Region 5 Championships.......Settling in.....Rhet's Way

Part 1

At least the stall doors on these portable stalls were a full door and not the half doors on those stalls in the race horse barns at Region 4. I didn't have to worry about the Arabian colt leaping out of the stall. You'd think that would mean I could count on the colt not getting into any trouble..........but then if you did, you probably wouldn't be thinking about a colt like Rhet.

It only took the colt a minute to figure out he wasn't getting back out through that door. Then he immediately began looking for other means of escape. Wouldn't you know he'd think digging would work? Before long the shavings and sand were flying every which way as Rhet tried digging his way not only out........but clear to China.

The first thought that ran through my mind was "OMG, what's he going to do to his feet?" Rhet's done enough pawing while tied for me to know wearing down his hooves is one of the side effects of such activity. I've already spent lots of time making sure his feet are "right" so his antics don't affect his growth. I could only imagine how much damage was going to be done before it was our time to show. I promptly text messaged Richard telling him not to forget his rasp. Rhet was definitely going to need some repairs.

Then there was the problem of trying to keep the colt clean. I knew when I saw that sand it would be a problem. Now that Rhet was behaving like a mix master and really churning his bedding up there wasn't a shred of clean bedding in the place. I was sure hoping that more bedding would arrive before it was time to show Rhet.

Once I had the colt settled I began looking around the facility for a place to put my tent. I hadn't remembered any such area from when I'd shown there years before. Wouldn't you think any place holding horse shows would have places for exhibitors to camp? Heck, I'd even camped in Albuquerque.......but nary a spot of grass was available in the RV area for a tent. Sleeping in my horse trailer was the next best thing.

The following morning when I went back to check on Rhet, I found the colt had been engaged in other means of escape as well. The young horse had managed to pull up a portion of the heavy fabric forming the stalls. Now, he had clear access to the stall behind him.

I looked into that stall to see what kind of occupant might be there. It wouldn't be good to have a stallion or a mare in heat. I was almost relieved to find a tack room. I looked to see if there was anything within reach of my mischievous horse. The last thing we needed was him doing damage to someone tack........or worse...........show saddle. But the rack holding the saddles was just out of reach of Rhet's grasp.

I was to learn later the owners of that tack room had had to move things around just a bit. When they'd arrived in the morning they'd found Rhet chewing on the corner of a saddle pad. But according to them he hadn't done any damage. He must not have had it for long.......because I can tell you that colt can trash a cooler in nothing flat! I wondered what Rhet would get himself into next.

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

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