I nearly got my head kicked in today by my playful colt.
It was cold and wet when I got to the barn. I wanted to let Galahad out to run—he was in yesterday, too, and I knew he’d have a lot of pent-up energy.
But where? There were horses in the big outdoor arena and the round pen, and there were people and horses working in the indoor arena, but the smaller jump arena was open. I decided to take both boys out there to play. Galahad was desperate for exercise—he was actually rearing with excitement while I was trying to lead the two of them. I had to get pretty stern with him, but he finally settled down.
I took them into the arena and got the gate shut behind us, then looped Midnight’s lead rope over the bars. Thank goodness he was behaving normally, in contrast to Mr. Frisky, who was dancing around in anticipation of a good run. I backed Galahad up a bit, got his head bent around enough to get the halter off, made him stand still for a few seconds, then turned him loose. He threw up his head, spun away from me, took a couple of bouncing steps, and then started running and bucking. His heels, head-high, missed me by a couple of feet on the first kick. Pretty scary. That’ll teach me to wear my helmet!
The two of them raced around that arena, dodging the jumps, chasing each other and having a blast. I let them go at it for about 20 minutes, by which time Galahad had slowed down a lot. He doesn’t have as much stamina as Midnight—partly because he’s never been in good condition, and partly, I suspect, because he’s still got that infection going in his nose or sinuses.
I wish I had had a camera—Galahad, when he’s fresh, has the most beautiful “air trot,” with his tail in the air and his head up, all four feet coming clear up off the ground. You’d swear he was an Arabian, to watch him prance. And to see the two of them doing that is just breathtaking. I’ll try to get some photos one of these days.
I took Steuey last week to visit the horses in TG Park. He used to bark at horses, which is a big no-no if we want to take him to Civil
ReplyDeleteWar events, so we've been visiting a pony for a few months and he's largely stopped barking (except at the ones on TV, but that's another issue).
This week, the clydesdale was in the pony's tiny pen. He came right over and they were nose to nose for a long time. Then Jack turned and started frisking around and kicking up those giant feet. It was so much fun to see his high spirits.
What a nice day you must have had with your two boys.