The Ultimate Spookable and Why I Have The Greatest Horse In The World!

[ChocoMare]

Knowing that from later tonight through Thursday it would be impossible for me to ride thanks to MORE rain coming in, I was determined to get a ride in before it hit!

While I knew there was a crew working on a new bridge that is going to span the Silver Comet Trail, I wanted to head that direction just to see the progress, etc. I thought I heard banging in the distance, but didn't think much of it.

However, the closer we got to the construction site, the louder said banging got until DING!--it registered in my pea brain just what that banging was coming from: An Air-Powered Pile Driver (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHrMKt_hCT8)! :eek:

Never one to turn chicken and run, we just kept on walking, closer and closer to The Thing as if it was no big deal. As it got louder and we got closer, I noticed smoke billowing from The Thing but still kept on walking.

Finally about 70 feet from The Thing, Penny stopped dead in her tracks. By then, we were hearing The Thing both in front of us live and behind us in echo, so her ears were flicking back and forth so fast, they almost created a breeze. Since she wasn't trying to spin or back away, I asked for forward and she did! :D

Penny walked about another 15 feet and stopped again....bigger this time and blowing a bit. I just sat there like it was no big deal and then asked for forward again. Just as before, she obeyed and went another 15 feet or so before The Thing came into site and the noise was almost deafening.

Amazing how a 15.2 mare can suddenly become 16.2! But she was good....just stood like a statue, blowing and staring at The Thing as it rammed up and down, puffing more and more smoke as the piling was driven into the hard clay. Seeing The Thing for herself, though, did make her shake with fear but she listened to me and didn't move. We probably stood there for about 3 minutes.

Finally I released her and let her turn for home, since the noise was just too loud for unprotected ears. You've never seen a horse walk/jig soooooo fast!

I am so proud of that mare. She never ceases to thrill me and make me thankful to God that I have the privilege of being her partner. :D

[BeaSting]

What a good girl!

[Sithly]

Wow! :eek: She sounds like a keeper.

[ChocoMare]

I tell ya.... for desensitizing to Spookables, you just can't beat the SCT. We've got everything from huge trains lumbering parallel, to steel/concrete HIGH bridges, to crazy cyclists and now even pile drivers.

I love it and, best of all, it's just a short walk down the hay field to get to whenever we want :D

[mzpeepers]

Awesome! What a great girl!

[ChocoMare]

Part Two:

Same bridge construction scene last night--only no pile driver. Instead, it was a 30 foot high steel scaffold and pneumatic nail guns going off. Same deal: freeze, look, snort, flick ears BUT each request forward was met with more and more steps until we went right on by it all....granted, at a bit of a jig, but it was obediently forward! GEEZ I LOVE that mare!!!! :D

[twofatponies]

Excellent!

We had a surprise last week passing by a little sheep farm. A work crew was there tearing out the fencing and putting in new fencing. All different diesel equipment parked on both sides of the road, machines pulling up the old posts, tractors dragging piles of old fencing back and forth.

We went through a little bit sideways, with some puffing and blowing, but managed to wave cheerily to the workmen and continue on without incident!

On the way back we had an incident with a chicken which left us in tears of laughter. Chicken was on the side of the road across from the brand new small mesh fence. She saw us coming and made a mad dash for the fence - which used to be big enough to hop through, but now being small mesh the chicken collided with the fence and hesitated, stumped. She then tried a dive under, but it was new fence, with no gap. Finally in a panic she did the flappy chicken run along the fence to the barn, going as fast as her little legs could take her.

Fortunately the horses ignore chickens.

[ChocoMare]

:lol: :lol: :lol: Great mental picture of that poor chicken flapping for her life! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[jeano]

We were out last year on the local road with two unflappable trail horses (we thought) when we see a fellow on the opposite side of the road, walking toward us, carrying a big empty feed bag and a couple of pieces of floppy vinyl siding about 9 feet long....horses knew he was the AntiChrist.

We hollered and BEGGED the guy to please at least say something so the horses could identify him as human instead of a giant horse eating insect with vinyl feelers---but he never did respond. Horses bugged their eyes and stamped and blew and very carefully inched down the road until he was directly opposite us, then we let them scoot out just a bit to get away from the Awful Thing.

These are horses who have faced down dead butchered pigs, rotting deer carcasses, freight trains, bulldozers and road graders and all manner of livestock. He was their worst nightmare.

[cruisecontrol]

I took a 3 year old on his first trail ride i had been riding him for sometime and we had just had an awesome work out on the flat so i decided to take him out with a couple of friends. He was perfect!!! the entire way he walked forward leading the older horses he felt like such a grown up strutting his stuff through the trees and he barely looked at the mini's the only time he was a little spooked was when we walked by these big red beef cows. He was so cute!! He watched them but kept walking forward and stayed as far from them as possible doing some sidestepping but only walking. On the way back i asked him to trot and he framed up beautifully and had his focus on me occasionally eyeing the cattle. Then we were walking away from them and there was a tiny tree growing in the center of the path and he walked around it and then three feet after did the biggest crow hop sideways and i landed kind of sideways but he just stood there as i put myself back in the saddle and asked him to walk forward i was praising him and my friends totally laughed at me the whole way home. I didn't care he was the best!

[ChocoMare]

CC: What a good boy!!!!!!!!! :yes:

[horsegeeks]

Boy am I jealous!

My horse is a complete basket case when cows aren't solid colors. Apparently the black and white spots are the camouflage used by terrorist cows intent on destroying any chestnut Morgan mare.

[jeano]

Another good booger corner around here involved a garden plot where the gardeners had secured the Dreaded Plastic Grocery Bags on ten foot poles to serve as scarecrows or some such. And adjacent to the garden was a huge pasture with about a dozen half wild mules in it. My poor gelding about had a meltdown from the combination of bloodthirsty bags and galloping mules. For him, mules were even worse than goats.

[ChocoMare]

Last evening we had another lovely ride. She willingly crosses the steel/concrete bridge and, with only a little sideways jig, went by the GIANT bucket loader.

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