Thursday, October 13, 2011

Move the Horse

I hate trailers
My "time to move the horse" deadline fell on Monday, so we made several more attempts to load JB on the trailer, but it was no use. It was going to be a cold day in hell before she climbed aboard. That left several options; tranq the horse, ride her to her new home, or lead the beast with the help of a handy F 150. The tranquilizer route didn't seem wise and we didn't have any anyway. Riding seemed attractive, but JB wasn't used to being ridden on roads and who wants to risk being thrown under a truck hurtling down 171 as your horse bolts away to perdition. I reckoned there was an 85% chance that everything would be OK but think, that still leaves a solid 15% of not OK, with each percentile being a potential death point. That left leading her, which we did.

Maw of Hell
I walked her for the first 7 or 8 miles down dirt roads and some fairly deserted blacktop. After a bit of exhausting pulling, rearing, and acting up, she went docile. Thank goodness, probably wouldn't have made it otherwise. We picked up a German Shepherd who seemed to enjoy herding the horse. Most definitely a help.

Herding
The next 8 mile stretch, from Bynum to Malone, was along busy 171. JB didn't seem remotely spooked by the roaring trucks, which surprised me, and there it was, pickup, LSP, horse, dog, in procession down 171, in the blazing sun. At around the 13 mile point we stopped and I decided to climb onto the tailgate and lead from the truck. JB was fine with that once she got used to the idea, and trotted along at a respectable 5 or 6 mph.

None of this would have happened if you'd got on the trailer
After a pitstop at Malone's filling station, "What y'all doin'? Puttin' gas in th'horse?" "No, no, she's got plenty of that already." Har! Har! be safe." "God bless." we pushed through the last 5 miles or so to our destination. I was tired, the horse was tired, the dog was tired and the pickup moved along sedately, though I wasn't on it as JB had decided she wouldn't move unless I walked along with her. 


It was just getting dark as we arrived at the pasture, all safe and accounted for, though my sense of humour was beginning to dim. 


Moral of the story? Train your horse to load or face The Trek. It may be "character building" but... 


Cheers,


LSP

6 comments:

Julie said...

Bribery didn't work? Glad you and the horse et al arrived safely.

LSP said...

Tried all the bribery - over a few days - that we could, but she wasn't having it.

Should have done the work beforehand by a month or two, but hindsight's 20/20.

Risky business taking 2/3rds trained horse on a road trip... but all's well. Thank God; I was a little worried...

Third News said...

No doubt JB was produced from stirpiculturing, but I love a daisy in the mud:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teHfyby_veU&feature=player_embedded#t=0

LSP said...

Love that link!

Third News said...

I did a short blog pot on it
"Dang, This Is So Cute: Cowboys And Their Horse" -I secretly covet the idea of living in a small town, where everyone's idiosyncrasies are just a footnote. Oddly, I think their is a privacy in that type of living

LSP said...

"idiosyncrasies are just a footnote" -- I love that phrase, but what happens when the footnotes become the text?

Privacy, perhaps.

Seriously, I step foot on the porch and the town knows.