A Qollection of Quzqo Portraits

One nice thing about being a model horse customizer, is that I can make my own model horse portraits! These are a few of the mini-me versions of Quzqo that I've created or accumulated over the years:


A Young Quzqo, done on the Bridgette Eberl "Jamil" resin, painted by myself. I have NO idea if he looked like this, I'm just assuming:

An older Quzqo (and much thinner!) done on the Peter Stone "Chip" Arabian, painted and customized by myself. This was obviously done before he got that scar on his hip.
A Breyer Stablemate(tm) Arabian painted by my friend, Marcia Seelhoff, as a portrait of Himself this year, in a feistier mood than normal!

Fun!

The Trail Drive

Driving the horse down the road is a blast, but it's even more fun with company!

This late afternoon I was hitching up Quzqo for a drive 'round the (4 mile ) block, and imagine my delight to see Bob and his wife, and a few boarders were also tacking up for a trail ride! We all finished about the same time, and as I was getting into the cart outside the barn, the trail riders all emerged from the indoor arena, and we all set out together!!

Now there's no way I can take a cart on a horse trail (well, not the one-horse-wide ones anyway), and since I saw the riders were heading South to take the long route around the property, I told them I'd probably see them up on the road, and Quz and I headed off down the main paved road Northwards!


By the time we made it to the road and leisurely walked up the hill, the trail ride was halfway up the hayfield perpendicular to the road. We waited for a few minutes at the top, until an approaching car made me move the horse out of the way, and seeing the riders were still about 1/4 mile away, and I was bored, we continued on down the road and down the steep hill.

After we'd made it down the hill, which takes a while because Quzqo is very careful, pushing his butt back into the breeching to keep the cart from running up on his heels, the riders finally crested the hill and made their way down towards us. We waited for them to catch up, Quzqo straining to listen and turning his head to try to see what was coming up behind! He could hear the snorts and hoofbeats and the voices, but those darned blinkers kept him from seeing. When the horses magically appeared within his field of vision, he did startle in place, but then relaxed, and seeing that none of the horses were spooked by the cart, we walked along with them!

That was different...let's just say "Dusty", ha! Things are a lot dustier down at horse-butt level with half a dozen horses walking down a dry dirt road...not that appealing!

The riders soon took a right turn into the woods down an old logging trail, and I bade them farewell, and we continued down the nice dirt road at a snappy trot. Apparently Quzqo's feet no longer bothered him, and he was willing and able to do his best roadster imitation!

We headed North on the paved road, and I got Quzqo trotting again; the little bugger actually broke into a canter before I slowed him! I heard something unusual coming up behind us, turns out it was a tractor with a front loader...hmm...that should be okay...???? They passed us, and Quzqo tensed up but didn't spook...until the big white pick-up following the tractor went BLASTING past, and poor Quz about jumped out of his harness! The driver had a big shit-eating grin on his face...yeah, well, there's a special place in Hell for jerks like you, my friend!!

Today we did something different...when we got up to Bronson Lake, we turned left instead of just wimping out and heading right ("around the block"). If you go left, you go down a dirt road bordered by some of the downright scariest redneck hovels in the township. Quzqo usually spooks a couple of times along this stretch when I ride him, how would he behave being driven? It was pretty quiet, nobody working on the wrecked cars in the driveways, nobody sitting on the porches of the singlewides, drinking beer, nobody driving their ATVs or dirt bikes...looked safe enough.

Once we got over some small hills, I got him trotting again, and he went right to it, head high, tail up, just happy as can be! It didn't take us long to make our way to the end of the road. It does continue into the woods as a two-track, and eventually joins the Michigan Shore-To-Shore trail, but I couldn't picture anyplace wide enough in there to turn a cart around (and there's no way I could go all the way through to the paved road on the far side...it's a little too adventurous in there for a horse and cart)(famous last words!). We turned around at the cul-de-sac (fancy name for a dirt turnaround spot), and headed back just in time to see the trail riders from the barn emerging from the woods waaaaay down the road by the redneck hovels!

Yeah, I'll admit I felt a little snarky, seeing as I was obviously covering more ground quicker than them...I suppose if they stuck to the roads and did as much trotting, they'd be heading home too, but that's not the point of a nice trail ride. We passed by them as they headed for the woods and we headed towards home.

We pretty much followed the same route as the previous time, heading down the residential road, absolutely nothing spookworthy to be seen. In fact, it looked something like this:




Sorry, no sound, just imagine the clip-clop-clip-clop and the squeak of the leather and jingle of the harness hardware!

Uneventful drive South on Lake Ann road other than seeing a white pick-up hauling a BIG white 5th Wheel travel trailer approaching. I just stopped the horse, turned his head to the right, he couldn't see it coming due the blinkers, truck passed, horse was oblivious, we continued on!

