Mugwumps Picked my Story for Wordy Wednesday!

http://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/2009/04/redsmom-wordy-wednesday.html

I'm so excited and honored that one of my favorite bloggers and storytellers, Mugwump, picked a little email story I sent her to publish for "Wordy Wednesday." Its all about Matty and the first time I showed him and our first time in reining.

Whoot! Another show coming Saturday.

A Different Style

This post

http://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/2009/03/im-not-that-nice.html

is getting me fired up to try to work on Dude, again. I just can't stand that he's out there eating and doing nothing when he is perfectly healthy. He could be a halter and front end horse if I could get his "issues" under control. He always liked jumping, too. Maybe I'll lunge him over some jumps and see how he does.

Ha ha Very Funny

Long story short, I got my daughter a new mare for Christmas, a lovely little 6 year old QH, and I have started to ride Matt instead of Dude. Dude has been getting what he always wanted, which was to stand around and look pretty. However, Dude was pressed into service on Saturday with hilarious results.

My 21 year old nephew came over to unload a trailer of hay I had bought and Nephew brought a frined with him, also 21, whom we will call Goober. Goober says he knows how to ride, so I put him on Dude. LOL. Nephew was riding the new mare, Queenie, and I was on Matt. Matty loves to lope, so as soon as we were warmed up and on the woods path, I started an easy lope. Gobber starts squealing like a little girl because Dude is tossing his head and kicking out a little. "Welcome to my world for the last year). Goober talks my nephew into switching horses with him. So, now Newphew is riding Dude. Goober says, "That horse has it in for me!" referring to Dude. Hahahaha. Anyway, Dude goes through his initial little crow hops with newphew and then quits and acts right for the rest of the ride until...

I decided to have one last lope up the fence line in the general direction of home, but not to the cool down part of the trail yet. Dude decides he can "win" this "race" by getting rid of this pesky rider. Dude was running third when he ducked out from under my nephew and bolted past Queenie and then past Matt and me. I had already stopped because I realized the boys were too fa behind while I was loping. Just then, dude ran past. Matt, of course, started prancing, but didn't go until I said "go" with my cues, Matt took off to overtake Dude. The wind through my helmet vents took on a high-pitched whine. Now, Dude had on the old dressage saddle with real old-fashioned heavy irons, which were flying wildly as he galloped past. The reins were still up over his head and I almost had hold of them when Dude saw me out of the corner of his eye and really put it in gear and left Matt and me in the dust (actually, mud). I watched in dismay as Dude disappeared around the corner of the path in the direction of home. I wondered if he would stop behind the house, jump the big ditch to the house or continue all the way around and come down the subdivision road home the way we usually ride. But, I barely had time to wonder all these things for seconds later Dude reappeared galloping toward us just as fast as he had left, irons flying, divets being thrown out behind. I yelled to the boys to look out, as it didn't look like Dude was going to stop anytime soon. Dude ran past me and Matt, past Goober and Queenie and, when he came to where my nephew was standing, he turned on the forehand on a dime and stopped facing his former rider head on, head down, docily, panting happily. LOL.

As no one was hurt, I can laugh, now. I wonder how far Dude got before he realized no one else was coming. Like, at what point did he say to himself, "Where is everybody? I better go back." My nephew thinks Dude slipped and that's why he came off. I didn't even see it happen and I can tell you Dude ducked him and ran.

Retirement

Just to put some closure on this ordeal, I will explain what has led to my decision to give up on Dude's training. Some time in November, we went on a nice trail ride with some friends who have Tennessee Walkers. I replaced the bolts in the divider and put it in again. Dude had busted it out again by the time we got to the B&B where the ride took place. I got us there early so I would have time to deal with his saddling issues. Dude wouldn't take the bit and was excited to go smell mares's butts. So, while I only had the halter around his neck, he took off. I held onto the rope a long time, running beside him. he glanced back, saw me and leaped to get away. I really thought my finger was broken, but a later x-ray showed it wasn't. it still hurts. He stopped running when he got to a mare's butt. I got him saddled, finally. The wrangler at the B&B had been watching me and he wouldn't come tighten my girth after I got mounted because he was scared of Dude. LOL. I waited till we were on the trail and got off and tightened it later. In the morning, we were with a large group and it was kind of boring and frustrating for E who wanted to run on the trail called "Loping Lane." But, we had a nice enough time. Went back to the trailer for lunch and such and then took off with just our 2 friends after lunch. their Walker went lame and they turned back, so it was just my daughter and me after that. Dude was good and we loped on loping lane, loped on a bunch of trails, jumped some sticks, went all over the trails and had a great time. He didn't balk or buck. Dude loves exploring new trails and not being in an arena. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool. The trails were idyllic and mowed. We ended on an extremely good note.

A few days later, my daughter went to camp, taking Matt for 3 days. The came home the Wednesday night before thanksgiving. On T-giving a.m., Matt collicked and we spent a lovely morning at the university vet school. Thank goodness, Matt turned out to just be impacted and some oiling got him straightened out enough to pick him up the next day. Boy, did he load easy to come home.

