Always an Adventure
This afternoon was fun! It didn't start off so wonderful, though. In the cross ties Linus was being a twit and would not stop pawing. At one point I went to get something out of my grooming kit and as I walked in front of him he got me in the leg, just above the knee. I've got a lovely welt from his tiny little hoof now. Another boarder was attempting to help me calm him after this, but he was just being such a twit. Nothing worked. Snapping the cross ties had no effect, neither did popping him on the shin with a crop. When I put his bridle on and got him out of the barn, he was just fine. He was more than happy to stand around outside waiting, but being in the barn just agitated him.
We explored the trails again, with Linus proving that yesterday was not a fluke. He was very willing to cross the streams, and even led at one point. Every time we came to a crossing we let the horses stop to see if they wanted to drink; Linus sweats so easily and I wanted to give him every opportunity to rehydrate. He spent more time splashing in the water than actually drinking.
We took several different trails today and we found a cow pasture at the top of a fairly steep incline. I had to hop off to adjust the saddle since it slid back and that's when Linus noticed the cattle. It's part of a dairy farm and the field was full Holsteins, Jerseys, Guernseys and Brown Swiss. Two of the cows saw us and came up to the fence to investigate. I thought Linus would be okay, since he just stopped and stared. I found a freshly cut stump to use as a mounting block and the moment I attempted to mount, Linus lost his brain. He spun so quickly that I ended up diving over his back. I was going head first into the stump, so I managed to grab a stirrup on the way down and flip over onto my back, landing underneath Linus. I had the reins in one hand, a stirrup in the other and no clue as to where my horse was, other than he was jerking the reins back. P was staring at me with her jaw on the forest floor and asked if I was alright. I stood up, laughed, and asked what it looked like. She started laughing at that point and told me she had been expecting one of two things to happen. She was afraid that Linus was going to step on me, but he stopped moving the moment he realized I was under his belly. She then said she was half expecting me to climb up the saddle on the other side since I had that much momentum going over his back. I wish I had a video of it; I really want to see what I looked like as I yelled "OH SHIT!!" and hit the tree stump. Did I mention that Linus stood on the stump with me? Sort of defeated the purpose, but I figure he was so afraid of the horse eating monsters he needed to be as close to me as possible.
P got off to help with a leg up, but it ended up with her just holding him while I stood on the slope above him and mounted from the ground. She then found a gate and hopped back up on Eeyore, after several failed attempts.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. We found a trail that ended at what I suppose is the same dairy farm, where we saw even more cattle. He was fine with them this time.
When we got back to the farm, the owners' grandson had some friends over and they were setting off bottle rockets. They were doing it yesterday as we were returning from our ride, but the horses weren't spooky about it. Today it fried their brains. Probably because it was so close.
Linus just looked at them and trotted around a bit. He wasn't sure what to do when I brought out his dinner. He'd take a bite, look towards the house while chewing, then return to eating if there was no noise. Eeyore, on the other hand, flipped out. I ended up holding him when he got to be too much for P and as I tried to correct him by smacking his shoulder with the end of the lead I wound up smacking myself with it since he was prancing so much. Then he had a major fit about going into the barn and started rearing. We got him into his stall by bribing him with Linus' feed since Linus was too busy staring at the house for the moment.
I turned Linus out and he proceeded to gallop over to the mares. P had several more fights with Eeyore, then took off his halter, opened the stall door and he zoomed past as I held the gate open for him. Once he got the herd to gallop up the hill he was content.
I'll leave you with a useful tip: If your horse is not bombproof, don't use a freshly cut tree stump for a mounting block. Unless of course, you appreciate sawdust in the more sensitive parts of your body.
We explored the trails again, with Linus proving that yesterday was not a fluke. He was very willing to cross the streams, and even led at one point. Every time we came to a crossing we let the horses stop to see if they wanted to drink; Linus sweats so easily and I wanted to give him every opportunity to rehydrate. He spent more time splashing in the water than actually drinking.
We took several different trails today and we found a cow pasture at the top of a fairly steep incline. I had to hop off to adjust the saddle since it slid back and that's when Linus noticed the cattle. It's part of a dairy farm and the field was full Holsteins, Jerseys, Guernseys and Brown Swiss. Two of the cows saw us and came up to the fence to investigate. I thought Linus would be okay, since he just stopped and stared. I found a freshly cut stump to use as a mounting block and the moment I attempted to mount, Linus lost his brain. He spun so quickly that I ended up diving over his back. I was going head first into the stump, so I managed to grab a stirrup on the way down and flip over onto my back, landing underneath Linus. I had the reins in one hand, a stirrup in the other and no clue as to where my horse was, other than he was jerking the reins back. P was staring at me with her jaw on the forest floor and asked if I was alright. I stood up, laughed, and asked what it looked like. She started laughing at that point and told me she had been expecting one of two things to happen. She was afraid that Linus was going to step on me, but he stopped moving the moment he realized I was under his belly. She then said she was half expecting me to climb up the saddle on the other side since I had that much momentum going over his back. I wish I had a video of it; I really want to see what I looked like as I yelled "OH SHIT!!" and hit the tree stump. Did I mention that Linus stood on the stump with me? Sort of defeated the purpose, but I figure he was so afraid of the horse eating monsters he needed to be as close to me as possible.
P got off to help with a leg up, but it ended up with her just holding him while I stood on the slope above him and mounted from the ground. She then found a gate and hopped back up on Eeyore, after several failed attempts.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. We found a trail that ended at what I suppose is the same dairy farm, where we saw even more cattle. He was fine with them this time.
When we got back to the farm, the owners' grandson had some friends over and they were setting off bottle rockets. They were doing it yesterday as we were returning from our ride, but the horses weren't spooky about it. Today it fried their brains. Probably because it was so close.
Linus just looked at them and trotted around a bit. He wasn't sure what to do when I brought out his dinner. He'd take a bite, look towards the house while chewing, then return to eating if there was no noise. Eeyore, on the other hand, flipped out. I ended up holding him when he got to be too much for P and as I tried to correct him by smacking his shoulder with the end of the lead I wound up smacking myself with it since he was prancing so much. Then he had a major fit about going into the barn and started rearing. We got him into his stall by bribing him with Linus' feed since Linus was too busy staring at the house for the moment.
I turned Linus out and he proceeded to gallop over to the mares. P had several more fights with Eeyore, then took off his halter, opened the stall door and he zoomed past as I held the gate open for him. Once he got the herd to gallop up the hill he was content.
I'll leave you with a useful tip: If your horse is not bombproof, don't use a freshly cut tree stump for a mounting block. Unless of course, you appreciate sawdust in the more sensitive parts of your body.