Friday i survived the elements and a herd of horses after 10 hours of castrating 16 stud horses. It proved to be a very long day as Friday i probably felt my worst, and then after getting to the ranch we were informed that the only way to the stud horse corral would be via horseback. This meant i.... dino, who suffers from equinophobia, would have to jump on a horse's back and ride 8 miles to our destination. Man.... did that make for some great foto ops that will never be seen, not because i don't want them to surface but because we had no camera on hand (thank your god)!
So after a quick lesson in horsemanship from one of the hired hands, i jump on my trusty steed (a very beautiful gelded paint named Zipper) and walked a few circles, first to the right and then to the left. When that felt comfortable i took Zip for a nice trot and stop. After a few laughs (i even have to admit it must have been a pitiful site.... imagine me, wearing Holister cargo pants, trail running shoes and a Northface snowboarding jacket while everyone else wore their wranglers, cowboy boots, cowboy hats and thick jean jackets) we proceeded to the stud corrals where 16 horses awaited to be castrated.
The castrations went extremely smooth and we buzzed by each one in relatively short order. Two of the "cowboys" stayed behind after we left to make sure each horse was standing and not bleeding. No bleeders were found so our job at the ranch was over!
I would like to say that after all of this i've found a new admiration for horses.... unfortunately i cannot! I am still afraid of horses but it is not as severe as before. Now i know that i can control them better and i've a new found respect for them. A respect which will aid me whenever i am called to work with horses, be it in the hospital or on a ranch.
1 comment:
Curses to you for not having a camera on hand! I would have loved to have seen those pics!
I have no fear of horses, but I do have a fear of falling off of a horse. Or of being stepped on by one while walking along side of it.
My last horse riding experience was about ohhh...13 years ago. Went for a guided ride in Tahoe. I had a firm grip on the...saddle horn? That part of the saddle that seems like it was made for holding onto? Anyway, gripping that firmly, my horse then decided to run (because the guide decided that his horse should run), and after nearly falling off of the horse, I discovered why I've never seen a cowboy in a movie or otherwise holding onto that part of the saddle while riding. Because that's not what it was meant for, apparently. Now expressions like "take the reigns" (reigns?) make more sense to me.
If only horses had a steering wheel. Not that there isn't some scientist somewhere working on grafting one onto a horse. I should be more careful with what I wish for...
Post a Comment