horses

I was woke up this morning by my buddy Dan - who works across the street. Some days he is my boss - but I don't go to work for him very often. But today he needed my assistance picking up a truck. So we went to Wytheville to pick up this truck - and Dan has to be one of the more entertaining people that I know. The conversation on the way to Wytheville was indeed enlightening. After we got back I went straight to the barn... and if you don't like reading about horses then you might as well stop reading.
So, if you have been reading along with me you know that I am in love with a horse that's not mine. Well, I talked to this horses owner today and I now have permission to show this mare. I'm sooooo excited. I rode her today and she was wonderful. She trotted for the first time - completely confused as to why she has to trot around ... but she did it. No bucks. She is a very sweet mare, I will show pictures soon.
I rode several horses today - one of which was a total idiot. I got on him, was in the middle of getting my stirrups and asked my sister to walk him forward. He tripped out... flew backwards. I lost my stirrups - and he was still freaking out. So I made him walk forward and he continued to freak out - I nearly lost my balance and I almost saw the ground close up. Once he finished freaking out I got my stirrups back FINALLY!! When we started walking around he started prancing and snorting and acting up. He acted up for at least 20 minutes. I swear he could have passed off as a stallion and not a gelding. The last 15 minutes of my ride on him was great... but I thought he was going to kill me the first little bit of the ride. This horse is a big guy - so it is a little overwhelming when he acts up. We won't talk about what happened when we got into the barn. That was another 15 minutes of him freaking out. I don't know which is worse , being on the ground and the horse flipping out or being on the back and the horse flipping out.
I was so proud of one of my trainees - she cantered for the first time. She didn't buck, she didn't take off - she cantered calmly and sanely.
The fun thing about my job is watching the product grow. When I first get these horses - they don't know anything. Some of them know a little bit about what to do on the ground but as far as being ridden - these horses are dumb. And I get to watch them go from dumb to educated... maybe not WELL educated - but just enough that they are well on their way to becoming something other than field ornaments. It's fun to look at the "now" and "then" and to know that I did it.
Tomorrow - I'm going to a horse show. I'm looking forward to it - although I'm not showing myself, my little sister is showing and I'm playing "coach". Her horse is a saint, but he isn't the most beautiful thing on the planet - I hope they do well despite his looks. It is up to me to put her in classes - and I've racked my brain trying to figure out which classes she would have a better chance in. I think I've made a decision on what she is going to do - now I hope that I've made the right one. It's harder to be the coach then it is to be the competitor. I live for competing horses. The need for it runs through my veins. It pumps me up.
Anyways - I need to go put diesel in the truck and air in the tires... so peace out.