For my friends with equines. I have a fun post. Show me memories!
I'm going to give a nod to Aurora for making me think about this.
I started out riding and falling off as pure entertainment for my mom and her family. My uncle gave us rides his old horse Babe. To get two rides done at once we'd often ride double. After this shot was taken, my sister and I got to giggling so hard, I fell off and got stepped on in the mushy mud by Babe. I'm the one with the glasses. Yes, we could ride Babe in the pen with no bridle, she was that cool of a horse.
This was to be the first of many misadventures while spending time with my cousins in the summer. My uncle trained horses and had come from one of the last Calvary units in WWII. He was quiet and never raised his voice, but we knew he meant business when he got after us kids. MMMM. Like the time he made us wash the inside of his 3 stall mini barn after we'd blown up mice with firecrackers in the feed barrels and got into a manure fight.
I often got to ride one of Lyle's clients' horses. Very often there wasn't enough saddles to go around. If 4 of us went riding. Only 2 or 3 could have adult saddles. I often got a pad to ride on or went without.
If we went in a group, I'd generally get the shit little pony we all loved and hated. His name was Thunder. If you can see in the photo, Thunder has a snaffle tied to a leather strap and I have twine strings for reins.
My cousins and us would head out at night after our parents headed out to the bars or to dance. We'd ride the back roads and look for trouble. Yeah. We found it often. We'd even saddle up and head to the dump where we'd shoot rats. No TV? No internet? No problem!
My uncle died. Our horse summers were over. But my wish to have my own horse never ever left my mind. Eventually I was able to get a horse. My first one was Red. An ugly headed red horse that was incredible. He was calm as a cucumber and powerful. He was supposed to be a quarter horse. Next was Cheyanne. I purchased her as green broke. I was green broke too. I had no idea what I was doing and had wished that I'd spent more time watching my uncle train horses.
There was Rocky who came to our place for retirement. An elderly Saddlebred who was trained and had been shown and... had been a lesson horse until the owner no longer wanted him. Nothing fazed him ever. Except leaving the property. Nope, to get past the property line you had to hand walk him sometimes backwards and then he seemed to be okay with it. I am sure I never became the horse person to understand all of his intricate cues and level of training.
I'll skip through the next few years. I kept Chey, sold Red to my sister, gave Rocky away... divorced...met a man who had mules...married the mule man. Ceremony on mules.
Mule man thought Cheyanne ought to be bred to a Jack. He also thought we should buy a Jack Donkey and that I should own and train ... and show a mule from said Donkey named Bruce.
Mind you, I was still STILL no trainer. And the Huge Lanky 3 year old mule was Green Broke. Those who owned him didn't like him much and didn't think he'd amount to much.
I'm going to skip the whole training thing. Basically because I am not a trainer. The equine train me and mules have taught me to be a partner in every sense of the word.
Badger. 15 hands. Here is with me waiting while I scour the hillside looking for Morel Mushrooms. Hubby had a custom saddle built for me.
Nice saddle. Not my favorite as it is heavy and my shoulders sucked.
Badger at WildCat with Sunshine. I'm riding in my Simco with a britchen. Yeah, I swapped English leather for the western ones. My knees like it and I can swing my feet out of the way of stumps and brush in the woods. The britchen keeps the saddle from sliding forward. Mules generally do not have much in the way of withers. Back cinch and britchen or crupper keeps the saddle secure on downhill mule slides.
After the elbow surgery, I thought I'd go this way. Why not? This saddle was easy to put on and great for ridge riding. Sucked at hills. This is Siera. Badger was ill at this time and I was working with another mule that was training me.
Opal the hateful mule. She hated people. In the last few years her life, hubby turned her over to me. A mule who could not be caught, who was ear shy from the old methods of earing down, and who
DID not trust humans...became my friend.
It took months and months for this to happen. And when we bonded? It was amazing. Hubby told me I'd never catch that Bitch. Opal was purchased by hubby specifically for team penning and gymkhana. It was a real Hate relationship. But she would preform under saddle.
I scored this Stonewall saddle all beat up and not all there. I called Stonewall and had them ship me the missing pieces. I'm going to say this is my absolute favorite saddle. Super duper lightweight and easy to ride in.
Don't read the link above on Opal if you don't have tissues handy.
She was still with me and riding at 28 yrs young. And she was a speed mule, she could turn a barrel... and when a deer spooked her by actually springing out of a cornfield and running into us...
Opal did a 180 mid air spin and land at a gallop. She was an amazing athlete. Yeah, I think I nearly wet my pants, BUT I didn't lose the berry bucket!
In this photo, she is giving me her idea of waiting while I pick black berries in the woods.
There is Mica, who I still ride once in a while. She is a non comitted mule. She won't commit to a favorite human. They are just beings to serve her. If you are in the mood to groom? She is your friend. She is mostly retired now.
Photo below is at WildCat, a picnic break on the Yellow Trail I think.
There is Fred. He is 35 years old now.
Our littlest mule. And most loved mule.
Fred has probably the longest list of riders on him.
And that leaves me with the last photos. Sunshine. The daughter of my first horse. Truly a beautiful red head. A good trail mule. A nice sized mule.
I've had her now longer than I've had Badger. We are getting there.
I mean ... we absolutely are THE best of pals.
I was there when she was born.
