Valkyrie

Wow! That's an incredible story, Gary!

I totally understand. I could go on and on and on too, but yes... rationing will have to happen if I have any hope of getting anything done. lol Glad to have you here, though. I love hearing everybody's stories.

Sounds like fun! In competitive trail riding, there is an optimum time and you are penalized if you finish too early or too late.

My first day at the ranch I worked on in AZ, my boss and his wife were showing me his best roping horse and telling me how he was having some difficulty with him. Well it took me all of five minutes to pinpoint the problem, even with my boss on the horse's back. This poor horse had withers like a hat rack and the saddle was pressing right down on them. I can only imagine how much pain this poor horse was in. He ended up ordering a saddle that actually fit, thank god. I won't get into the rest of his idiocy now, but you are so right, Gary. There's always a reason for behavior... it's our job to figure out what it is.

Here's the question for today: What's a time when you really connected with a 'troublemaker' horse? I'll give one example. I had a friend when I was college who worked at a Christian camp. They had a stable and some horses and offered trail rides to campers who were interested. So I went with her a few times to help out. One of the ladies that worked there was a bit rough around the edges and not very gentle with the horses. There was a black thoroughbred mare who was not having a good day. She was very worked up and anxious and looked like she needed a good run to get it out of her system. She wasn't safe for campers to ride in this condition, so rough lady rode her. It was very clear she didn't know how to handle a hot thoroughbred. She sawed on her mouth with the western curb and the poor mare was in a lather by the time we got back from the trail ride. My friend asked me if I'd ride the horse, and I glady said yes to get her away from this horrible lady. She turned out to be a quite lovely horse. She was so sensitive, all I had to do was put a feather touch on the reins and she responded. She got very anxious at the foot of one hill and wanted to run up it, but it wasn't safe to, so I held her back until the rest of the horses were safely up the hill. She didn't like it and bucked a few times, but since I was in a western saddle, I wasn't going anywhere. lol That seemed to get some of her energy out and she was much better after that. All she needed was someone to help calm her down and tell her it was ok. Not someone to fight with her and rev her up. Oh and we also checked her tack to make sure nothing was bothering her. I think she just was being a thoroughbred... full of energy. I got lots of dirty looks from the other lady, BTW. I think she was jealous because she knew I could ride circles around her.

These two aren't that big on people food, so it surprised me when he ate the almond. They do like eggs and fish, though. Most other stuff they turn their nose up at.

What condition was the waffle in? Any bites missing? I was eating almonds once and dropped one. I decided to be lazy and pick it up later. Well, Joker decided that wasn't necessary. A few minutes later, I hear *crunch crunch crunch* as he happily munched it down. Who knew cats like almonds? lol

I'm here in and out. I'm supposed to have an outpatient at 10:00, but I'm wondering if they got the date of my vacation wrong. Sometimes they're a little late, but not usually 15 mins late. So I have a little bit of time before I see my next client.

Nice Wolfie... *scratches ears*

Thanks, Drew What... you think @Cia would deliberately plan something so dastardly?

Thanks

All good guesses, Gary. Thanks for the comments!

Well, I had a 500 word limit so... everyone will have to wait for more. Maybe the next newsletter prompt can be that we all need to continue our flash pieces? Thanks for the comment!

Thanks, Ron. I'm glad you liked it.

Maybe one day we'll find out. Thanks for reading

Thanks

Thank you, Tim. I appreciate the comment.

Maybe someday I'll finish this, but for right now it's up to the reader's imagination. Thanks for the comment, Lyssa. I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks so much, Puppi. I took Cia's comment that it doesn't have to be a complete story to heart...

Thanks, Parker. Apparently I need to finish this one... lol

Good night and thanks for all your thoughts! It's been fun!

We had a big warmblood mare that could be a nightmare to ride. She was very spooky and didn't like to yield to the rider's aids. She was the one I fell off of four times... lol Well I fell off her a lot more than four times... She was a good jumper, though as long as she didn't spook at the fence and stop. Anyway, she was also very cranky and was known to bite and kick. Well, in the therapeutic program we had a group of autistic men come for lessons and I was short horses, so decided to use her. One of the guys started grooming her and pretty soon her head was just about on the floor, she was so contented. Anytime me or a volunteer came near her, her head would raise and her ears would go back. lol So we let them be and she was an absolute angel. Once he was mounted, this mare who was so unyeilding to our best riders took every step very deliberately, bent around the corners, and held herself in a perfect frame. All in a halter and reins. No bit. It actually brought tears to my eyes to see the change in this horse. My boss was watching from the lounge and I could see by the look on her face I was going to be in trouble for using this horse, but once she saw the transformation in the mare, I was applauded for using her. She turned out to be one of my best therapeutic riding horses. It's amazing how they just 'know'.

Long distance riding is called either endurance riding or competitive trail riding. There are different regulations for each. I did a 25 mile competitive trail ride in college. It was so much fun! Isn't teaching therapeutic riding amazing? It's what led me to pursue my degree in speech pathology. I'd love to do it again sometime.