:::D's StOrIeS:::

This is my own personal account of experiences I've had with D. I'm attempting to make a page like this for every horse, but this could take a while, because I have a lot of memorable experiences with each horse! But I'll try, because each and every one of those stories is worth telling. Beware - this page could get pretty long!! Because it did, I changed the font to something a little easier to read.
Now...where to start!!! Naturally, since I've been with D the longest, and worked with him more extensively, I have more stories about him then the others. Perhaps I should start at the start.
*After the unplanned length of the first story, I had to add targets to the others!*
Lesson Number One
A Slight Case of Space
Busted
Kickin' Around
New Year's Resolutions

Lesson Number One

The very first day I got D, he hurt himself. He also set me back in training, and ruined his own showing career ( as well as my 4-H hobbies) for a long time. I'm still working on this one. Anyway, my passion for horses started when I was about 7 or eight. When I was nine, my dad had heard enough whining and pleading for a horse, that he made me a deal. If I picked the rocks off all his fields that summer, He would seed a crop for me on six acres of very fertile breaking. I would get the money for whatever grew on it to buy a horse. Well, I picked the rocks ( and consequently learned to drive a tractor and truck at age nine. Also, consequently, have had to pick rocks every year after since!! But D has also gotten six acres of oats grown on that land every year since!), Dad seeded the field to canola, and did the rest of the work on it for me. I forget what the amount of money was that I got from it, but, being that we're just lowly farmers, we naturally didn't get that much. Enough to buy D, anyhow. So, about a year later, after searching for a horse for about a year, I decided to get desperate and try the auctions. I went to one in Saskatoon, but there was nothing I could afford or wanted there. So, about a month after that, Dad went with a friend who knows horses well, to Johnstone Auction Mart in Moose Jaw, on December 5, 1996, while I was in school. I remember thinking vaguely how nice it would be if Dad came back with a horse for me, but how very unlikely it was. Well, that night, as I sat watching TV in a living room illuminated by Christmas lights, the phone rang. Mom picked it up, said it was Dad, and he wanted to talk to me. I went over to the phone.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hello Amber. Well, I bought a horse for ya."
Those were the last words I was expecting to hear, but they weren't unwelcome at all!! I literally screamed in his ear ( after which he told me to quiet down a bit!), and started crying for joy! He proceeded to tell me that for $860 Cdn, I now owned a 14.2hh, 9 year old, Arab/QH, bay gelding with two white socks , a white coronet, a star, and two other white markings on his body. I later found out that he had one on his belly in the shape of an A (Dad said that automatically branded him "Amber's Horse"), and a maple leaf ( I guess he's patriotic, too!) on his right hindquarter.
So, the next day, December 6, 1996, at 6:30 am ( notice the three sixes?? I swear that's more than coincidence, but it should have been more of an omen, for me!!) we borrowed a friend's homemade trailer ( big mistake number one), and headed up to Moose Jaw to pick up my baby. It was your typical, bitterly cold Saskatchewan winter day ( about -40 degrees Celsius), but we had to get up there before the next cattle auction that day. I made sure we had an old bridle and a couple lead ropes that dad had also picked up the day before , just in case we needed them. Good decision number one. So we headed off. When we got there, I took one look at this tiny little reddish bay, fuzzy, chubby little horse, and thought, "So this is what I worked soo long for. I could love this." He was cute. Not exactly your big show jumper or cow horse, but cute. One big drawback - he didn't have a halter, and neither did we. Big mistake number two. Going back to good decision number one, we just grabbed a lead rope and tossed it around his neck to lead him into the trailer. Huge, grossly bad mistake!!!! As my dad was leading him into the trailer, he kind of jumped into it, because it was fairly high off the ground, and, being that the trailer was homemade ( never again), he banged his head off a piece of metal on the roof, slicing the flesh in between his ears, and removing his forelock. We didn't have a whole lot of options but to get him home as soon as we could, to check him out. So, having no other choice, we closed the back doors, and had to leave him there untied. Before we started moving, D didn't even really seem to notice he was hurt. He didn't put up any fuss. But, as soon as we started rolling, we could feel the whole load start to shake, and, again because the trailer was home made and only had a ply wood