Wednesday, September 26, 2007

A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Search Part 9


Part 1 of the Baby Boomer Series

Part 1 of The Search

Well, Sunday rolled around and I really intended on calling and cancelling our trip to Kings Gate Farm. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead Dave, Lindsay and I made our way to Stanwood to retrieve the wild filly.

Even after we got there, I still struggled with buying this Arabian horse. Heck! we couldn't even catch her. I stood talking with the breeder while Dave tried to win the filly over. I don't know how long he spent trying to get close to her but it seemed like forever.
When that didn't work, he decided to mess with her head. Instead of trying to be her friend, he walked over to the fence line and called the other mares. The old gray mares were glad to have some attention and they came running. As Dave stroked them over the fence, the wild filly just couldn't stand it. Next thing you know she was there bugging Dave to pay attention to her too. It was no time at all and he had a halter on the once wild horse.

Loading her in the trailer was my job. Dave is good with loving them up but not really much of a hand. He did think he might walk her right in the trailer but that was nothing more than a pipe dream. She took one look at that horse trailer and the wild horse emerged again. Her eyes bulged out of her head and she nearly breathed fire she was snorting so loud. I think she'd have been happy to scorch me!

I'm not aggressive about teaching a horse to load. I put my attention on teaching them to lead. If a horse knows how to stay in it's box I've found nine times out of ten, it'll go right into the trailer.

So I set about teaching this filly the proper way to lead. The horse was not impressed with my efforts. She was much more interested in going back to the other horses than being in school with me. I think it took me over an hour to get her leading the way I like. Then it was time to take her up to the trailer.

At first I thought she was going to be the tenth horse that leading didn't work with, but that thought only lasted for a few minutes. Finally she dropped her head down and sniffed the floor as she stepped up into the trailer. Of course, the sound scared her and she came flying right back out but with only a couple more attempts she was in there to stay.

The horse didn't even know how to tie, so I turned her loose in the trailer. I'd never done that before, and probably never will again. On the way home, she popped out the long plexiglass window that runs down the one side of my slant load and pulled out part of the wiring.

During this whole trip up and back we hadn't eaten at all so decided to stop at Taco Time just before we got home. By then the filly had worn herself out and was standing quietly.

Inside the restaurant we ran into Dan and Chris. Even though she had been a loud advocate against buying this horse, she was dying to see her. So we headed back out to the parking lot to show off the wild child.

As I dropped down the window, the filly came up to investigate. Chris looked in and saw those huge Gamaar eyes and gasped. "MiKael you stole her! You absolutely stole her! She is incredible!" So much for one doubting Thomas! But I would be happy when I had watched her grow for a while and could figure out what that neck of hers was going to look like. At least today it didn't look upside down, but how would it end up?

To be continued.............

Next segment The Mares





9 comments:

  1. Heya Mikael,

    As I am thoroughly, completely, and utterly engrossed in your story here (as per usual), I thought I might make a request... It's hard for me to keep the breeding/farm names straight in my head... Unless you're witholding the filly's names for unveiling later on (to build suspense), can you throw in their barn names a little more often? It's not a criticism at all, just that I'm a complete dolt at following the Gamaar/Dare/etc breeding references.

    PS: Keep up the good work. I'm addicted!
    ---Becky

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am really enjoying this story, your passion shines through. I wish I had the same passion LOL.

    Your comment on my blog is soooo true, never thought about it that way, I just saw photos today that I never want to see again.

    Struggling a bit, will fill you in soon, just dont feel talkative at the moment. (((Hugs)))

    Lori

    ReplyDelete
  3. I keep cheating by going to your farm web site and tracking down the horses from your story. :) Of course I'd love to see more photos of your horses and even video if you can post those. It's not hard - if I can do it you can. Trust me!

    ReplyDelete
  4. They are such gorgeous creatures, Arabs, aren't they...Always one of my favorite horses.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mikael,

    I have really been enjoying these posts on picking a new mare to add to your breeding program.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Glad she managed to change one doubters mind! :D Looking forward to reading more!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ah...I love it when we change the minds of those doubters, don't you? She looks like a lovely girl, can't wait to see more of her!

    ReplyDelete
  8. becky, sorry about the switch back and forth with the farm names. I don't usually go multiple places like that. While I realize it can be confusing and try to give as much information to seperate them as possible while still maintaining the suspense of the story. The hard part with these three mares was they were all gray, so even color didn't help. But, the suspense is over now for two of these horses. Have identified the one and will do so on the other in today's post.

    I know when you don't have any idea of pedigrees that the names all run together. Actually, that was how I felt the first time I visited Kings Gate Farm. She was talking about all kinds of great horses and I knew about two of them. The rest were just mush in my head. lol

    I promise I'll try hard to give more details that will help you keep them sperated in the future.

    And thanks for reading my blog.

    lori, I suspect you have the same passion but that it's buried under too much work with little satisfaction. You have lots to be proud of.

    dressagemom, you're not the only one checking out my website to figure out who is who there. lol

    I have had problems figuring out how to do video. I think we have it now but will have to get help to get some footage to give it a try.

    Yes, callie, they are beautiful creatures.

    kathy c, I'm glad that you're enjoying it and that you commented. Sometimes I think I must be boring you all to death so input is appreciated. lol

    equinespirit, yes, changing her mind was not what I had expected expecially since I was still so worried about this mare.

    Tracey, I love it too. There such an affirmation in trusting ourselves when that happens.

    Thanks everyone for reading and commenting on my blog!

    MiKael

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Mikael,
    She is a beauty! I'm staying tuned on this one. She has "story" written all over her! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete