[desilu]

Well done. I am so hooked on the $700 pony Chronicles. Can't wait for the next installment.

As someone who actually works at Wal-Mart and face that parking lot on a daily basis, you're discription is unfortunately all too true.

What will be the next big adventure?

[jhodkin]

RR - I haven't laughed out loud at something so funny in a long time http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c...on_biggrin.gif. Thank you. I really think you have a talent and really should compile a book - it would definately be a best seller in the horsey world! http://chronicleforums.com/images/cu...milies/yes.gif

Julia
Future Sport Horses - Event Horse Breeders

[Candle]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sarapony:
RR - I am here to tell you that it is entirely possible to be anal without be neat and timely. SaddlefitterVA is a living example of this contradictory creature. The only thing she will ever be on time for is lunch and the only thing that is ever clean is her tack.

Her truck, kitchen and car are disaster areas and I managed to ride 2 horses between her scheduled arrival and actual arrival time this past weekend http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c...on_redface.gif http://chronicleforums.com/images/cu...milies/lol.gif However, if you want to see her anal retentiveness in action, ask her about designing her farm, saddlefitting, or researching any particular subject. She will spend hours becoming the newest expert in a given field, but considers it a miraculous feat to clean off her kitchen island. http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c.../icon_wink.gif

So being anal will not help you on your quest for timeliness or neatness but at least the Ariat vest will make you well dressed for your fashionablly late arrival <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

YES!!!!!!! there are others like me! I just explained to my boyfriend last night that the cleaner my barn is, the dirtier my apartment is. After i arrived an hour and a half late for our movie night date. but i did look really cute and i matched my snowpants to my fleece http://chronicleforums.com/images/cu...milies/lol.gif and I do consider myself an anal person. I really am. I just have to have the right motivation.

[The natural]

these posts are great. Thanks for spending the time to write them for us. There was a remark earlier about the undesirability of pulling a trailer through someone's front yard--unfortunately, I've done it. I was going off to pick up a horse to bring to our barn and we got lost. We ended up on a one-lane gravel road in the woods. Of course it was pouring. Suddenly, there was a house. They weren't too crazy about letting us use the phone, so you can imagine how they felt about the prospect of my Suburban and 2 horse bumper pull turning around in the only open space available. The house was fairly new, and the grass in the yard wasn't established yet. Besides, being in the Piedmont of NC, the dirt underneath was slimy red clay. All I know is that it took 4 wheel drive and a couple of back and forths to complete the turn and I never want to go back there again.

[Reynard Ridge]

So the REAL book that needs to get written are the trailering horror stories that we all seem to have!

The very, very first time I ever drove a trailer, the trainer I had come to the x-c schooling with (an hours drive on a major highway, by the way) had an accident and got airlifted to the hospital.

Her boyfriend came running back to the trailer, threw me the keys and said "You can haul them home, can't you? I'm going to the hospital."

Um, yeah. Do you say "no?" in a situation like that? All turned out well in the end. She was fine, horses got home and I consquently got some quick trailering lessons for next time.

[slp2]

That's what I was thinking RR! Maybe it could be something like: "Chicken Soup for the Trailer Hauling Soul" (ok, maybe that's a bit overused . . .) http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c.../icon_wink.gif "Zen and the Art of the 47-Point Turn"?

Yep, I was one of those "city folk" that always wanted a horse as a kid. As an adult, I got that horse--but found out that owning a horse meant I had to learn to drive a truck and trailer. Keep in mind that no one in my extended family had driven anything remotely related to agricultural equipment (not even a lawn tractor!!) With that genetic framework, you can imagine the learning curve *I* experienced . . . . . http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c.../icon_wink.gif

[Shipsinator]

I just read this post, and then had to go back and read the previous 3. They are all hillarious and you are a fantastic writer! http://chronicleforums.com/images/cu...milies/yes.gif

[Portia]

Duffy said we had to read the $700 Pony posts, and she was right. http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c...on_biggrin.gif http://chronicleforums.com/images/cu...milies/lol.gif

[DillansMom]

Hey RR...when do we get to hear about Christmas with the $700 pony?

We're waiting...

[Reynard Ridge]

Dillansmom, I think she probably had a very nice Christmas. She didn't have to deal with me - the best Christmas present a $700 Pony could ask for!

I'll let her know you were asking about her. http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c...icon_smile.gif

[Synrgystyk]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sarapony:
RR - I am here to tell you that it is entirely possible to be anal without be neat and timely. SaddlefitterVA is a living example of this contradictory creature. The only thing she will ever be on time for is lunch and the only thing that is ever clean is her tack. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sarapony, your assessment of Mel's anal retentiveness (idiot-savant-ness??) is most accurate! But don't forget the piles of clean saddle pads. While the entire trailer might be in complete disarray, Mel will be able to put her hands on at least three spotless saddle pads without even thinking about it.

Lorree

[Synrgystyk]

Can I add to the trailering stories??? I have a good one from several years ago....Ok, so this doesn't involve any driving difficulties on my part, but I'll tell it anyway.

Background: We didn't have much money so our trailer was an old 2-horse with 3/4 doors (my horse liked to lean on them so I had to make sure his tail stayed on the *outside* of the door) and the truck was a 1973 Ford F100 (a big step up from the '69 Ford with "armstrong" steering -- the F100 had POWER steering!).

I was heading to Holland, MI with two horses to give rides at a camp for kids with Muscular Dystrophy (we did this every year). It was about a 45 minute haul, the last few miles on a two-lane highway. I talked the friend who was going with me into following me in her car to keep other traffic away from the rear of the trailer.

Most of the journey was uneventful but as we were driving down the two-lane highway I noticed a small sporty-type car tailgating my friend. Sure enough, he just had to whip around her and squeeze himself into the bit of road space she left between her car and the rear of the trailer. At this point I could barely see his car in my mirrors since he was so close to the trailer.

Luckily (for him I guess), we didn't have far to go and soon pulled into the camp area. As I got out of the truck, I could see that my friend was laughing so hard she had tears rolling down her face. Between gasps for breath she managed to tell me that my horse had taught the tailgater a lesson about driving too close to the rear of a horse trailer, especially one with a horse leaning against the back door.

Lorree

[SaddleFitterVA]

LOL, me have clean saddle pads? When you have too many horses, you have to have too many saddle pads as well. And how can you assess saddle fit by dirt if the saddle pad isn't clean to start with?

I have a few trailering stories, but they usually involved being stuck through equipment failure or lack of traction...I guess you are bound to have a few stories if you haul as much as I do. Although, my mileage is dropping now that I live closer in.

When do you want to come see the new farm Syn?

You can see a sneak preview at www.terraoasis.com but you should come see it in person.

Mel