It was just a beautiful afternoon/evening, temps in the upper 60's, only bugs being the little no-see-ums floating in the sunshine, the colors on the trees are just beginning to turn...totally glorious! There'll be precious few lovely days like that before winter sets in, I intend to enjoy as many as I can!

The Near-Perfect Trail Ride

• Sunny
• Warm, but not too hot
• Horse in good mood
• No spooks
• Met friendly dirt bikers on the trail who waved back
• Found three beer cans...that's 30 cents deposit, and me getting off and on the horse two times successfully!
• No bugs
• A good time had by all!
  

They Call Him "Scarface"

If there's a way for a horse to injure himself, he will find it!!

Came to the barn yesterday evening, fully anticipating a lovely quiet evening trail ride, maybe using the bitless bridle for a change. It was in the low 70's, sunny, the trees are finally starting to think about changing color for Fall...it'd be perfect.

There's probably some sort of horseman's Murphy's Law.... the more you WANT to do a horse-related activity, the greater the chance the horse will be injured, preventing that activity.

This is what I found waiting for me in the pasture:

Don't have a clue as to how he did that to himself. Common theories revolve around a little greedy Arabian sticking his head through a wooden fence section and then being spooked so that he bumped his noggin and scraped half his face hide off.

Whatever he did, he gave himself a big swollen nose for his trouble! To me he looked like a Kladruber, no more lovely Arabian dish!

He didn't want me to touch his face (no surprise there), I knew there's no way I could get a cold compress on there.

But hey, the rest of him was in good shape, so I did take him for a short trail ride through the neighborhood. Needless to say, the bitless bridle was "out" (all that noseband pressure...ouch!), we used a snaffle without a cavesson instead.

Inconsiderate monkey that I am, I did get him cantering, and he kept halting...then it dawned on me; he probably couldn't breathe very well through those swollen nostrils!!! Arrrgh! I apologized profusely and we walked the rest of the way home. My poor boyo!

Before (cute little dish face!):






















And After:






















Kladruber Nose!!!

Well, it gives him character, and so what if everyone thinks I beat my horse with barbed wire!

====================
UPDATE 10/7/08

Happy to say the nosal swelling has disappeared with no permanent lumps, and the scrapes are filling in with white (and fleabitten) fuzz! Whew! He'll be normal-looking in no time... or as normal-looking as Quzqo can be!

Our Portraits

A Big Thank-You to my two dear friends, Cheryl Monroe and (Evile) Suzanne Feld, for these lovely portraits of Quzqo and myself. I've wanted a "good" photo of the two of us, which isn't easy, since either:

1. The Horse Looks Goofy
2. The Horse is Misbehaving
3. The Horse's Eyes Are Closed

or

1. I look Goofy
2. I'm Misbehaving
3. My Eyes Are Closed

But the benefit of taking nearly 50 photos between the pair, I came up with a few shots I actually like!


I really like this one...it's not posed, and we both look pretty pleased with ourselves!
Another unposed shot...I should have just had them follow me around with a camera as I did my usual routine, they probably would have gotten more nice photos like this!


Totally UNPOSED, LOL! I wasn't really cussing him out (er, maybe I was)...
Fun!

Friends Shouldn't Let Friends Ride Quarter Horses

My Evile Twin came to visit this past weekend, up from the Big City. She's a horse-lover like myself, and used to ride back in the day. I'd actually taken her on an "interesting" trail ride a couple of years ago with Leo the Bucking QH as her steed. Though he hadn't begun the bucking thing back then.

I promised her a better mount this time around, and we headed out to the barn on a lovely Friday morning. It was SO peaceful out there; school's in session, so no kids at all (yaay!), all the adults were at work, except Carlos the Spaniard who showed up around noon to do some work around the place. It felt like my own personal barn!

We got good ole' Colby the QH who was up by the front gate and tucked him into an empty stall with a bit of grain for a treat, and then hiked the 2/3 mile or so into the pasture to get Quzqo. By the time we returned, Colby had finished, had peed and pooped and was ready for whatever else we had in store!

Got him tacked up, I let Suzanne, my twin (not really, we just look similar in a vague sort of way) borrow my bitless bridle, and got her on board the horse and warming up in the indoor arena. Once I got Quzqo tacked up, she was ready to go!

Last time we left the property and headed for the Shore-to-Shore trail (didn't make it due to Leo's misbehavior). This time we stayed closer in, and originally were just going to ride along the property line outside the pasture fences. But Colby and Suzanne were doing so well, I figured we should push the envelope, and headed for the woods!

We didn't get into the actual trees before something went "snap" in the forest, and Quzqo jammed on the brakes, ducked and did a 180 degree spin (but I stayed on) and bolt! Colby also spooked and spun, but much more sedately, and hey, Suzanne stayed on as well! Yay Us! Don't have a clue what made the scary snapping noise in the woods, could have been anything, and I managed to get Quzqo to actually walk on.

