Wednesday Night Horse Wrangling

Last night I went to the barn to ride, and when I got there, this guy was loading manure into a trailer with Bob's tractor (as Bob was bringing in horses for the evening). Common enough sight, especially this time of year (gardening and all).

I got Coos out of his stall, and as I was walking him around the far end of the arena to the tack area, in come galloping two horses into the arena from outside. At first I thought Bob had let them loose to run into the barn on their own...that's what he does with Quzqo , but Quz is uber-intelligent and will trot right into his very own stall (and trot right out again if there's no food in it!)

But then I recognized the horses as the Muslim family's crazy Trakehner mare and her POA companion (the one that was in front of us on Saturday's trail ride...you can see her in the pix on my blog). They ran into the round hay bales, started scarfing down hay, then wheeled away to run around the arena... in the wide-open far doorway a lone figure appears and calls "BOB????" It was the guy who was loading the manure!

The mares BOLTED back out of the barn and started racing around the barnyard...oh SHIT! The manure pile is in the pasture the mares are, er, were in, and obviously while they had the gate open to get the tractor through, the mares bolted and were loose!!! SHITSHITSHIT!!!

Course Bob was nowhere to be found, having probably headed on up to the house for dinner. The way the mares were galloping hither and yon, I was worried they'd head for the road. Frankly I'm intimidated by that Trakehner, she's got a reputation for kicking and striking out at humans, plus rearing and biting...there's a reason she was in a pasture with only her friend for company!

They ran around the paddocks where the pony mare and her baby are living, ran down to the outdoor arena, ran up and down the mares' pasture, trying to get back in, stopping to graze and snatch up huge mouthfuls of long grass. I tried to approach the pony with a lead rope, she let me get so close before wheeling away and galloping bucking down the hill with the Trakehner following close behind!

The manure guy had NO clue about horses, so I used him and his lady companion as barricades to block the exit towards the front and the road, and I slowly walked up after the mares, with my arms outstretched and the lead rope whirling (they'd already bolted past the manure guy to escape once, almost knocking him down). I figured a scary whirling lead rope would prevent that.

I tell ya, I've gotten SO cautious since the broken leg thing, I guess that's understandable!

The idiot mares wandered into a narrow space between a pasture fence and the guy's truck and trailer, with a mangled fence panel at the end (I don't know if they hit it w/a tractor a horse smashed it)...last thing I wanted was the mares to spook and get tangled in the panel, or smash into the fence, or smash into the guy's truck! Eventually they came back out, and we backed away in unison so they didn't feel threatened.

The pony mare again pointed herself towards the barn, and once she started moving that way, we followed and sort of herded them in...they ran down the aisle, ducking in and out of stalls. I got the manure guy to close the gate to the indoor arena as I closed the door to the aisle. I tried to get him to close the big doors too, but he didn't understand, so he stood in the gap between the arena fence and the wall, blocking the way out that way!

The mares were trotting up and down, they both ducked into a stall, the POA ducked out, I tried to slide the door shut to trap the Trakehner in the stall but she shouldered her way out, nearly breaking the door, and they both ran to the now-closed door. There they flirted noisily with my farrier's QH gelding, kicking at the wall and squealing...the manure guy got them moving again down the aisle, and THANKFULLY they ducked into the open arena gate. The POA slid on the mud from the rain (the roof leaks right there) and almost went down, but regained her footing and they both galloped back to the big door, only to find the gate shut!

I ran like hell across the arena to shut the far side gate...all this time Quzqo is tied by the tack rooms, just nickering and whinneying and dancing around, getting all worked up by the chaos. Even the outside horses were galloping back and forth.

I ran to the far end to close the big gates there (where the tractor is normally parked), the mares ran through the opening and were milling around the hay bales...I managed to shoo them back into the arena and got the gate shut. And they ran and galloped and bucked and snorted and whinnied and rolled and carried on!

The Manure Man went back to loading up his trailer, but once he was done, he had to bring the tractor back in (I'm wondering why Bob just let some stranger use his equipment like that, but maybe he knew the guy from somewhere else)...so his lady friend goes to open the end gates...and the MARES ARE LOOSE THERE! Thankfully they wandered away and they were able to get the tractor into the arena, and close the gate behind. This time I'm thinking if the mares got loose, to hell with 'em, I ain't chasing them anywhere, if they get hit by a truck, so be it. My socks were soaking wet from chasing them the first time (yeah, my boots leak)

We got the tractor parked, and the guy asked if maybe he should stop at the house on his way out and let Bob know what happened. Duuuh, ya think????

Had to LOL...they both were scared of Quzqo, the guy didn't want to go around his rear end, so he ducked UNDER his neck to get by him. Just as the woman was about to make her way behind him, Quz chose that moment to raise his hind leg and stomp it down...she jumped back like she'd been stung...so I had to move him waaaay over so she had around 6 feet of space between the horse's butt and herself, ha ha! Quz does that leg-stomping thing when he's agitated and frustrated...which was understandable, considering the circumstances.

So they left, and I had an arena full of batshit mares running and whinneying and carrying on, and I was disappointed because dammit, I wanted to RIDE! Bob never showed up, I knew their people would be by in the evening to tend their horses, but it was only 7 and they don't show up 'til 8 or so. I managed to screw up enough courage to catch the POA and I got her into her stall, which only agitated the Trakehner who started whinneying and trotting back and forth back and forth. I stepped into the arena with a rope, and she tore away from me, not wanting ANYthing to do with me! Dammit, it's not my job, I shouldn't have to do this!

I was so disgusted and discouraged, I just put Quzqo back in his stall and was ready to leave, when the barn's resident trainer showed up to ride a couple of her horses. Thankfully she's not the least bit afraid of "Angel", and the horse walked right up to her, she got a rope on her head, and put her in the stall with no problem at all. Figures.

So I did get to ride Quzqo last night, we had a good time, he did well, the mares' people did show up around 8 and were not pleased to find out their horses had been running wild. Can't blame them one bit.

I guess it was a good thing I was there to help, imagine if nobody was around, though the mares probably would have ended up grazing outside the mares' pasture until the family did show up. But you never know, and I'd hate for a family in a compact car to smash into a Trakehner on the road.

Noteworthy occurrence: I had run out of peppermints, and I normally bribe Quzqo to stand still when I mount with a peppermint. This time I just growled that I was in NO mood for bullshit, and he stood rock-solid for me, ha ha!