So, decision time to be had all around. Matt is too old and fragile (turning 23 come Jan.) to take all the activities that E wants to do with him. My original plan to get Dude ready to trade with my daughter is not going to work. I'll never be able to trust him with her.

The farrier thinks, and I agree, that training would be a waste for Dude as he will be good for Ms. Dee and then come home and go right back to his old ways. I am 47 years old and the wage earner; i.e., too old to risk getting seriously hurt. So, its time to start looking for a new horse for my daughter and for me to ride Matt and to retire Dude. I toyed around with getting him pasture board somewhere and still am looking into that. But, I'd have to go make sure he's trimmed, groomed, wormed, hayed and all so it would be easier to keep him at home.

On the first trip out horse shopping (although, to my credit, not the first horse I looked at) Ms. Dee went with us and we bought the mare. She's a sorrel mare between 14 and 15 hands, skinny and rain-rot infested, but has racing blood top and bottom. She's got TB on her papers and is reg. AQHA. Ms. Dee said she would have bought her if we hadn't. So, we got Queenie for Christmas, I'm riding Matt and Dude is standing around looking pretty. Pulled Dude's shoes when Bill came to trim the new mare's black, iron, huge hooves. Squeeeee. Bill is keeping an eye out for someone who wants a companion horse who will take good care of Dude.

When I mentioned to Bill that the new mare had rain rot and was too skinny, he commented that she is in the right place, now. that made me feel good. The farrier knows who takes good care of their horses, so he will find a good home for dude when the time is right.

Finally Went to Another Show

Yesterday, we took both horses to a show at the same time, for the first time, thanks to the new truck!! We had a little trouble loading including giving up on Dude, but then giving it one more try with the rope trick which succeeeded. Dude reared up and acted like a total ass, but I just looked at him and said, "I'm not scared of you so quit it." And he did! He got in like a little lamb, the bluffer!! The reason I gave it one more try was that Dude didn't run away, but rather, kept hanging around the trailer as if to say, "I want to get in, but I don't know how." We had the divider in for the first time, so both horses were confused by it. It turns out the divider will be no good, as Dude broke it on the way home. )*&%^!!

The trip up was good. I felt pretty secure driving the new rig, but couldn't get about 50 mph (it wasn't the interstate, anyway). It was a beautiful afternoon and E and I both felt happy and free. On the road with our boys; what could be better? The show was at a "new" arena, one our club is having to use because of hurricane damage to the regular arena. It had a nice sand warm-up area which everyone enjoyed. There were cows pastured nearby which cuaght Dude's attention. I swear he's a cow horse of some kind. Dude was exceedingly difficult to saddle. He kept almost mashing me up against the trailer, but he would stop just short of actually smushing me. He dumped off the saddle about 15 times before I could get the girth done. Once I got the girth tight enough for the saddle to stay on, he acutally bucked and kicked! Luckily, I was out of range of the kick (around the back side of the trailer!). As I said to E, I can't beleive I actually got on him and rode after all of that, but with Matt right there, I felt like Dude would behave. He went with Matt to the warm-up area and behaved pretty well. Once, he tried to kick Matt, though when Matt was right behind him. I don't think the magnesium supplement is helping since he's never acted this way with Matt. But, I've never taken him to a show with Matt before, either.

We were late, so, I signed up for only 2 exhibitions, poles and barrels. Riding exhibition was the best choice I have made! I was pretty relaxed and didn't put much pressure on him. I must have been kind of nervous, though because I was halfway through winding between the poles at a trot when I remembered to use my legs to steer! He only paused once and not very badly, he mostly trotted a nice jog that I could sit. He and I both like that, I think.

When we did barrels, it had started to get dark and the lights were on, but he didn't startle at his shadow. He trotted smoothly around all three barrels and when we were heading home, he actually loped the nicest little lope! It was so much fun! Then, I unsaddled him and rubbed him down with the microfiber towel I got (its great). It was too chilly for hosing. He happily stayed tied, munching hay until E and Matt were finished.

Matt was so cute in the arena race. On the way back to the gate, I saw him kick it into a higher gear. It was the cutest thing. E said she felt it and couldn't believe he was running that fast. She wasn't really going fast at all, by the standards of the others, but she is still gettign her confidence.

One chick in Junioers (age 14 to ?) fell and smacked her head on the ground in poles, so I reinterated my insistance on E wearing her helmet. Even in the sand arena, you could see that the girl was almost knocked out. She stood up, put her hand to her head and sat down dizzily. Later, she walked out, but may have gotten a concussion.

Loading to come home, Matt was good and Dude was bad. I had to use the rope on Dude, but it was dark as pitch inside the trailer even with the inside light on. Once he got in, he was fine. Mr. Ken came along as I was getting the rope trick ready and said something funny, like "There seems t be some kind of situation here." He helped me by jumping in to free the rope when it caught on the door latch. He's really quick for an old guy.

