snort of doom

I hope anyone reading this extremely impressed: two posts within a week! So, Ina was quite a good girl in her last class of the show. I didn't show until about 4:45 on Saturday so I rode her around in the morning and just kind of camped out on her a bit watching some rides in the outdoor arena, I think it was good for her. Later when I was warming her up for her class I smacked her with the fancy new whip I had won in my first class and she took quite a big offense to that. Apparently this new whip has quite a bit more sting to it then the other one and she let out a nice big buck just to let me know that she did not appreciate it. It took me by surprise a little since she's never bucked or anything before, but she calmed right down and I got the other whip and she decided that was ok. We ended up winning our last class with a 70%, YAY! Very good for the first recognized show. For winning you got to pick a prize from this table and by that time there were just really odd things, like a bag of shells? wtf? So I chose some cute little herb pots that maybe I'll use someday.

I apologize for writing only about horses but between my horses, working at a barn, and shadowing the equine vet that is pretty much all I have going in my life. Next story comes from work. Today I thought Billy was going to kill me. Billy is a BIG horse, easily 1200lbs, probably more and I had ridden him in the arena and then took him a quick trail ride which was going fine until he spotted the tractor being driven up the hill and Billy did not like that at all. He stuck his head straight in the air and snorted the snort of doom. It's hard to explain the snort of doom but I bet any horsie people would understand, it's very loud and basically only happens when a horse is scared and about to freak out. If a horse wants to do that in its nice enclosed pasture with no one precariously perched on its back then fine. However, when you are alone in a field on a very large horse whose neck is straight in the air (and who has an uncannily powerful neck) and they refuse to turn their head or listen to you whatsoever it becomes the snort of doom. I had very vivid images of Billy taking off bucking across the field and launching me into the ground and him galloping like a psychopath around the property while I lay unconscious and/or broken in the middle of the field. Needless to say I was pretty terrified for a moment there, but I stayed relaxed and was finally able to crane his head around and initiate some forward movement that did not include running or bucking. Getting back to the barn has never been so relieving.

And, for horse news on the vet front: last week I had to help hold this horse with a really nasty slice on his head. The vet gave him every sedative she had before he was sleepy enough to let her sew it up (and he was a pretty small horse). Anywho, you could see the salivary gland because the wound was quite deep, though it wasn't all that bloody. I'm gonna try and remember to start bringing my camera so I can capture these sorts of things and gross out everyone I can.