Enchantress
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- Apr 16, 2005
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So, I was sitting around the house yesterday, taking care of paperwork, playing on the computer when I had this sudden motivation to drive. Yes, me...drive. It's not my favourite thing and I'm more of a halter person, so this struck me as odd. Maybe I should see a doctor? But I'm motivated. AND the Area 1 show is coming up in a couple weeks...hmmm. I have a 4 yr old stallion who I showed in harness twice last year and when I took him to the Northeast show to play in the halter class my friend hooked him up and he was good. Well, he didn't kill her anyway.
Now, he's only been driven MAYBE 20 times, and that's stretching it, but he's VERY sane (only in harness....put him on the end of a lead and wowzer..he is the man and won't let you forget it..go figure!) and I've never had any qualms about jumping in the cart behind him. Other than one halter class and this quick spin my friend took in the cart I've done everything with him, so I can take all the credit for how good/bad he is. Hmm..maybe not a good thing lol.
So, back to yesterday and my bright idea....that whole driving thing. So the Area show is coming up, and wouldn't it be fun to maybe show in harness in addition to halter (definitely time to see that head doctor now). So off I go to the barn. Just to stand in the aisle for about 5 minutes trying to figure out what to DO! Well, first I need a cart. Hmm..well, pull it out of the stall, dust off the cobwebs and spiders and notice the mice apparently had a good time with the seat over the winter. And darnit if the tires aren't a little flat. *sigh* So around we go in the tack room looking for the air pump. Now, I JUST had this thing at the Mini-Rama show and I know I'd kept it with the rest of my show stuff when I unloaded the car, but heck if I could find it. So walk the few hundred feet up to the house to check in my car. No luck. Ok so the motivation is slowly draining away(maybe it's the heat?), but now the frustration of KNOWING I just had that thing keeps me going. Anyone else ever have those moments? Anyway, all the way back to the barn to tear apart the tack room. Whoever said horses weren't good exercise! I was certainly hot and sweaty and definitely losing motivation by the second. THERE it is! Stuffed beneath all the sheets in my storage bin. I dont remember putting it there? Oh well, problem solved! I'm hot, sweaty and dirty and ready to just sit down and veg for a while. Might as well at least pump up the tires since I went to all the trouble of finding the pump. Looking overhead I can see the storm clouds rolling in..nice and black. Hmm..that means it's going to cool off a little and I can already feel it. So I get myself between the shafts and drag the cart up behind my parents house. And back to the barn again. That few hundred feet is getting longer every time. Drag the poor horse out of his stall, get him all brushed and braided (tail drags on the ground, mane's to his knees and forelock extends beyond his nose) because I'm THINKING and remember what a pain in the behind it is to have the reins all tangled in that hair..and I certainly dont' want the wheels rolling over his tail. Ouch. Things are going good so far. Kudos to me for thinking of the little things.
Get out the harness and put it on...can't find the breeching, but who needs that anyway. Don't think I ever used it on him anyway. Get the saddle on and fastened THEN remember the martingale. Darnit. Get the bridle on, put the reins through martingale and saddle, grab whip and off we go! Something doesnt' look quite right..the martingale's hanging awfully low. Oh well, it'll be ok. It's certainly not dangerous or anything. Walk him up to the cart all ready to go, excited that I'm going to be driving him again. That motivation's back! Area here we come! Stick him between the shafts and put the shafts in the loopy thing. hmmm..something is definitely missing. Um..OH YEAH can we say breastcollar? No WONDER the martingale was hanging down.
