The dreaded horse topic

That's very generous of you to offer, IO! If I ever could get out that way, I'd be delighted to look you up. My cousins are on the eastern side of the state, so it would be a special trip, but well worth it. I wish I could make an equivalent offer here, but I don't know the place well and have no horse connections.
HW

My Palomino and I got hit by large buck flag tail deer once. Scared my boy so bad, he reared up and rolled over sideways. I had to move quick from the saddle. So now, when we get out in areas where deer have been he snorts and I know they are around. Once, I do a trail call, "YIp YIP Yip YIp YIp.." nice and loud he settles down because he knows I am spooking the deer off. So yeah, I have an almost 16 hand horse who is scared of deer, oh my poor, poor, Leo

Isn't that funny, Red? My 16.1hh appy wasn't a particularly brave soul either! Sometimes it's the pony's who charge ahead and the bigger horses just hold back and blow!

Whereas little Prism, my relative's long-dead white horse wasn't at all startled by a buck that ran off from drinking at a stream when we rode by. Prism was a heck of a horse. She's the same one who wasn't bothered by flying wild turkeys. And she was no plug - she enjoyed a good gallop. She was just sensible. As long as it doesn't startle your horse, I enjoy meeting wildlife. I remember once when a friend and I were riding across a field in Maryland I looked up to see a hawk circling so close above us that I could almost have touched it. It was obviously hoping that we would spook rodents or something as we were riding. Boy, these are old stories, though. That would have been about 1978.
HW

Yes. I've passed quite a few deer on my rides and a lot of bald eagles. It's really nice to see them and really adds to the pleasure of the ride.

Hey, (or Hay) horse folks, what's going on with your horses at the moment? And their humans? Thanks for any updates!
HW

I swear mine are standing up to their hocks in mud...it just rains and rains and rains here in KS. We have been battling the trees which keep dropping on our fencelines and round pens. Been too interesting around here and not enough riding. Although, I did get Freckles out on Saturday and ride her bareback around the area. She is such a good girl and trustworthy anywhere we take her.

Well, I can feel for you in the mud, Red. Hope it clears up for more enjoyable riding soon. Maybe one day I'll find a good place to rent and ride around here, but there's just no time or money right now. So I have to live on vicarious horse stories! Thanks!
HW

OMG! HelenWest, what a day to ask that question! My horse was suppose to come down to Washington State from Canada today but it didn't happen! One little thing in the paperwork and the hauler left him behind because she knew that she couldn't get him across the border with the paperwork that was handed to her.
It's nobody's fault really, just something we all thought someone else was responsible for and therefore nobody did it! I can't cross over the border to deal with this glitch because I'm still waiting for my immigration to come through so it's going to fall to my husband to deal with it. He had to lay off work so that he can go up to Canada tomorrow, get the paperwork from the barn, take it down to the border to be signed and stamped by the Canadian border vet, then take the paperwork back to the barn and then come home. It'll probably take him most of the day.
Then the hauler will come back again on Monday to pick up my horse and the corrected paperwork, go back to the border and then the American vet will inspect my horse, make sure he is the same horse that belongs to the paperwork and (hopefully) clear him to come south!
I am so pissed off, but there's nobody to be pissed off at because like I said; it was just a circle of miscommunication and that one little step got missed. I haven't seen my horse in almost four months and I was so looking forward to getting him down here today. Now we have to go through all this hassle just to get a horse across the border and I've got to wait another five days before I'll see him. That's IF everything goes smoothly this second time around.
Dagnabbit!!

Good luck with it, Keays! I hope you and your horse are soon back together again, safe and sound and south of the border. I knew you were bringing him soon, but I sure didn't realize it was supposed to be today.
HW

Funny you should ask, Helen, I have a story to tell about my ride yesterday.

I went out with my husband, and our friend for a long ride. We started out on Grand Mesa at about 10,000 feet and were heading to the top of Electric Mountain (so-named for all the lightening strikes it gets) on a ten-mile ride. The trail was narrow and really muddy from all the rain we've been getting, but the sky was clear and it was a lovely morning. We slipped and slid our way along the trail for about two miles into the ride when I heard the baa-ing of sheep right about the same time my mare did. Her head shot up and she stiffened every muscle she had; that's when I realized we'd never encountered sheep on any of our rides. She's a former cowhorse and seems to have the proper disdain for sheep.

Our friend, Doug, who cowboyed around this area for years, told me that horses are more afraid of sheep than lots of other things. We came around the bend and there was a large herd of sheep grazing in a meadow. The horses danced and pranced their way through the herd when the sheepdogs (big, white Great Pyrenee types) came running up behind us, barking and charging the horses' heels, threatening bodily harm. Sure enough, the entire herd starts running away and they looked so strange through my eyes I can only imagine what the horses saw. There was lots of jumping around, and snorting, but the horses kept their wits about them and the riders stayed upright. The rest of the ride, we joked about the bears hiding in the bushes, the big bull moose in the willows, and the killer sheep in the brush.

By the time, we came back through on our way in, the sheep, the dogs, and the horses knew what to expect so it was a much smoother ride.

It wasn't quite the relaxing ride I'd been looking for, but I learned something new about my horse and her ability to accept life when things go wrong. I need to follow her example in the future-life might get scary from time to time, but don't panic. All things will pass.

That sounds like a really interesting ride InOut! You just never know what you're going to run into out on the trails.

I find that both my previous horse and my current one seemed to have the same reaction with lama's. It's always something!

Wow, IO, I've never met sheep on horseback and now I know that I would prefer not to! Having a mother from Texas, I know about the sheep versus cows thing, but I never guess that horses would be such a part of the mix! I'm glad you all got back safely, but it sounds like only consummately excellent riding got you there. Thanks for the great story! Hmn. Might have to introduce sheep and horses mix into a story some time . . .
HW

It's that bull moose that really has me worried!!

But watch out for Errol, the flying sheep! If anyone is a Monty Python fan. Now every time I see that sheep on the board for news posts, I think of that story!
HW

I was watching a historical documentary and learned the posses would frequently fan out with the outside riders moving further and further from the group. BUT these outside riders would be on squealers. So once they got lonely for their companions they would start fussing and squealing and sometimes it would be the outlaws horses which would send out an answering call. I myself, found that kind of interesting and know for a fact I have a couple horses who would be perfect for this outriding task -- they loathe being alone.

Horses certainly are group animals! I used to ride at a stable that actually had two stables about a mile apart. I remember once that one of the horses from stable A was put up for while in stable B. He gave a neigh that made me hold my ears as he called to his pals a mile down the road. They must have heard him very clearly. I was thinking of that when I wrote one of my own stories and had Curry's horse betray him by calling to a horse that was pursuing him and Heyes.
HW

Horses are definitely herd animals and will give their location away without hesitation by calling out to other horses! Must be rather irritating if you're trying to elude a posse!