roof that went halfway back, he tried to escape out the top. In about five seconds, we saw a brown, frantic looking head sticking through the roof, and it was stuck on the plywood under poor D's throat latch. I was panicking, obviously. So, we stopped, and Dad got him unstuck, and we hoped he would maybe calm down. Nope. Nothing doing. Anyone who has ever known a horse knows that they don't exactly take kindly to being stuck in a small, rattly space when they're hurt and scared. D got his head stuck three more times, trying to get out and away from the pain. So, my lucky father got to ride on the hitch about three miles to the next gas station, because D would keep calm as long as he had someone there to keep him company, and reassure him ( he's still like that.). Dad would have made a nice popsicle after that!!
Well, we got him there all right, but there was still the problem of how to get him to stay still and not hurt himself anymore. We wound up taking the plywood off the back doors of the trailer, and wiring them onto the top, so he couldn't see out the top, consequently taking away his escape route. God must have been with us then, because as soon as we did that, he calmed right down, and was quiet the rest of the way home!!
So, when we got him home, he wanted out of that trailer pretty darn badly!! He came out nice, but as soon as he go out, and had finished checking out his new home, he laid down with a look on his face that was clearly, "My aching head!!" I felt sorry for him. The poor guy had to endure about the next two weeks getting diluted hydrogen peroxide on his head to kill the germs. It actually healed quite nicely, but even three years later, he's still got a little duck tail under his forelock where the hair re-grew!! Needless to say, he was extremely head shy after that. For about a year, I had trouble tying him, putting any sort of head gear on him, and obviously, barns and trailers were out of the question.
Today, almost three years later, D still refuses to go into anything with a low roof, or narrow walls, especially if it's dark. Recently (Oct 17, 1999) , I got him to go back into the barn with the stalls. It's very narrow, and dark, with a noisy concrete floor, and he didn't like it one bit. I had him in there about a year ago, when he really trusted me, but it took a lot of oats and treats, and he wasn't very confident in there at all. I could only get him in for a mouthful of oats, and then he'd get scared and back out again. I also couldn't lead him in, because he'd fell the pressure on his head, and immediately go straight up in the air. It cost him a few bumps, too, which didn't exactly help me with my training much!! Since then, he's learned that when I pull lightly on the lead, place my hand on his poll, and cluck or say" Down", that he's to lower his head. He does this any time without any problems - unless I want him to go in the barn. He's one of those backwards horses who moves away from pressure, and gets scared of it every now and then. That would be the reason he quit going in a year ago. We once tried to push him a little too far, and got people with ropes behind him, one pulling on his head, all trying to shove him into the barn. Bad idea. after that, he wouldn't go near the barn. So, Last Sunday, I figured since Don had the square bales in two of the stalls of the barn this year, I thought maybe , being how greedy and curious he is, I could lure him in there with some oats and cookies I had made that morning. So, After I rode, I just threw a halter on him ( no lead. I know the consequences for that all too well.), grabbed the two pails, and walked into the barn. Believe you me, when I heard the "Clip-clop" of his first two hooves step onto the cement immediately after me, with no hesitation, I turned around, shoved the pail in his face for the reward, and started laughing like a maniac, because I was so amazed and happy!! I almost had to go change my underwear!! He really surprised me!! I've gotten him back in about 15 times now, and right to the back each time!! He's really making me proud right now!!
So, I've pretty much tried everything to get him to trailer again, or even just go inside to get out of the wind, snow, or rain. I've done the thing with the ropes behind his butt, pulled on his head till he gave me a learnin' ( aka rope burn), fed him out of the trailer unsuccessfully ( I finally quit, cuz I thought he'd starve!), tried leading him in right behind his gf MayBelle, and the only thing that's seemed to work is spending countless hours sitting in the barn, shaking a pail of oats until he finally walks in. He just has do this for himself, and no one else can convince him that the trailer/barn isn't going to hurt him . And the only person who can get him in there is me. What a suck. He's my baby, what can I say??!!*S*
And so, I got my first lesson in veterinary medicine, horse training, and trailering do's and don'ts all in the first day I owned a horse!!

