one of the lesson horses! Tack included, how nice!

So, she came out to the barn Sunday w/all her kids and one of her sister's, so we had 6 charming children underfoot! The horse Bob suggested was "Leo", a FAT old QH gelding, very pretty red roan & I'd certainly seen enough tiny children bopping around on him to know he'd probably be a good choice!

The older kids walked out to the pasture with me to get him, hiking through the foot-deep wet snow (thankfully it was "warm" out, i.e. 35 degrees). Leo seemed like a sweetie, very QH-like! Got him haltered, & the kids wanted to go visit Tezlu's grave which was in the same pasture, so we did that. LOL...the other niece's girl wanted to dig him up. Er...no, I don't think we'll do that. Come back in 20 years, it might be safe, but not now, especially with a foot of snow on top.

The kids and my niece brushed ole' fat Leo, lol, he didn't budge one inch while being brushed, just stood still as a statue with his ears slightly back. Quite a contrast from Coos! Leo is about 16 hands too, a BIG boy...my niece wasn't real sure about that, she'd been too used to Quzqo's 14.2 hands, and heck, Tezlu was 15.2.

We got him tacked up with one of Bob's western roping saddles & Leo's customary bosel hackamores (he's so good he doesn't need a bit) & got him out in the arena. My niece got on & started walking off...she was VERY tensed up, lol, she hadn't been on a horse since Tezlu.I turned my attention to getting Coos out of his stall (I'd brought him in earlier, & he managed to suck down his 2 flakes of dinner hay in half an hour!) & got the kids brushing him (lol, poor Coos had 4 girls brushing him at once, but he was as good as gold and stood for it!). Suddenly I hear my niece yell "DID YOU SEE THAT???"

See what? "He bucked!!!" Nawwwww, not ole' Leo! So she got him walking again, and sure enough, up went his hind end in a little hop!

Seems every time she squeezed him with her legs, he'd buck his fat QH butt up in the air!!! Needless to say she got off of him post haste (which is exactly what he wanted her to do!!!). I gave her a lunge line & she tried to lunge him, thinking he was just frisky from the field (she was used to Tezlu remember). HA, he about walked right over her, and stood and looked at her like "what?". So, I got out there and gave it a go, and snapped the whip behind him and "projected forward energy" and he at least walked in a proper lunging circle. After a LOT more whip-snapping and hollering and chasing I got him into a flumpy sort of jog trot. The young lady who was finishing up the daily chores walked by and exclaimed in all her years she had NEVER seen Leo being lunged! he just never needed it! My niece told her how he bucked, and Emily said "Oh, yeah, Leo always bucks! He does that to try to get you to give up and get off of him, but after a while he gives up!" LOL...gee, nobody told US that,! She uses him for lessons and uses the bucking to help the students gain confidence by dealing with his bucking (pulling him a circle, kicking him in the side, keeping him moving, etc).

So, I got on the little darling to give it a go...after a few steps at a walk, I fell him tense up, and WHOOP up goes the back end! I quickly cranked his head to the right and gave him sharp heel jabs in his fat sides, which pissed him off, LOL! He straightened out, WHOOP up went the rear again, again I cranked his head to the side and kicked him forward, making him WORK for his trouble!

I lost count of how many times he bucked. He didn't appreciate getting heeled though, I found if I just squeezed with my upper calves he'd move forward without complaint...could be he's ticklish! He sure neck-reined like a dream, and I got him into a nice jog trot...I'll confess I can't recall ever riding a nice western-type QH before...besides being three feet wide across the back, he had a sweeeeet trot! I'm used to Arabians, LOL! And when he was trotting, he couldn't buck! I got him into a lope for a few strides after about 100 yards' of cuing, and that collapsed back down to walking... He WAS getting tuckered though, and first he'd start switching his tail, then I'd feel his back tense up...THEN I'd yank his head up and move him forward so he couldn't get a buck going, LOL! Yee gads, lazy AND ornery...you'd learn to ride or die trying!!!

By this time the kids were terrified of the horse, and my niece wanted nothing to do with him. I got off, and she tried to get the oldest boy to ride him...nope, he wouldn't go near! Eventually we ended up just giving pony rides on Leo, and I figured Leo knew he had harmless tiny humans on his back and behaved good as gold. It's only when those pushy long-legged adults get up there that he kicks up a fuss!

I got Quzqo tacked up, and I rode him a little bit (dammit, he's MY horse, I want to ride him!!!)... Coos was lazier than Leo, and I soon gave up, and started giving pony rides as well. LOL, the youngest, the 3 yr old, got to ride first, and Coos was SO lazy, I totally let go of the reins and just walked around the arena with the horse tagging behind me at my elbow, and the little boy was sitting so happily up in the saddle, riding "all by himself", LOL!

We did about 2 hours of pony rides, each kid had to ride each horse, some twice, some doubled up.. The oldest boy got to ride Quzqo by himself and got some good trotting done...he was obviously a lot more confident on Quzqo than the Feared and Hated Leo!

Bob showed up and he and my niece discussed the matter, and Bob will let them "test drive" a different horse next weekend, namely "Colby", an older grey QH gelding who, at least, has been ridden recently.

Gotta laugh...one of my niece's daughters was whining and crying while Leo was getting unsaddles, and Bob walks by and in a mock gruff voice says "Hey! There's no crying in this barn!" and she shut up instantly, BWAHAHA! Loved it!

Don't know if it was related to the bucking, or the snow shoveling, but my back was KILLING me last night, had radiating sciatica pain down my right leg My ankle wasn't happy either, from the bucking, and the walking of the pony rides! If my niece wants to try Colby, SHE can do it herself, ha!