Horse time

I got to use the trailer 3 times!  The first time was on Sept 17th.  I took Brego to a planned trail ride/ chicken barbecue.  I was so nervous!  Nervous for Brego, and for me.  The farrier came that morning. Before she came, I had decided to take Ginger.  Even though I haven’t ridden her much in the 4 years I’ve had her, I know she has had more experience. Unfortunately, Ashley said she had thrush on her front left hoof.   It was on her toe.  I never had a horse with thrush, and was quite upset to hear that!(Moving ahead, I think it was white line disease, which is a type of thrush? And THAT is another story….)

So, I had to change my plans and prepared to take Brego.  It is a lot of work getting ready to use the trailer for a ride!  I took a jug of water for the horse (for after the ride). The hay net , brushes, tack, bucket…but I was psyched!  Now it was time to load Brego.  Ginger, of course, was neighing hysterically in the field as I brought Brego up to the driveway where the trailer was. I had an apple, carrots, and the special “cookies”.  It took 45 minutes to load him. My husband was impatient. He was driving the trailer. I would drive the car- to show the way to where we were going, and also so he could drive home. He had nothing to do there while I was on the trail ride.  I was thrilled when Brego loaded (finally).  We didn’t have much time to spare until the ride began. I needed to get him settled and tacked up!

I am glad that Bob drove the trailer. I just remember being incredibly nervous!  It just doesn’t seem ‘safe’-having a horse travelling in a metal box!  We got there with no problems, although Brego had sweated up. I tied him in front of the trailer and not rear facing. (I did change that on the way back, and he didn’t sweat at all).

Unloaded Brego, and asked my husband to stay and help with drying him off and tacking up.  I was  jealous of the other people and their horses!  You could just tell that this was ‘no big thing’ for them or the horses!  Brego is 19 years old, and has never had the experiences that the other horses had!  So it was a BIG thing for him and I!

Looking back now, I realize how very good my horse was!  We had a great ride!  The rain held, and it wasn’t too hot or too cold! The one lady that I was keeping pace with complimented him!  She loved his eyes!  Said he had, ‘kind eyes’, and was a ‘thinking’ horse!

Back from the ride, and I had to tie him up to the trailer. I was apprehensive; Brego has been known to pull back!  The woman that I rode alongside with (for most of the ride) was parked next to me. Her horse was tied, and eating from the hay net contentedly. She told me not to worry, Brego was going to be happy to be tied alongside the already familiar horse. I should have known that- horses bond so quickly, being the herd animals that they are!  Bob came back, and we enjoyed a nice chicken dinner inside the Autumn Meadows venue!

Going home- wow!  Bob and I were done eating when the woman (whose horse Brego was tied next to) told me that she was leaving. Now, she said, Brego might have a problem when his ‘friend’ was gone. No problem (or so I thought). I was going to leave also. I wanted to be home before dark. Long story short, Brego wouldn’t load. Nope, wasn’t going into the trailer.  I wish now that I had done things differently.  Things got a little crazy.  There were 2 professional cowboys who saw my dilemma, and tried to help. Didn’t work and I got unnerved, and began to get angry with Brego.  I wish that I had stayed calm and sent everyone away. It didn’t help that my husband was also getting impatient; he wanted to just go home! He doesn’t know horses, and doesn’t understand why Brego wouldn’t just go in!  Everything was tried, and nothing work.  When I snapped Brego’s  halter too hard, I knew that I had to get in control of myself. That is when I told the ‘helpers’ to just let us be alone. I took a deep breath, and began to do what I did to initially get him in that morning.

After a few minutes of just me trying, an older woman came by. She had heard of my dilemma. She had a treat and began coaxing.  It took about 15 minutes, but he got in!  Whew!!!!!  Couldn’t wait to get home!

The second time to use the  trailer was with Ginger. I went to a friend’s house to ride with her. Ginger loaded beautifully, going to and coming back!  But sweat!  I tied her rear facing, which is suppose to make it easier for horses to balance. It didn’t matter-she was a nervous wreck. But on the trail ride- she was fantastic!

The last time that I got to use the trailer was with Brego.  I made plans with a coworker to go to her place. She has a trailer, but her husband was using the truck that day.  My husband wasn’t going to be home, so I had to load Brego AND shut the trailer door by myself!  Looking back, I must have felt terribly optimistic!  I had a dish of grain with me. It took an hour-but he loaded and stayed tied while I shut the door!   It took about an hour to get there. The coworker that I was riding with is so kind and so patient! I love riding with her. She is the one who came to my house and rode Brego back in the spring.

We met up with another person that we work with. Brego seemed fine when we started out.  Once we met up with the other person, Brego was different.  Something was bothering him-he wasn’t enjoying himself. I have to wonder, with his age, if he isn’t starting to feel some arthritic pain. Or was it the other horse?  We didn’t ride too long-I mostly  wanted to give Brego the experience of trailering.  He hasn’t been ridden much anyway, and wasn’t in shape to go for hours!

I believe it took 45 minutes to get him back into the trailer to go home.  After she got her horse untacked, and we enjoyed a cup of coffee while I held his lead rope so he could graze, the loading ordeal began. She said she would assist only if I wanted her to. Her horse, she said, was not a willing loader either-so she completely understood!  I tried my way for 30 minutes. Then I asked for help. I asked her to get a lunge whip. I stood in the trailer holding the lead rope, while I asked her to tap him from behind if he wasn’t giving a try (to load). Brego caught on right away and was funny!  He would put his leg in the trailer, stretch it out, so it looked as if he was ‘trying’ (so the tapping would stop). But he stretched it out so far and kept it there long, so his leg started to quiver. I knew what he was doing, so I told her to tap, and then he went on!

That was all that I got to do with my stock trailer this season. It is now December 4th, 2016, and I am planning on making next spring/summer a great horse time!  For them (that is always my desire-for them to have a good time also), and me!