Index

A Slight Case of Space

D could easily be described as Mr. Personality. Also, if he were a TV Character, definitely Chanler from Friends. He is extremely intelligent, and energetic, but sometimes a little too energetic for his own good! However, being a curious, intelligent, and highly loyal and trusting little guy, he's pleasure to train ( besides the little trailer problem). When I got him, his attitude was pretty much, " Lemme go for a rip, or I'll let you go for one through the air!!" Not exactly the gutsiest beginner rider in the world, I was too chicken and too inexperienced to take him out every day and let him run himself out. So, Dad got to be the guinea pig/tester, who took D out every now and then, and put up with the bucking fits he got when he said no to the two mile tear around. That first winter, I think D got more exercise just bucking and fighting than he did actually working!! But, the thing was, it wasn't his fault that he acted that way...it was ours.

We were ignorantly thinking he was simply mean spirited, too high strung, or not properly broke. Not the case at all. Every horse needs exercise, that's a fact, and we had him in a place where he really couldn't get a good run every day. He was going insane in a small pen with three 2000lb bulls that he happilykicked around , but couldn't really go for a good rip with them. So, when we took him out for our expected leisurely ride, well, lets just say it wasn't exactly leisurely! More like something from the Mesquite Texas Rodeo! He wanted to run all the way around the farm about ten times, go get a drink, then do it all again. I was terrified that either me or dad was going to get tossed off and hurt, or else he was going to work himself into a sweat, and kill himself of the chills, because, this was the middle of Canadian winter, which isn't exactly merciful on the cold. -40 C is normal. It got to the point that I was seriously thinking of sending him back to a pro trainer for a month or so, but I didn't really have the dough to do it, and there wasn't really a way to get him to one. I was kinda screwed for that. So, there's where my obsession with well trained horses began. I had to re-train my own.
To start with, I tried getting him a bigger pen. There was a fenced in area behind the barn that was equal to about ten of the current pen he was in. So, me and Dad clapped the lead rope and halter on him, and fought him the whole way there. He wanted to get off the line and chase the hell out of the cows. But we shoved him into the pen too fast, and locked him in there, and then pulled the halter off, and waited. He sat there a minute, walked a little way around the perimeter of the fence, and then progressed into a flat out gallop for about a half hour!! There was this old wagon that had been dumped on the south side of it near the fence. I almost had a heart attack as I watched him tear up to it, realize it was in front of him, then sail smoothly over it, and land again into a perfect run. I couldn't believe it. Me and dad figured that f he could spot things that quickly, he'd be ok in his new home. We thought he'd like it even better, because he wouldn't have any bulls to fight with over hay. Wrong.
I came home from school the next day, and dad informed me where my boy was found that morning. My cousin Trent had gone down to do the chores in the morning, and there was D, patiently waiting to be let back into the bull pen. When the gate of the back pen was inspected, two top wires were busted, but thankfully, there wasn't a scratch on my horse. well, D got back in with his buddies for a few weeks, and then we tried it again. He stayed in that time, and best of al he had to go into the low roofed barn to get his water, so that solved part of a problem for me.
But I didn't realize just how lonely the poor guy got. He would literally run to gate whinnying his greeting whenever someone came, especially me ( Which definitely helped form the bond I have with him now), but he was still rangy when we took him out. He didn't really respect that humans were boss.
So, when he got out about once or twice a week on weekends, he really let his temper out. Usually, I made Dad get on at first, cuz I was terrified that he'd throw me off. So, dad would get on, fight with him to walk, or trot even, then usually wind up clinging on for dear life as D tore down the mile long driveway. I watched, almost wanting to tear my hair out, and wondering what the heck I was gonna do with him. Sometimes, if he got tired enough , or he was just having a good day, I'd get on, and Dad would either lead me, or I'd ride with my reins about three inches long ( at that time, I also had a curb on him). He scared the living crap out of me, to say the least. But it took me a long time before I could tack him up, get on him, and handle him all by myself. He made it hard sometimes. I had to learn how to ride on a horse that wasn't smooth, to say the least, and one that didn't want to keep all feet on the ground! They either had to be flying over the earth, or I would be!! I did that later! So, I almost learned to gallop before I walked, which is really backwards.
Eventually, I rode him down enough and got riding regularly enough that he respected, me as boss, trusted and loved me enough, and got enough exercise that he behaved. I figured out another little trick since that first winter - ride him in a halter or hackamore, cuz he REALLY doesn't like cold bits! That's just another one of his irks, that can cause the occasional little rodeo. Still, in the winter though, if you're not careful to keep from ripping him off, or if you keep him from his precious food for too long, there's usually one black hind foot, and another white one flying through the air! Luckily, I have a saddle horn to hang onto, so I don't go flying either! But see, he had this need to run, and we didn't have the brains or guts to realize that was all he needed.
So basically, don't blame your horse for his problems. They're usually not his fault.

