Why won't this horse approach the gate. That was the question on H T's mind when he was practicing for the trail obstacle class.
H T walked into the barn with sun glasses on and asked for his horse Dressed for Success to be saddled and made ready for a trial run through the obstacle course. I am sure he encountered someone with whom he had a chat while waiting for the horse to be ready.
Eventually he mounted and headed for the obstacle course. As luck would have it, he dropped one of the reins. He was having a time with her until Judy came along and handed him the rein. H T walked her on down to the obstacle course and every thing seemed fine. But he still wondered why his mare would not neck rein when he needed her to do it. Now he wanted to practice getting her to go over the bushes that were part of the course. She had not walked over bushes and he wanted to make sure he could get her to do it in competition
She was very reluctant to step over the bushes at first but soon he had her stepping over them just fine. After she started to step over them, he kept practicing and practicing with her until it was second nature. They approached the bushes, she stepped over and on they went. Finally when H T was convinced she would do it during the competition he let her stop.
A lady had been watching H T practice with the mare and she asked him how he would open the gate on her. He and Dressed for Success had done it many times on their obstacle course at the stable so he was confident he would give a nice demonstration on how to open a gate from horse back. But this time the horse refused to go near the gate. H T had almost decided his horse just didn't like the white gate (at home it was red). The lady suggested perhaps his horse didn't like the blue flag by the gate. H T looked down to see what blue flag she was talking about. That was when he noticed that the horse he was on had white around the coronet of one her front hooves.
Dressed for Success, a mare H T had trained and ridden numerous times, had no white. That is when he realized, he wasn't riding Dressed for Success. Back he went to the barn and asked just who he was riding. Then he found out he was riding 2 year old Rockin Andi. And he had never been on her before. Both horses are chocolate with very light manes and tails. They obviously look a lot alike.
I have often had some embarrassing moments when I didn't recognize my own horse. Now I don't feel so bad. H T had a lot of fun telling this story about being on the wrong horse. And how he could not get her to go anywhere near the gate.
It reminded me of an incident that happened last year at the World Show. Tristin Curtis was 12 and she is an extremely talented rider. Wilda has been working with her and she is already a very capable rider. She needed a horse for one of the classes in the show and I offered her the use of my mare VBF Blue Ridge Mountain Girl.
As luck would have it, Mt Girl had been taken back to Van Bert's barn but Tristin's Dad, Robert,
took a trailer and his truck and went to the farm to get her. It was after dark when they got to the barn to get Mt Girl. The barn wasn't well lite but they went to the stall where Mt Girl was kept and put a halter on, loaded her and went back to the show grounds. They put her in a stall. The next morning when Tristin was getting ready to practice, she and her dad went to the barn had the mare saddled up and went off to practice.
After a few minutes Tristin told her dad that Mt Girl was not acting right. So they took her back to the barn thinking they had the wrong bit. The first person they saw was Ernesto. They ask if Mt Girl had the wrong bit. He looked at the horse and with a surprised look on his face told them "this is not Mt Girl". We had a lot of fun over that. I teased them that they had stolen a horse and it was the wrong horse. As it turned out, someone had switched stalls for Mt Girl and the other horse.
Robert and Tristin had as much fun telling how they had borrowed the wrong horse as H T had telling about his horse that wouldn't approach a gate.
Life is full of enough sorrow and heart aches. When we have a chance to laugh over something silly that we have done or has happened to us we should by all means do it.
Tonight as I write this, my heart is heavy because a dear friend is in the hospital suffering. I talked with Vera today. Wilda is still being closely monitored. The doctors are working on her to get her lung filled with air once more. Her broken ribs have her in a lot of pain. I don't know if the extent of her injuries is fully known. H T is in agony because his wife is suffering. Her family is worried.
I know none of them are reading blogs today but I encourage those of you who are reading this to keep Wilda and her family in your prayers. I am praying that the Lord God of the universal will touch Wilda with the healing in his hands and restore her to good health. I pray that God will guild the decisions the doctors make and that each decision will be the right one for her situation. I am praying these things in Jesus Holy Name and I invite you to also do the same.
God bless you and keep you in his loving care. And may God bless and keep the Derickson family close as they work their way through this terrible event in their lives.
Later,
Mary
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