PB & PBF

Last night I headed out to the barn to grab Max and of course he’d had a fun day playing in the mud. I quickly brushed him up, clipped his bridle path, muzzle and the outside of his ears and EZAll’d his legs. I was hoping to get there soon enough to jump on him for a minute since the last time I rode him was when we chased cows but by the time we got there I had just enough time to brush him up and get some of the bott eggs off of his legs (the botts have been horrible this year).

PB (potential buyer) and PBF (potential buyer’s friend) “examined” Max for probably 15 minutes. They ran their hands up and down his legs and picked up his feet, etc. Max looked at them like WTF are you doing look. Then PBF saddled Max up with her English saddle and I bridled him. I asked him to flex once both directions before she mounted since I wasn’t getting on him first.

By this time most of the drill members were starting to show up. PB told PBF to take Max down the road. I politely told her that I preferred that if she wanted to take him on the road that she only went from the one arena drive to the other (which is actually further then it sounds) as one of the members told me last time that there was a dog that has been known to attack and I didn’t feel like taking any chances with Max’s safety.

PBF didn’t act too comfortable with taking him too far so PB told her to go in the arena and ride before all of the drill people started riding. From what I could see Max appeared to do well. He didn’t back the greatest but then she didn’t ask him the same way I do.

By then the drill members were starting to enter the arena so PBF took him out and down the road. I was in the arena trying to get Omar to walk but when I saw her return on him he appeared to be calm and relaxed. They unsaddled him, brushed him and tied him to the trailer. I tried to go over to talk to her but Omar has issues with going back in the arena once he’s left so I stayed in the arena. PB told me she appreciated me hauling him over and she’d call me later.

I’m not going to hold my breath and DH said he’d rather keep him and just not have a cowy horse if he can’t sell him for enough to buy a good prospect. I think he’s starting to realize that he has a nice horse and that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

As for drill, there was a major storm moving in so we had time to get one run in before running home! Omar was full of it at first. He was leaping into the lope and then gave me a few feel good kicks up in the air. Unfortunately he ran out of steam fast! I told Terry he was starting to lose steam and she just told me to push him more. I don’t feel comfortable doing that so I didn’t push too much.

He’s old (mid 20’s to early 30’s) and hasn’t been ridden much this summer so he’s out of shape. He was coughing here and there and tripping a lot too. We cut corners a few places to save energy and we made the run with out it looking too bad. He was ready for a break!

While I cooled him out Chase got on Anna’s horse to ride. He thought he was pretty hot stuff (I think he has a mild crush on Anna). He did well though and kept Scout at a walk.

We unsaddled and got ready to load up. It is inevitable that one horse at drill has to have loading issues. It is kind of fun to sit back and watch all of the “techniques” people try to load. Of course one of the horses had an issue last night and I just sat back and watched. Terry asked me afterwards why I didn’t help. I replied telling her I would be more then happy to help if I was asked for it but that I didn’t feel this particular member wanted my help nor did I feel she’d be comfortable with me whacking her horse (which is exactly what he needs).

She had every excuse in the world for why he wouldn’t load. She has a huge, open 3 horse slant, a bucket of food and he stands with both front feet at the edge of the trailer. Hmmmm – is he afraid to load? Oh well, not my problem.

What Now?

Monday night DH went out to chore and we’ve decided LLL’s name needs to be changed to “what now”. He called me to inform me that she had bumps all over her body from head to tail. I’m assuming she’s having some sort of reaction to the bugs. She seems to have VERY sensitive skin.

The last drill performance was re-scheduled due to the rain and one of the members can’t make it to the new performance date so they asked me to fill in for her so I went to practice last night. It worked out well because I had a gal who wanted to look at Max and I don’t like having people look at horses at my parents’ house. There really isn’t a safe place to ride either so I told her I’d meet her at the arena.

DH is working on MIL’s fence so he brought Sis home with him last night. I took her with and figured I’d use her for the first run so MIL and I loaded up and headed to the arena. We got there plenty early and brushed down the horses. Their legs are covered in bott eggs so I spent some time picking the eggs off (I haven’t ever had any luck with the knives).

I didn’t want to saddle Max because I never know if they are going to ride in their saddle or mine so I decided to jump on him bareback (halter) and play with him in the arena until she came. She pulled up and wanted to see him w/t/c before she rode him so I just made a set of reins from the halter and did as she asked. After that she saddled him with her saddle and rode him in the arena for a bit. He did very well for her. At this time I was trying to get Sis ready and everyone else was pulling in. She came out of the arena and asked if I minded if she rode him around outside a bit. I told her no, I didn’t mind.

I took Sis in the arena to warm up and about 15 minutes later we were getting ready to start. She came back with Max and said he did great and that she got to see his big, bad, spook. She said he didn’t like the gravestones in the cemetery. What? I can’t believe she rode him in the cemetery. She then went on to say how she took him down the road, in and out of some fields, here and there; he saw some deer and just looked at them, etc. My jaw just dropped.

I understand wanting to try a horse out but I would NEVER take a horse I didn’t know out like that for the first time (not that I don’t trust Max). I would have ridden out with someone to see how he did in a group and if he did well then I would have tried to go out by myself. I also wouldn’t have ridden in someone’s field without asking permission or in the cemetery.

By the time she got him back and tied to the trailer the team was waiting on me so I started the run with them. She unsaddled Max, brushed him down and left (remember our run is between 12-15 minutes) so I have no clue if she felt he was good enough to write a check on.

For the second run I used a horse named Omar. He’s a 20 something Arabian (might be a ½ Arabian) who is the “typical” hot Arab. He was fun! He likes to run and I think the more people choke up on the reins the more he wants to go so I let him trot as fast as he wanted but wouldn’t let him break into a lope. That was only fun (for him) for about 15 minutes and then he walked. I have to say both of our runs last night were pretty good but the last one was awesome! Hopefully we can do that in a performance.

I have another gal that is hopefully going to come look at Max either tonight or tomorrow. Friday Cat goes back to the vet to check her cut. It does “look” better but there is still a small knot under the skin.