Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Soo...What's Your Story? Quiz From MiKael's Blog

This fun little quiz was on MiKael's blog a couple of days ago...Feel free to play along!

1. How old were you when you first started riding? Very young-I suppose I was riding before I was walking and riding alone by the time I was 3.

2. First horse ridden? I don't remember.

3. First horse trotted on? Probably Flyspeck, a POA we had for nearly 30 years.

4. First horse cantered on? Probably my mom's palomino barrel horse, King.

5. First Horse fallen off of? I suspect that would either be Flyspeck or my blind Shetland, Pony.

6. Most recent horse fallen off? Fallen or bucked off of? The last horse to dump me was Frosty, my buckskin gelding. He didn't mean it.

7. Most terrifying fall? Nothing is really coming to mind.

8. First horse jumped with? Woofer(Shooter's mom)-I learned to jump in college.

9. First horse who ran away with you? My mom's palomino barrel horse, King.

10. First horse that scared the crap out of you? That would have been my aunt's palomino barrel horse named, Playboy. He was pretty scary to get into the arena-my mom had to lead me and he would try to spin and rear. My mom would hang on and I remember being more scared he would run over her than that he would run off with me. But any other time, he was a wonderful horse.

11. First horse shown? Flyspeck, at the local 4-H show. I was 8. I ran barrels and poles on a Shetland named Rudy and made it to state in both events.

12. First horse to win a class with? Can't remember if I won any speed events on Rudy or if my first win was with a roan gelding named Roany(His registered name was Roan Ranger Bar and I thought that was just the coolest name EVER).

13. Do you/have you taken lessons? No. Although, I suppose you might count some of the things we learned in 4-H as beneficial.

14. First horse you ever rode bareback? I didn't have a saddle until I was 8 and needed one to show in the horse show with, so before that I rode everything bareback.

15. First horse trail ridden with? I have flashes of memories of going on a very long cattle drive when I was very little. Mom says we drove cattle 15 miles that day. I rode Roany(the same horse I later used in 4-H). I was 3y/o, he was 3y/o.

16. Current Barn name? We've never named our ranch. My brother came up with a cool brand that I need to see if I can get registered. It's a whole bunch of mill irons hooked together to form 2 bits...get it? The two bit ranch...LMAO...I thought that was a great idea!

17. Do you ride English or western? Mostly western. I do ride HUS and Meg and I are going to work on jumping this year.

18. First Horse to place at a show with? Rudy

19. Ever been to horse camp? No, but I always wanted to go to one.

20. Ever been to a riding clinic? A couple, although only ever as an observer. Never participated.

21. Ridden sidesaddle? Does it count if we did it in regular saddles? Oh yea, my brother and I were like monkeys on our horses. We rode sidesaddle, backwards, standing up, double, triple and practiced hanging off the side of their necks like the Indians used too.

22. First horse leased? Spooks, a paint barrel horse I leased to see if I wanted to purchase him.

23. Last Horse Leased? Spooks. He owner was such an ass. I leased this horse straight out of the pasture, had to get his feet done, his teeth done, had a chiropractor work him over, fixed him so he didn't nail 1st barrel 100% of the time and his owner said he was worth more now, so upped his sale price. No, I didn't have anything in writing...the jackass was my step-uncle.

24. Highest ribbon in a show? Champion. Hey what can I say, I play to win.;)

25. Ever been to an 'A' rated show? No, but in the stock horse world is a breed show similar? Then yes, I have shown in breed shows.

26. Ever competed in pony games/relay races? Yes

27. Ever fallen off at a show? No(knock on wood). I'm hoping to get Roan Dog riding again and hopefully to some shows this year...do you think they will charge me double entry fees? One entry fee for barrels and one for saddle bronc...

28. Do you ride Hunter/Jumpers? No...but we would like to change that.

29. Have you ever barrel raced? Yes

30. Ever done pole bending? Yes

31. Favorite gait? That depends on what horse I am riding.;-)

32. Ever cantered bareback? Yes. Play arena tag bareback sometime, it's a blast!

33. Have you ever done dressage? No...another thing I would love to be able to try.

34. Have you ever evented? No..no desire there.

35. Have you ever mucked a stall? One or two

36. Ever been bucked off? Yes

37. Ever been on a horse that reared? Yes. And thanks to my grandpa's advice, got my nose broke by one. So for anyone who ever wondered...bonking the horse between the ears does not work. Hey, I was about 12y/o...when you are that age, you do what your grandpa tells you too! Anyway, Ole' Dunny went up, I bonked him between the ears with a piece of wood my grandpa handed me, the board bounced off Dunny's poll and whacked me in the nose. Well, at least one of us learned something that day...

38. Horses or ponies? Horses. Interestingly enough, the only ponies I was ever around were really good ones. Didn't mean they wouldn't dump ya if you weren't paying attention, but they were a darn sight better than most I have seen since then.