: Back down to the barn we go. On goes the breastcollar and voila..that's better! And once more the long walk back up to the cart. By now both of us are starting to huff and puff a little. Those storm clouds are getting darker and closer by the minute. Get him between the shafts again, hook him up..again...do the mental check...do I have the whoa and go and the up and down. DARNIT!!!! I forgot the up and down strap! So we unhook AGAIN and walk back to the barn AGAIN, get the stinkin strap and I really begin to think maybe I should quit while I'm ahead. But darnit..it was a lot of work to put that whole harness on and all that walking..I'm going to drive! The motivation has definitely now been replaced by irritation with myself for being such a dumb@rse and I'm going to get this guy driving if it's the last thing I do. At the rate I'm going it may very well BE the last thing I do. It's already been over an hour. Back up to the cart. Hook up the horse. YAY! 4 way check passed and into the cart I go.
Now, as an aside, I've learned from all the discussions on here about how there's too much clucking and kissing and overall noisemaking in driving classes. For anyone interested, yes, my horses are taught originally to move off from hearing a couple clucks followed by a verbal cue. Then when I put them in harness I move it to the whip. Tap tap on the butt, followed by clucking and off we go. Eventually I lose the clucking and the tap tap on the butt is their indication to change speed. Works GREAT! They don't freak out by hearing other people because that's not "their" cue!
Anyway, so we're off like a herd of turtles. And we apparently had too much to drink last night because we go a little right, and a little left and then..OH YEAH now we remember how to do this! And FYI...those of you used to riding...using the open or "leading" rein doesn't work so well driving. Yeah, I look pretty stupid trying to get the horse to go left by "opening" my left hand. I WILL learn one of these days..I will, I promise! Until then I'll be easy to find in any driving class!
So we're trotting and walking along, up and down the hills we go, over the bumps, around the tree (marathon people would be very proud!) and I figure I'll try this standing thing. Hmm.. we stop...and awwww poor guy let's go a stream of urine that would make a racehorse proud accented by some serious grunting and groaning. Those noises are coming out of my little mini? Maybe that's why he was a little uncomfortable looking. So when the pipes are drained about 1 min later we hang out for a few more seconds. And those horseflies that are as big as baseballs have honed in on us...must be because we're both sweating up a storm. So we get going. And stop again. And hang out for a little while. Hmm..yeah we can do this show thing! But wait...last year we didn't back...at ALL. Pull pull...step back..pull pull..step back :aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033: Houston we have communication! I'm just beaming at this point. Yeah, we may not be the prettiest thing, but we drove for a while, stopped, walked, backed AND I'm still ALIVE! And other than all those people stopping and pointing (and I'm sure feeling VERY bad for the poor 30" horse that has to cart MY butt all over the field) I didn't make too much of a fool of myself. I didn't fall out..he didn't take off..and I'm alive!
Unhook the cart in the field, walk him back to the barn grinning ear to ear. BIG BIG hug for my little munchkin with the patience of a saint and enough tolerance and affection to put up with my little spurts of motivation.
: It's a good thing one of us has some common sense and half a brain!
Now, he's only been driven MAYBE 20 times, and that's stretching it, but he's VERY sane (only in harness....put him on the end of a lead and wowzer..he is the man and won't let you forget it..go figure!) and I've never had any qualms about jumping in the cart behind him. Other than one halter class and this quick spin my friend took in the cart I've done everything with him, so I can take all the credit for how good/bad he is. Hmm..maybe not a good thing lol.
