Little Girls + Horses

Ah, another weekend full of little girls, their dads, and horses.  Good weather always helps the weekend go better, although everything was turning to mud by the end of the day.  Thankfully a mostly uneventful weekend, although I had to warn each group to NOT scream each time they saw a horse go to the bathroom.  I told them that their friends would scream if they saw them going to the bathroom.  :-)  A few of the horses were not in their normal spirits and I have a feeling that some of them will need to start their "summer schooling" in March instead of April/May.  And horses, you know who you are!  Some of them knew they were in trouble, especially after I spent 20 minutes straight trotting one of them to try to get his mind back in somewhat a normal state.  I also rode out a "ninja pony" who was giving all grief and by the time we got back, she was "asking" if she could walk, not just barging ahead.  I'll probably be pretty sore tomorrow from all the riding (and riding out only one buck).  Also spent a lot of the time on the tractor loading up the round bale feeders and then unloaded two wagons.  Pretty much spent the the whole day moving, a typical Saturday for me.  I don't remember too many funny tidbits but one question stood out.

Guest:  "Do all the guy horses think Bunny's hot stuff?  Giving her googly eyes because she's so big?"
Huh?

I was leading Lacy up to the mounting block and as Amie walked up behind her, she turned and gave Amie the most evil eye.  It made Amie take a step back and hide her face in Tipper's mane.  And if you knew Lacy, you'd know that was weird.

If you've ever worked trail rides for us, you know that we will try to pass off a horse's little quirks as "no big deal" or put it into human terms.  For instance, Lady likes to keep her head "on a swivel" while going down the trail, constantly looking around and side stepping.  However, I tell the kids she likes to be our look-out on the trail.  And a horse that can bite another horse if they are allowed to get too close, we tell them that they need to be kept apart so that they don't "kiss" the other horse's butt.  And there's plenty of "tricks" to keep a nervous rider in the saddle or explaining why a horse is nervous or why we feel the need to walk right by them.  All tricks that come with experience.  Wish I could teach it.

Most common questions heard on the trail ride:
"How old is my horse?"  Followed immediately by, "How old do they normally live?"
"What are those shelter things?"  Cook out sites for the summer.
"How many horses do you have?  How many girls/boys?"
"How old is that pony?"  "That's Tiny Tim, he's full grown."  They seem very amazed by that answer.
"How many times a day do you walk this?"
And lastly, "How much can a horse eat/drink?"

Long day, early to bed.  More to come tomorrow.  I thought that tomorrow would be the Hunsberger Christmas but David and Penny's family are sick and so is dad so I may just be working then watching Purdue vs. Ohio St.  Come on Boilers!  Beat them Buckeyes!  Until then, good night.