Rainy Day Driving Fun

Got 'dem mid-winter blahs, sick and tired of riding 'round and round in circles indoors, wishing for a nice trail ride, or horse show, or ANYthing. And since today's weather was downright MISERABLE, and I had a feeling I'd have the arena to myself for that very reason, I decided to hitch the ole' hoss up and drive him!

Haven't driven since Christmas Eve when poor Coos about got run to his knees, toting me and miscellaneous children through that soft arena footing for over two hours, but since then the arena's gotten somewhat packed down, and I thought I'd give it a try.

It's been a steady light rain allll day long, and Quzqo's winter blanket apparently isn't waterproof, because he was SOAKED to the skin underneath his sodden blankie, poor boy. He WANTED in, LOL, pathetic drowned-rat looking critter. So, harness was ideal, I'm sure a few little straps felt less oogy than a big ole' saddle pad on his wet self.

Lunged him a little bit, he had a little P&V but wasn't crazy. Got him harnessed up, and happy day, he accepted the bit like a pro, actually reaching for it this time! I guess it pays to warm it in hot water first. Now to see what else he comes up with to mess me up (remember last Spring I had to literally tie his head down in order to bridle him?).

Ground-drove him for a few minutes just to get ourselves used to things again. LOL, he was almost pulling me along, he was so enthused! He remembered his "Gee" from his "Haw" (okay, I still use those voice commands when I'm riding him, and found it comes in REAL handy when I'm working on turns on the haunches).

Breaking many Driving rules, I tied him to a post and managed to bring the cart up behind him & hitched him up w/o a problem. He stood rock-solid & occasionally swung his head around to goober on my shoulder or neck or whatever he could reach. He was exceptionally cute and affectionate, maybe he was that grateful to be inside out of the freezing rain AND that he wasn't going to be ridden. He does seem to enjoy being driven, so who knows!!

He stood rock solid still for me while I got into the cart and we sat there a minute or two before moving off...THAT is a great achievement, sometimes he's Mr. GoGoGo!

Once we got moving he really got enthused & merrily trotted through the soft dirt like a pro, we had a grand time, and I still had my shaft bells on from Christmas, so we were just jingle-dingle ringing all over the place. Luckily no horses were inside, so nobody got spooked from the horrific sight of a horse pulling a cart!

Drove him for about 45 minutes, he was slowing down on his own by then, goofy guy, and when we called it quits, he stood rock-solid still while I unhitched him & moved the cart back and away. He was barely breathing hard, & not a drop of sweat on him...and he'd dried off pretty well on the shoulder & butt, which probably generated more heat than his barrel/back, since that was still wet.

Had to laugh at the amount of shed hair that came off w/the harness straps as well!

A good time was had by all, and Coos got to relax in his stall w/a hot bran mash & a clean stall (yeah, I had to clean it again, grrrrgh).

That was fun, I'd almost forgotten what a hoot it is! We'll definitely do that again soon!

There's a big regional used tack sale weekend after next, I'm heading to that, and maybe somebody's selling a used biothane harness. The driving folks on the Chronicle of the Horse forums hold a very dim view of new harnesses bought on eBay, and now I'm worried about my cheap, Indian harness. There's a few stitches coming loose here and there, and the overcheck is broken, so maybe it's time for an upgrade since I'm
definitely going to keep driving!

Quzqo T. Stinker

I swear, I must be the ONLY human on this planet that can handle my horse!!!

Stopped by the barn on my way home from work, and Quzqo was already in his stall. The teenage twerp-girl was riding her new soon-to-be-horse (she's selling her Morgan pony back to Bob and "buying" a sweet little QH mare instead, which seems to be a much nicer horse for her) had to tell me the horrors Quzqo had heaped upon all and sundry this afternoon!!!

Long story short, they were bringing the horses in, and Bob, outright being lazy (imo), just opened the pasture gate and let Quzqo out, thinking Coos would go right into the barn, down the aisle, and into his stall, as he has done in the past. Well, Coos has also been stuffing his face at the round hay bale all day and wasn't really hungry, so apparently he took off out the gate and dodged right, heading for the stacks of round bales, and then off down the side yard and into the huge empty pasture to the south! With around 18"-2' of snow on the ground, he led them on a merry chase in that pasture until they got him cornered and he allowed the monkeys to capture him and bring him back to his stall where his grain and hay awaited.

I can't blame the horse one bit! LOL! Yeah, you sure saved a lot of steps by letting the horse find his own way into the barn! If they'd just put a lead rope around his neck and walked him to his stall that would have saved a lot of time and effort instead of having to chase the horse all over the property through deep snowbanks, LOL! (I'm laughing because nobody/horse got hurt). The twerp girl was complaining because her legs were snowy up past the knee, heh heh. Quzqo gives her SO much crap, and I hear about it every time I see her, LOL! That's my boy!

Last week he tore off away from her into his own pasture, but I was able to walk right up to him and brought him in no problem.

Bob blames all the hay he'd been eating, giving him energy. U-huh. Funny, when I rode him yesterday, he was a SLUG! I think he just knows which monkeys he can fool and which he can't! Snark!

Bob was cleaning the water buckets by smacking them with a rubber mallet into a wheelbarrow to knock the inch-thick ice from the sides, making a horrible racket that was freaking the horses in their stalls. He was down by my farrier's QH's stall, had the door open while he smacked the bucket, the horse spooked and TORE out of the stall and out the barn door, LOL! Poor Bob, off chasing ANOTHER horse! Thankfully "Charlie" only ran as far as the mares' pasture, and was safely caught before he got any further.

I tells ya! Some days...