39. Do you wear a helmet? No

40. What's the highest you've jumped? 3 or 3-1/2 feet.

41. Have you ever ridden at night? Yes. By the light of the full moon, with good friends and cold wine coolers...I miss my AZ buddies!

42. Do you watch horsey television shows? Kinda-I irriate everyone because I nitpick them.

43. Have you ever been seriously hurt/injured from a fall? No. Lucky me, I only got hurt when I was doing something mundane like opening my tack door on the trailer or helping someone move a mare and foal.

44. Most falls in one lesson? I think I remember a Tuffernhell-bred gelding bucking me off twice in one training session. He was bad to buck, rear and run off. He broke his owner's leg, so ended up in our barn to break. He was gorgeous...the brain the size of a peanut...but darn pretty to look at.

45. Do you ride in an arena/ring? When I can. Mostly we ride in the open, but haul to the local arena whenever the ground is good.

46. Have you ever been trampled by a horse? Yes. She seriously injured me too-but I was too dumb to go to the hospital. How cool is it when you have to explain to your new boyfriend how you got that hoofprint on your chest. Not to mention the matching one on your buttock. Sheez!

47. Have you ever been bitten? Yes

48. Ever had your foot stepped on by a horse? Yes

49: Favorite riding moment? Not one in particular, but I love that time right after a horse struggles to grasp something and you finally feel them "get it".

50. Most fun horse you've ridden? Oh pretty much all of them at some point or other...but the one that was really surprising and a wonderful find was a 4y/o TB I bought at an auction for $500. I passed him up several times while walking the pens, but he has such a kind look in his eye that when the girl took him to the arena to ride him before the sale, I followed. She was just a girl hired to ride horses through the sale and she was a complete moron. It was pretty obvious that the horse knew more than she did and she did a really good job of making him look like he didn't know anything and a kicker too boot. But I really liked the way he moved. After he got home and settled in, I rode him and he was 100X's better than I ever could have imagined. He had beautiful transitions-up and down, flying lead changes and was so beautifully mannered. Come to find out, he had a year's worth of dressage training on him but washed out because he ground his teeth and hung his tongue out the side of his mouth...continually.

So that's me. Kind of a redneck by today's standards. But I wouldn't know half of what I do now, if I hadn't have gotten to do the things I did then. It was fun growing up with horses and having a family that let us do lots of stuff with them, as long as we were not mean to them. Personally, I think there are a lot of people who are too stuffy about what you should and shouldn't do with horses. Horses are supposed to be fun...why the heck else would we spend every spare dollar we have on them?


City girl turned Country Girl said...

Thanks for the giggles :) That was really neat and I learned a lot about you!! Ya and # 23 I would be quite peeved too!!! What nerve!! But it sounds like you have learned many life lessons from the back of a horse...Is there anything better?? I don't think so..

Fantastyk Voyager said...

It sounds like you've had a very interesing life around horses so far. I spent my teen years at a barn with "gamers" so a lot of my experiences are similar to yours. I would go to the barn at 7am and not come home till dark. Lord knows what we did all day long! Yes, we climbed all over those horses, played tag, and had hose fights. Thoses kid's horses were awesome! I feel very priviledged to have had some great times.

SunnySD said...

Not too much better than growing up with horses! :)

Stephanie said...

I fill out one of those in response to someone else's posts - it took FOREVER, so I kinda forgot about it.

We all like to think we are so unique but I get to feeling after reading alot of these that most of us horsey blogger had really similar childhoods. Good ones.

BrownEyed Cowgirls said...

You know what's funny? I've always wondered what non-horse people did with all their time? What do they think about?
Oh well, not everyone can be as lucky as some of us.;)

Stephanie-you are so right. Most of us didn't grow up with a lot of money either.
We were so poor that I mostly wore my brother's mended handme-downs, but we never thought about that. We had horses and ponies and all the other kids were jealous of us. How ironic-hehehe.

MichelleSG said...

I just love that last one. If I were a horse that would probably be me. Lots of potential but cut from the pack because I grind my teeth and my tongue hung out of my mouth? Yeah, that's my horse equivalent.

Callie said...

Interesting, I've wanted to do this, but sheesh 50 questions! And Yikes! A broken nose!

Andrea said...

What a fun questionnaire. I have really enjoyed reading this one on many other horse blogs too!!

I love your "barn name"!! Sounds like a cool brand! And that TB you found at auction sounded like one awesome boy. There was a girl that showed WP with me and she had a horse named Ottie, that always stuck his tongue out to the side. I guess those western folks didn't mind it as much as those dressage folks!! LOL

kdwhorses said...

Loved it! I knew you had a great horsey background! You rock~! I too love the barn brand, name! Need to work on that!