I haven't been in these woods since last year. There's new people living in the house behind the barn property, and they like their ATVs. It was apparent they also liked the woods (not their property either) because there were now some wonderful cleared trails smashed through the rotting tree tops left over from logging done years ago! Awesome! It was quite pretty in there (when have I ever said "Oh, it was so frickin' fugly in those woods!"), and we did a little bit of brush-poppin' where the trails had become overgrown with blackberry brambles. Quzqo still managed to snatch a mouthful of blackberry leaves or maple branches as we went.

Other than the one spook-fit, it was pretty uneventful. Suzanne had the joys of learning to ride a remote controlled push-button trained-to-the-gills Showhorse who'd almost work off of brain waves, he was so responsive. It took a bit to figure out why he'd suddenly take off trotting... seems a little lean forward was all it took!

The horses were spoiled with Fuji apples and plenty of grooming before being released from their bondage. Rough life, but somebody's got to live it!

To Boldly Go Where No Horse Has Driven Before

Y'know what I think is great? That I can now harness up the horse, hitch him up by myself, and hop in and take off without the fear and nervousness of the past. I'm so glad I did the work I did with him so that he now stands quietly while I get in the cart, I no longer need someone to hold his head or to help me hitch him up! Why didn't I do this years ago! Oh, I didn't own Quzqo back then...I guess that's a good enough reason!

The Sunday before Labor Day this year was a balmy golden day, I got out to the barn around 5-ish. The horse already had eaten the bulk of his dinner, so he was in an accommodating, pleasant mood (Arabians are so much easier to deal with when they're in a good mood). Got him hitched up, and off we went down Lake Ann Road. A few cars whizzed by, a truck or two as well, he doesn't care, and I'm not as nervous as I used to be, driving on the road. Then I remind myself what happened the last time I got lackadaisical about anything involving the horse...8 screws and a metal plate in my leg, that's what!

We hooked a left onto Fewins Road, a nice dirt road with a few residences on it. We've been there before, only up to the top of the hill where I'd normally turn around and head back. Not today, today we go beyond the hill...we go....DOWN the hill!!!

We're talkin' STEEP...Poor Quzqo put on the brakes and braced his butt up against the breeching to hold the cart back as he carefully, but gamely, made his way down the slope! What a boy!

Of course it wouldn't be a trip down the steep, narrow hill with HIGH dirt banks on both sides (we're talking canyon quality here) without...a big dually pick-up truck coming the other way!!! There is room for a truck to pass if I pulled waaaay off to the side, but bless his heart, the driver just stopped at the bottom of the hill, off to the side, and waited. We took our time going down the hill, and when we got even to the truck, I thanked the fellow profusely for his consideration!! I appreciated it, more than he'll know!

Once off the hill, we had a nice trot to the next main road, and hooked a right onto the shoulder of that road. That's got a nice WIDE crushed gravel shoulder, plenty of room for horse and cart, and no houses, just woods on both sides. I got him trottin' and he put his shoulders to the breastcollar and just motored on up the road, me bouncing merrily along behind! What a blast!! A few cars slowed and passed us, but Quzqo just kept on trotting up the low hill to another intersection.

We turned right onto a paved residential street, in effect, going "around the block" (granted the "block" is a mile or so long on all four sides...). Oh, this was SO quiet and peaceful and downright magical with the golden early evening light, little bugs flittering in the sunlight, no sound but the horse's hooves on the pavement and the noise of the harness creaking and clinking. I'd wished I had a reclining cart seat so I could have really relaxed and enjoyed it.

We passed the Lake Ann Elementary School, and I wished I'd brought my recycling along, I could have dropped it off, ha ha! Maybe next time!

Back on to the road that the barn is on, about 1-1/2 miles to the south. Much more traffic, but again, a nice wide shoulder, many houses and driveways, but the horse didn't care. He was getting tuckered by then, and less inclined to be silly. We were passing one particularly nice home when I heard a dog barking, and saw a very large mixed breed tearing across the massive front lawn right for us. I had my whip at the ready...Quzqo sort of twisted between the shafts, trying to see what was coming up beside him, and I "felt" his hindquarters tense up for the bolt. The dog's owner was yelling after him "GUS! GUS! GET BACK HERE GUS!" but of course Gus wouldn't have any of it, and came running right into the road, into the path of an oncoming car!

Well, the car had already slowed because of the horse and cart (funny how drivers will slow for a horse and cart, but will blast right by a horse and rider like they aren't even there), and stopped while Gus' dad dragged him by his collar back to the house. Quzqo let out an audible sigh, and onward we walked.

That was such a wonderful drive, I'm glad we were "brave" enough to crest the hill and see what there was to see. I wouldn't do it again on a Saturday afternoon or a Wednesday morning, but Sunday evening on a holiday weekend...that's do-able.

I am lovin' that horse!