Index

Busted

My most loved thing gave me the worst hurt I've had yet to date - he busted my arm. Well, he didn't really, it was my fault. This was the summer that I first had him ( '97), and I was growing to love bareback more and more, because it required less work than a saddle, it improved my position and balance, and D definitely didn't mind less weight. So, I got a little too brave one day.
I had just finished grooming him for about an hour, and he was squeaky clean, and anyone who has ever seen a clean horse knows they're kinda slippery. I had also just learned how to make a quickie halter out of baling twine. I was too lazy to run up to the barn to get the bridle, but I always keep a chunk of twine in my grooming kit, just for emergency purposes. So I figured, "what the heck, I'll just throw one of those halters on him, and run another piece up for a set of reins." BAD idea! Not only is this piece of equipment not all that sturdy , but it doesn't provide the same control as a bridle/good halter.
But I jumped on anyway. Went trotting around the pasture, cuz I had nothing better to do. Dad was up fixing a car, or something, and I had no clue where the rest of the people on the farm were. Probably in the field or in the house, I figured. Nothing out of the ordinary. So, I got REALLY brave, and nudged him up to a lope, which I didn't have that much experience with bareback, but there's no way to get better at something than to do it. So, I went over my barrel pattern, went out of my makeshift arena ( Just a flat piece of land in the middle of the pasture), and was re-entering to do some work in the middle. I was still at the lope. D was turning slightly, and I was anticipating him to turn back the other way, because he's sensitive to weight. He didn't. Weight shifting isn't as reliable as I'd like to think! I could feel myself starting to slip, and he did too. Being the considerate, smart little guy that he is, he began to slow down when I started to pull his mane and yell whoa. A second later, I knew all the yelling, whoa-ing, and pulling wasn't going to keep me on, so I thought, what the heck ( again), and attempted to swing my legs off before my head hit the ground. I was at the wrong angle to do this, though, and I couldn't get my upper body up before I got my legs off. I fell off hard, on bumpy ground, landing on my left shoulder. I remember hitting the ground with a thud, and then feeling a pain somewhere between a nasty ache, and pins being shot through my bones go through my upper arm and shoulder. In my head I was thinking, "Well now, that really HUUUUUURRRRRTTSSS!!". Then I rolled over and began to scream for help and that it hurt like hell at the top of my lungs. I never shed a single tear. I Was just yelling too loud! I didn't know if anyone but the horses and cows could hear me, but I kept screaming. A couple minutes later, D walked over, twine still hanging from his head, and looked down at me like, "well, are ya gonna get back on, or just lay there like an idiot and scream??!" For a second, he actually made me laugh, cuz he just looked so inquisitive and funny. After about ten minutes of yelling, and almost giving up, I heard from off in the distance Auntie Janet call my name. I yelled even louder. Just imagine my position: stuck injured in the middle of a pasture far from anyone, and trying to get help. At that point, I didn't care how loud and dumb I sounded, just as long as someone came and got me, and made the pain go away. Soon, I heard her call again, nearer, "Where are you?" I yelled back, and stuck my leg up in the air for them to see, because I was also enclosed and hidden by knee high weeds. Trent now laughs about that, because it looked so funny - this leg swinging up through the air in the midst of all these weeds, and some really loud screaming! Aunt Janet had been over 1/2 a mile away in the garden, and she heard me, so I was really letting loose! Soon they found me, and took me to the doc. I thought maybe I just dislocated my shoulder, because to me, it didn't seem like it hurt enough to be broken. When I got to the doctor, and they pumped me full of Gravol, and some other painkiller that makes you feel very good and pleasantly drowsy, they took a lot of x-rays, and then I found out that I had broken it on a growth plate in my shoulder, and they couldn't cast it. I had to wait until the next morning to go to the city hospital to see if there was anything to do with it, or that I should be concerned about. After three hours waiting in ER, I found out that I got to keep the sling on that I got the night before for another 4-6 weeks. No cast for my friends to sign. I wasn't supposed to ride for about 8 weeks, but I was on again with dad's help in about three!! Shhh!! Mom still doesn't know! You don't know how hard that was going without riding for that long!
But yeah, that's how I got my first and only ( so far) broken bone. Index

