One Last Wagon Ride for 2010

I've been off work this whole past week.  I had planned to do a lot of horse stuff, and really start working Nellie, the new Mare I am working with.  Sometimes, the weather can sure change plans in a hurry.  This past week has just been nasty.  Really cold temps and rain.  The ground has been soup here, so there wasn't much that could be done outside.  Friday Pat and I decided that only a hard rain would stop us from a wagon ride though.

The idea was for me to bring my horses over to his place, and then we'd hit the road.  The nice thing about this, is that Pat has an extra wagon (the hay wagon I borrowed for the Greenville parade this past year), so I can do a wagon ride at Pats, without having to haul my wagon.  Very nice!  Pat was going to hitch his horses up as well, and then we'd hit the road.  The long route we were planning was 7 1/2 miles, but we could scale it back if needed.

The first thing I did was call the girls out of the pasture.  This was a bit of an ordeal.  Due to having Nellie, the herd dynamics have changed.  Nellie has established herself as the lead mare, and Rachael is not happy about it.  Pam is a follower, and is now always side by side with Nellie.

Rachael was very easy to get.  She walked right up to me almost asking to be taken away from Nellie.  Pam was a bit different.  She was fairly easy to get haltered, but once we started heading to the gate, ol' Nellie realized that we were going to go out of it.  Suddenly she came trotting over, as if to make sure she wasn't going to be excluded.  This lead to a bit of a struggle at the gate.  Since I am working alone, I have to open the gate, walk through it with Pam, and then close the gate.  This means that I can't have Nellie close by or else she could possibly squeeze out the gate as Pam is walking though on the lead rope.  Eventually, I was able to get her to back away far enough that I got Pam out and closed the gate before Nellie could make a run on the gate.

It's been 2 weeks since I last put my hands on the girls due to Christmas and the crappy weather.  The picture above shows them right out of the pasture (they look much better in the picture than up close though).  Their coats were covered with mud and the rain had matted them up a bit.  The show sheen I had put in their manes and tails for christmas has done wonderful at keeping the cockleburs out.  It took me around 30 minutes to clean the girls up and get them harnessed (without bridles).  Cleaning their feet was a task with all the mud we have right now.

This leads me to one of my ways of thinking when harnessing a horse.  When it comes to bridles, I think of it as an extension of my arms in directing the way I want them to move.  The blinders on them are telling the horse to trust me and not worry about the things I'm not allowing them to see.  This means to me, that it is my job as a teamster, to make sure that nothing happens to scare the horses while those blinders are on.  This can lead to a breach of trust, and I don't want that.  So, because of all this, I only put on the bridles, if I'm actually about to drive them.  Once I am done driving them, I take the bridles off immediately.  I think of the bridle as a tool, not tack.  I only use the tool when it is needed.

While I'm waxing on about things I do, I might add what I did next.  Next I loaded the horses.  Yes, I loaded them with harnesses on.  Now I've heard all kinds of people say that you should never do this.  I've heard all kinds of stories of things getting tangled up, caught, pinched, and on and on.  For me, I have no problem doing this for a short trip.  If I'm hauling somewhere that is 30 minutes or less, I have no problems harnessing them and trailering them.  I have an open stock trailer, and the girls, due to their cold blood and laid back nature, just don't move that much when we're on the road.  It's so much easier on my back to haul harness from the tackroom, to the horse, than from the tack room, to the truck; from the truck to the horse.  The harnesses don't get tangled this way either.

So ... anyway, off to Pats house my son and I went.  When I got there, Pat was hitched up and ready to go.  I unloaded the horses, and tied them, and then we made sure the wagon I was going to use was ready to go.  Once it was, I put the bridles on, and I ground drove the girls over into position on the wagon.  Once they were hitched up, I drove them up to the truck and we threw some bales of hay on the wagon for me to sit on.  The pictures below show this.

It was time to hit the road after that.  We grabbed drinks, and used the restroom and we were off.  My son had eyed Pat's wagon, and determined that the nice looking bucket seats up front looked more appealing than the hay I was going to sit on, so I got to ride alone while Pat got to enjoy the chitter chatter from my son.

The ride was awesome.  I started off trailing Pat since he knew the way.  Rachael and Pam were great.  They were calm and cool while getting ready to go, and were pulling great on the road.  Working them hard this past fall has given me a really nice team.  I really enjoy driving them.

One part of the drive had us cross a very busy highway.  Pat had some lucky timing and didn't have to stop.  I was not so fortunate.  Did I mention that this stop is on a hill?  Rachael and Pam were leaning forward for all they were worth to keep us still at the stop sign and keep the wagon from rolling backward down the hill.  I was very VERY pleased with them.  Occasionally they would have to get new footings on their rear feet but they didn't move.  After a few minutes, I had a window, and the girls were happy to get moving and get the wagon off that hill.

Not too long after that, Pat asked me if I would take the lead.  Pat hasn't been working his horses too long as teammates, and they are still getting used to how things are supposed to work.  One of the things Pat has had problems with in the past, is them wanting to run the entire time they are hitched to finish things up faster.  Working from home can be difficult with this.  The horses know that when you come back, they are done, and this can lead to some barn sour.  Pat was hoping that with my girls taking the lead, that his girls would settle down and walk nicely.  This was a great idea on Pats part, and it worked great.  They even stood still when we stopped and acted like they enjoyed the break.  The next two pictures are of one of these stops.

 Have I mentioned how pretty Pat's horses are?  Dolly is an AWESOME specimen of what a belgian horse should look like.  She knows it too, and is a DIVA!  :)

The rest of the ride was awesome.  It was so much fun to just be out on the road, seeing the sights, and enjoying life at 2 miles per hour.  As I was enjoying myself on this adventure, I think I really came to see what Bob Skelding see's in horse travel.  For those of you who don't know, Bob Skelding is the wagon teamster and he's been traveling across the country by horse team and wagon.  I met him as he came through Texas, and I've conversed with him enough since then to consider him a friend.  (his website is www.wagonteamster.com)  As I sat there driving the team, I really came to appreciate all the life you get to see when you travel this slow.  Small little details in life that are normally missed when traveling by car.  It's a beautiful thing, to have the chance to enjoy life at 2 MPH.

My last ride of 2010 was an awesome one.  I'm thinking I need to do more of it.  I wonder if I could talk my wife into a weeklong wagon ride someplace for our summer vacation instead of a plane ride and a hotel.  On second thought, I think I already know the answer to that one.  :)

Happy New Year everyone!  Best wishes for 2011!