I was really tired driving home, so we stopped at Mickey D's for supper (9:30 p.m.). The horses slept, although Dude had broken the divider and was hogging most of the trailer. Came home, unloaded, put them in their pen and crashed.

It was a great night and I'm glad we went. I need to keep up riding more frequently before the Amite show and I need to start out earlier since loading is back to being a challenge.

I talked to Ms. Dee about training for Dude. She does training and said she would not only "get after" Dude, but would get after me as well. Hee hee -- we'll see after I have saved up $500.00 for amonth of training. I'd rather she do it than Jeff, since I know she won't be overly harsh with Dude. I don't know Jeff that well, so I'm not saying he would be rough, I guess its just that he's male.

Around the Yard

I've been working hard on cleaning up the yard and pasture, so not much time for riding. The shows are all getting cancelled and moved around because arenas got damaged in the hurricane. The new truck has some kind of electrical problem. I rode Dude around the yard the other day; around cones and all. He flexes well to the right, but not too well to the left. Matt was cross tied so I tried riding Dude out onto the road. He went exactly to the property line both ways. No farther. I didn't make him go more. We'll try to get farther next time.

I started Dude on a magnesium supplement that is supposed to be calming. If this doesn't have any effect, I've just about made up my mind to put Dude in training for his cantering issues. I just can't afford to be the one to call his bluff and see whether he really, really blows when you "get after him." If it sets him back to being a nerotic hellion, he may get to retire. I just don't have the seat to be the one to do it. I really think he's just being stubborn and could be worked through it with the right training. Sigh.

I got the weight-builder supplement for Matt. I had to mix it with apple juice to get him to eat it with his feed.

We Made It (Hurricane Gustav)

Photos: Doh! I put "chocks" behind the trailer wheels, but guess what? Wrong direction. The hurricane winds pushed it about 8 feet into the front of my little truck. Luckily the hitch went sort of under the front bumper, but stopped short of doing any damage to the hitch or visible damage to the little truck. I ran all around on the day before the storm trying to figure out exactly where to put the cars and trailers, guessing the wind would come from the South, but it came from the east. Funny, but I put the chocks on the little trailer going the other way. I must have been a little off my nut that day. The pics of the house show one tree in my yard that uprooted, but caught on another tree instead of falling on the fence. I think it would have missed the house even if it had fallen. It pulled the meter box almost off the house, but, we found out today, the meter is still functional! Tin got bent up on the horses's run-in shed. In the pic of the horses you can see the tree that uprooted and fell on the neighbor's trailer. Luckily, they were okay.

The day of the storm itself was pretty scary. We got 120 mph wind gusts and they got twisty at one point. That's when the trees started coming down. The neighborhood had lots of downed trees The trees missed the house and the horses. We were out of electricity for 7 days. I never did get a generator, although lots of the neighbors had them. The heat wasn't too bad for the first few days as the skies remained overcast. I took advantage of the full dark nights to "shower" outdoors with the hose and use the horse trailer for a towel rack. I spent the evenings sitting on my front porch listening to the radio. It was kind of fun like camping.

After a day of looking around like disaster victims and picking up fallen limbs, we got back to riding. When I let Matt and Dude out of the back for the first time, they ran to the front fence as if to say, "Let's go somewhere!" We rode every other day during our "Hurricane Holiday" as work and school were cancelled. Our regular trail behind the house was filled with new and interesting obstacles (fallen trees), but was passable for a decent distance. We finally reached a huge tree blocking the entire path to E.D. Road. The 4 wheeler riders will probably cut it before long. When Matty took off cantering, Dude did it too and he has the smoothest rocky horse canter. Dude and I worked a lot on his slow jog, which he does nicely. He only cantered the one time, though and he can move out at a trot that keeps up with Matt at a canter! Coming back from the trail, we saw that the power line workers were here with bucket trucks. Dude got almost underneath it before he saw it and startled a little.

One morning I was saddling both horses and decided to put my western saddle on Matt (since Miss Sunshine was snoozing while I was sweating). She woke up in time to come out and watch me ride Matt, practicing my cantering. I worked on sidepassing and shoulder-in with Matt. He's so lovely. When I get on Matt, I feel so secure and comfortable. Matt really likes to GO, too. He wanted to canter a lot, but is very controllable. I had saddled Dude and left him tied to his tree while I worked Matt. Dude stood nicely and waited his turn. I saddled Dude tied to the tree all 4 times. He still moves his feet around and acts afraid, but tolerates it. Bitting was excellent every time! He now stands pretty well after I mount, although he lets me know he is ready to go out the gate and hit the trail! I tried out my new felt pad with my western saddle on Dude (it came in the mail the day before the Hurricane hit). Dude seemed to like it, although it needs to be broken in better. It kicks up in the back. Oh, I'd love to try a rear cinch on Dude (not).

Two shows were canceled because of the Hurricane so the next one is not until September 20. We got a lot of good, muscle building and aerobic work done this past week though, so if we keep it up we'll be in good shape for the next show!

My new truck was hit at the feed store and was very useful for transporting limbs and sticks to the burn pile. My little truck would have gotten stuck back there!