NOW THAT’S A GOOD HORSE!

 

·        We have a son of Skip Allied, an overo paint gelding that we were thinking of saving to be our 8-year-old son’s horse. The gelding is four years old and we lightly started him; he is our son’s riding horse for round pen riding only.  Will is not a good enough rider to take him out of the round pen.  We knew 3 years ago when Peanut Butter was a yearling, that he was really something. When other yearlings would be flighty and jump around at things falling around them, he would just stand there hoping you would give him the time of day. I don’t think he knows how to snort (unlike one of our TB mares, whose snort can be heard in the next county). 

 

·        Well we decided to sell him anyway because I am unhappy with the APHA association and we have another 2 year old  gelding, up and coming, who also is dead calm, who is AQHA and he can show with our other quarters.  But until that happens, Peanut Butter is still Will’s riding horse. 

 

·        So, a few weeks back our “city friends” came to visit, with their 5 and 8-year-old daughters coming to play with Will. The girls begged, pleaded, and whined that they wanted to ride. We had to wait until late in the day because it was one of those 97° and 90% humidity days.  Before they got a chance to ride, their mom and dad came to pick them up. (They are friends of ours, so I really feel bad telling this story out of school, and I sure hope it does not end up on the Fugly Horse blog under idiotic things not to do on a horse.) 

 

·       It is dusk and we have just given a ride to the 8-year-old girl. She had to wear the helmet and was whining about that. Did not want to get off.  (Our helper, Ed, lead her around on him because she did not know anything about horses).  So we put the 5-year-old up and she starts screaming that she is scared.  “Anika…do you remember, I said NOT to yell or scream around the horses?” Evidently she forgot. We took her down. That did not suit her mom.  Did I mention that Mom is just a tad bent on having her own way? 

 

·        She suggested that she could ride behind her daughter and they could ride double. I said she would not fit in the saddle since it was a kid’s saddle (she is about 6’ tall) so I said no. She said YES… that she was a Very Good Rider (her emphasis on those words).  

 

·        She said she would ride behind the saddle and her daughter could sit in the saddle.  OK so Ed gets up on Peanut Butter and slides behind the saddle … no hopping, no jigging, just fine. So he brings Peanut Butter over to the fence for MOM to get on.  MOM gets on behind the saddle and promptly leans over the horn and has her legs going BACKWARDS until they were on the back legs of Peanut Butter, clinging to him (in her flip flops).   Ed looked at me and we looked to the skies.   (“I am a very good rider?? Remember).  She asks for her daughter.

 

·        Now about this time any sane horse owner would have said NO… but I knew my horse, so we boosted her daughter up into the saddle. The 5-year-old was beaming from ear to ear and said ‘Now I am not scared at all ‘cause I’m with my mommy’.  

 

·       By this time it is almost dark and MOM is insisting on a picture (Trust me you don’t want a picture of this).  DAD dutifully took the pics, flash bulbs and all, pop..pop…pop. Ed looks at me with his mouth hanging open! I did mention to MOM to stop leaning over the horn and to put her legs down straight, so they would not be hitting the back legs of the horse and she did manage to move them forward so that she was only flanking him with her legs. 

 

·        So they got their two laps in and I said quit now and Ed brought them around to the fence.  We took the little girl and MOM proceeded to dismount while still sitting behind the saddle.  She swung her leg UP OVER HIS NECK clubbing him on the neck with her foot and stepped off onto the rail. 

 

·        I looked at my helper and he looked at me. We must have been thinking the same thing, because with big eyes we said in unison….NOW THAT’S A GOOOOOOD HORSE!

 

·        The entire time, despite MOM floundering around, flashes going off in his eyes and MOM throwing her leg over his head, Peanut Butter never flinched, picked his head up, stepped out or anything. 

 

·        I know I am going to be flamed for subjecting my horse to such cruelty, but it was only a few laps around the arena and Peanut Butter is 15 hands and 1200 pounds, so he can take the weight.