Still Looking

We're still looking for a fourth horse.

My husband Drew e-mailed me the other day about a potential horse. Sounded great except for one small thing. The horse does some "random bucking".

*Random bucking*

I e-mailed Drew and told him he made me smile. He wrote back that if we got the horse, I'd have more things to blog about.

In one piece

For the first time ever, yesterday, I hauled a horse trailer by myself without my husband there coaching me. Sierra guided me back, and she told me, "You did everything you were supposed to." We loaded two horses, I drove them down to the next town, and everyone was still in one piece!! Sierra said, "Yehey! We got here safely!"

It's amazing the things you learn how to do when you are desperate.

Actually, I'm glad I had to do this. I feel like hauling the horses across town, just for fun. Well, not quite...

History: Borrowing a Horse

[This is an installment in "How we got into horses". See right sidebar for other posts.]

Sierra's first horse she showed at 4-H was a pretty paint named Melody (sired by a stallion named Mozart, get it?). Susan's granddaughter Lauren owned Melody. Lauren was too young to show at the regular 4-H, so sharing was not an issue. Susan had another granddaughter, though, Alicia, who rode her in the Senior division.

Melody was a sweet horse, if a bit lazy. She was perfect for someone like Sierra, who was just learning the ropes. Sierra would call Susan to set up appointments. I would take Sierra to her place and she learned how to tack up and ride, mostly at a walk.

At the shows, it was a little tricky sharing a horse. Sometimes, there was just a couple of minutes, literally, between the Senior and Junior divisions, and Alicia would be scrambling because I didn't know how to tack up a horse yet.

I can still picture Sierra in my mind; a little squirt of a girl, in pigtail braids and her cowgirl get-up of peach shirt and red hat. She did well in halter, since Melody was good at standing. She didn't want to lope her yet for Western Pleasure (where they walk, trot, lope), but that was alright. The goal was just to keep her on the horse. And then, at the poles, Sierra finally broke down and cried. She said she was scared, and she didn't want to do it.

Bless her heart; Susan asked Sierra if she could lead her around the poles. Sierra sniffled and said yes, then Susan led her through, this woman bouncing around leading the horse. They registered "no time" but for Sierra, that was a milestone. After that, she was okay doing the speed events (not very fast to begin with, but again, that was okay) by herself.

Borrowing was perfect for us. We wanted to see if Sierra would stick to this new passion of hers, before we (gulp!) might actually look into buying a horse. I will forever be grateful to Susan for sharing her granddaughter's horse, and for helping teach Sierra her first year.

Next: Taking the plunge

How to be popular with a horse

Walk around with a container (in my case a grooming bucket) in your hand late in the evening, when it's past feeding time and they haven't been fed yet. It feels eerie to have dozens of horses stand stock still staring at you and nickering for food you can't give them.