Kickin' Around

Now, for those bulls! When D was in with them for company, his absolute favorite thing to do was chase the living daylights out of them! It was so hilarious to watch ,because here's this spindly, pot bellied, 800lb little horse pushing around three massive, huge,muscular 2000lb bulls! They were all fed out of the same round bale feeder, and D always made sure he got the premium spot. He got first pick of eats, and if he decided one of the bulls had a beter spot than him, all he had to do was lay his ears back, stick his head out at the offender, and glare!! It was funny! But if they decided t stick up for themselves( poor guys), D found some other degrading way to say, "Get outta my way!!". Usually, he just turned his butt end toward the bull, and the bull would know enough to get out of the way pretty quick, or else get his ribs kicked in!
There were some other ways, though, that were definitely memorable! My favorite was the shoulder clamp. Once, D was walking, and Curly ( the bull with the curly hair on his face. The other two were Moe and Larry.) didn't run and flee at the sight of the mightly Diablo. Well, this just offended D to the umpteenth point! He got this evil looking sneer on his face, and turned on that poor guy, and clamped onto his shoulder with his teeth! Curly jumped and started to lumber off, in the only way a bull can run.Well, D didn't let go! He kept running along right beside him, hanging onto his shoulder halfway around the pen!! I sat on the fence and almost fell off because I was laughing so hard!! Try to picture it in your mind- you'll laugh too!
Another of his favorites was just to corner them, and play "cutting horse" with them. They'd go one way, he'd block them off. They'd try the other, he was in their face. I think that's where he developed his cow sense!
D still rules his herd o' three ( him, Fix, and MayBelle) with an iron fist. MayBelle will occasionally put him back in his place ( where every man should be, lol!!) when she really wants that pile of good hay, but usually she just tolerates him, and lets him think he's in charge! It's funny, they're just like and old married couple! And poor Fix is at the bottom, she lets everyone kick her around! As long as he knows I'm boss, that's fine with me! Index

D's New Year's Resolutions

(That I made for him, of course!)

1. I will not pin Amber to the fence when I scratch my head on her back.
2. I will go in the barn and not freak out when I realize there's a roof over my head.
3. After I go in the barn, I will get in the trailer, and I'll darn well like it.
4.I will pick up my right lead the second Amber asks me to
5. I will not try to eat the camera the next time I'm posed so nicely for a pic.
6.MayBelle and Fix WILL get their share of food, even when I'm in a bad mood.
7. I won't run Amber over and go insane every time she brings out a pail of oats that's not for me.
8. I will round myself out and get collected everytime I'm asked to drop my nose, not just arch my neck.
9. I will respond with an ears up expression when I'm asked for anything that's not a straight line.
10. I won't turn my back end to Amber when she approaches me while eating, or to catch me.
11. I'll only beat the living crap out of the dog and cats when Amber tells me to, or they really deserve it.
12. I will not let Amber know I'm in a good mood by farting every time she walks behind me. I will be polite and wait until she's out of the vicinity.
13. I will not take a sip of icy water, then let what's left on my lips drip on Amber's shoulder.
14. I will not spook at the wrecked tent-trailer just because it's in a different place than yesterday.
15. I will not look piteous and beg to get my tack off after once around the arena. Index
Chances are, I''ll have many more stories to share, it's just that I've been sitting in this chair staring at the computer screen for the past 2 or 3 hours! If you'd like to hear more, email me, and request a pen pal! I have two or three right now, and they hear lots about D, and I love hearing about their horses!