So, back to yesterday and my bright idea....that whole driving thing. So the Area show is coming up, and wouldn't it be fun to maybe show in harness in addition to halter (definitely time to see that head doctor now). So off I go to the barn. Just to stand in the aisle for about 5 minutes trying to figure out what to DO! Well, first I need a cart. Hmm..well, pull it out of the stall, dust off the cobwebs and spiders and notice the mice apparently had a good time with the seat over the winter. And darnit if the tires aren't a little flat. *sigh* So around we go in the tack room looking for the air pump. Now, I JUST had this thing at the Mini-Rama show and I know I'd kept it with the rest of my show stuff when I unloaded the car, but heck if I could find it. So walk the few hundred feet up to the house to check in my car. No luck. Ok so the motivation is slowly draining away(maybe it's the heat?), but now the frustration of KNOWING I just had that thing keeps me going. Anyone else ever have those moments? Anyway, all the way back to the barn to tear apart the tack room. Whoever said horses weren't good exercise! I was certainly hot and sweaty and definitely losing motivation by the second. THERE it is! Stuffed beneath all the sheets in my storage bin. I dont remember putting it there? Oh well, problem solved! I'm hot, sweaty and dirty and ready to just sit down and veg for a while. Might as well at least pump up the tires since I went to all the trouble of finding the pump. Looking overhead I can see the storm clouds rolling in..nice and black. Hmm..that means it's going to cool off a little and I can already feel it. So I get myself between the shafts and drag the cart up behind my parents house. And back to the barn again. That few hundred feet is getting longer every time. Drag the poor horse out of his stall, get him all brushed and braided (tail drags on the ground, mane's to his knees and forelock extends beyond his nose) because I'm THINKING and remember what a pain in the behind it is to have the reins all tangled in that hair..and I certainly dont' want the wheels rolling over his tail. Ouch. Things are going good so far. Kudos to me for thinking of the little things.
Get out the harness and put it on...can't find the breeching, but who needs that anyway. Don't think I ever used it on him anyway. Get the saddle on and fastened THEN remember the martingale. Darnit. Get the bridle on, put the reins through martingale and saddle, grab whip and off we go! Something doesnt' look quite right..the martingale's hanging awfully low. Oh well, it'll be ok. It's certainly not dangerous or anything. Walk him up to the cart all ready to go, excited that I'm going to be driving him again. That motivation's back! Area here we come! Stick him between the shafts and put the shafts in the loopy thing. hmmm..something is definitely missing. Um..OH YEAH can we say breastcollar? No WONDER the martingale was hanging down.
Now, as an aside, I've learned from all the discussions on here about how there's too much clucking and kissing and overall noisemaking in driving classes. For anyone interested, yes, my horses are taught originally to move off from hearing a couple clucks followed by a verbal cue. Then when I put them in harness I move it to the whip. Tap tap on the butt, followed by clucking and off we go. Eventually I lose the clucking and the tap tap on the butt is their indication to change speed. Works GREAT! They don't freak out by hearing other people because that's not "their" cue!
Anyway, so we're off like a herd of turtles. And we apparently had too much to drink last night because we go a little right, and a little left and then..OH YEAH now we remember how to do this! And FYI...those of you used to riding...using the open or "leading" rein doesn't work so well driving. Yeah, I look pretty stupid trying to get the horse to go left by "opening" my left hand. I WILL learn one of these days..I will, I promise! Until then I'll be easy to find in any driving class!
So we're trotting and walking along, up and down the hills we go, over the bumps, around the tree (marathon people would be very proud!) and I figure I'll try this standing thing. Hmm.. we stop...and awwww poor guy let's go a stream of urine that would make a racehorse proud accented by some serious grunting and groaning. Those noises are coming out of my little mini? Maybe that's why he was a little uncomfortable looking. So when the pipes are drained about 1 min later we hang out for a few more seconds. And those horseflies that are as big as baseballs have honed in on us...must be because we're both sweating up a storm. So we get going. And stop again. And hang out for a little while. Hmm..yeah we can do this show thing! But wait...last year we didn't back...at ALL. Pull pull...step back..pull pull..step back :aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033: Houston we have communication! I'm just beaming at this point. Yeah, we may not be the prettiest thing, but we drove for a while, stopped, walked, backed AND I'm still ALIVE! And other than all those people stopping and pointing (and I'm sure feeling VERY bad for the poor 30" horse that has to cart MY butt all over the field) I didn't make too much of a fool of myself. I didn't fall out..he didn't take off..and I'm alive!
Unhook the cart in the field, walk him back to the barn grinning ear to ear. BIG BIG hug for my little munchkin with the patience of a saint and enough tolerance and affection to put up with my little spurts of motivation.
