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Best Horses in the World

9/20/2015

Bless our sweet Curlies that LOVE kids. Not only do they let them climb all over and under them and ride them with so many mixed signals, they are also so careful around them.
I was leading Saint toward one of the stalls the other day and Kimber, who I thought was completely out of the way, wandered over as she does so quietly without me knowing (she is super good at that) and was standing there just in the edge of our path. Well, Saint just stops completely and stands there like a stubborn mule with his head tilted so slightly and eyeing her with that look of worry in his eyes. I could not get him to take a single step until she was far away from our path, lol... What a good horse, watching out for our babies... I am so fortunate to have a handful of these horses that are so perfect and special...

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Remembering...

9/2/2015

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Most days are just normal, but there are the ones like today that I find myself missing my brother terribly... I don't know why, there was nothing that should have triggered it... There was this song that he loved, mostly for the lyrics, that he talked with me about one day while we were out trail riding... Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd... He so wanted to just live the simple life and abide by the sage advice given by the mother in the song... I sometimes wonder why he had to leave us, though he had faults, he was such an amazing and inspiring person... I LOVE that song for him and hope that I, can one day, be the wise Mother handing out such advice...

There is one great thing that came from all of the heartache... I certainly see in others what I didn't notice in him, until he was gone...

So... hold those you love, even through the rough times and remember what makes them special...

Here is the Simple Man...

Mama told me when I was young
Come sit beside me my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this it'll help you
some sunny day. Oh Yah!

Oh take your time don't live too fast
troubles will come and they will pass
Go find a woman and you'll find love
And don't forget son there is someone up above

And be a simple kind of man
Oh be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can?

Forget your lust, for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul
And you can do this Oh baby if you try
All that I want for you my son is to be satisfied

And be a simple kind of man
Oh be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can?

Boy don't you worry, you'll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this Oh baby if you try
All that I want for you my son is to be satisfied

Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can?
Baby be a simple, be a simple man.

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Mounted Shooting

11/28/2012

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So, when I was much, much younger and thought I was invincible I chased down some men on a four-wheeler.

It all started when I was living at this place with my horses that backed up against Bowater property and allowed for horseback riders and four-wheelers to freely use the old logging roads. Well, there were always those that thought they would target practice as well. The only problem was that their "target" was aimed at my horse field through about 50-75 feet of woods. I love my horses, when I say that I mean I really LOVE my horses and you just don't mess with them. I did try to catch them when I heard them to explain they were going to shoot my horses but every time I tried to get out there they would hear me and take off on their four-wheeler.

After a few times of this I got pretty angry and the next time I heard the gunshot I ran out and grabbed Ghost Wind with nothing but a halter on him and my Henry lever-action .22 in tow and took off at a dead run after them. I actually did literally chase them down on their four-wheeler and when I caught up to them and cut them off they had to stop and talk to me. Holding my rifle in a very visible position I explained to them why it was in their best interest to NOT target practice in that area anymore because if I heard it again I would "target practice" in their direction as well. Needless to say, they completely understood how much my horses meant to me.

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The Hardee's drive-thru

11/22/2012

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Well, every year we would participate with the horses in the Christmas Parade in the great town of Tellico Plains, TN. That place was so awesome the only fast food restaurant they had was Hardee's. We thought it would be fun to take our horses through the drive-thru..... so of course we did.

We even waited in line and did it all sophisticated like. You should have seen the lady's face when she saw we were on horses.

It went so well with us that all of the other riders decided it would be fun. So Hardee's was overrun by horses going through the drive-thru, and as all good things must come to an end, so did this when one of the horses spooked and made a big mess of everything.

And so was the end of the "horse-thru"

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Putting out hay...

11/22/2012

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There are many chores to do on a farm including putting out hay to the cows. This has to be done every day and I soon came to hate square bales. My little sister and I came up with the bright idea to make it a little more fun by involving horses (which we were trying to do in every aspect of our lives at that time).

So we took a surcingle, a girth strap and some ropes and made us a little "hay pulling rig". Much like the one I made for my daughter to use with her pony, you can see the pictures of it on the Ponies page.

Anyway, so we would put the rope through maybe six square bales and pull them out into the field. When we got to a place that one of the bales should go we would just cut the twines and let it loose. After doing this a few times we decided that my little sister should not have to walk and she rode on the bales from then on. I got more and more brave with it as my horse (Ghost Wind) was more comfortable with it and picked up the pace until we were running the bales out there and cutting them loose on the fly, lol.

Of course being a teenager that was just not dangerous or funny enough and I started making sharp unexpected turns, which would incidentally make those bales flip over and over - WITH MY SISTER ON THEM.

We did know how to have fun back then :)

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Niawen and the fair...

9/5/2012

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Niawen is one of the most beautiful mares we have owned and incidentally one of the largest. She never was much for crowds and only seemed to like certain people. Well, we would load up a few horses every year for the Mufreesboro, TN horse fair and rare breeds expo. One year we had the brilliant idea to take Niawen along with us. The first day was alright and by the end of the day she had enough of all the gawkers and didn't want them touching her. So she was happy when it closed and she could relax. The second day of the two day event, it was only about halfway through the day when she decided it was not fun anymore and she wanted to go home. So we figured we could just put her into the trailer for the last few hours and she would be fine. Well Niawen decided she didn't want to load on the trailer and was becoming increasingly agitated, so we had the on call vet sedate her. With her eyes all droopy and hanging her head she still refused to load. So the vet gave her another large dose. At this point Niawen could not even hold her own head up, we were doing that for her and still trying to get her on the trailer. We would pick her foot up and put it on and in slow motion she would pull it back off. Just to give you an understanding of her, she was a 16hh 1200lb mare that could be as stubborn as a mule. So my brother trying to help out went behind her to push while we pulled and tried to get her feet up on the trailer. This mare that could not even hold her head up of her own free will defiantly picked up her back foot, set it gently on his chest and just pushed. It was just like a cartoon, he flew up in the air and skidded to a halt on his butt. Even thinking about it now I still laugh.

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Why I hate Mustard...

9/5/2012

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At the horse shows, Ghost Wind and I loved the speed events. There was this one called the Hot Dog Race. They would hang a hot dog from a fishing pole and you would have to run down to the end of the arena stop your horse and make him stand still while you tried to take a bite of the hot dog. We were at a 4-H show so we were required to wear helmets and just to make it a little harder they poured mustard all over the hot dog.

Ghost Wind and I were great at this race so we ran down to the end and he stood great but the person holding the fishing pole was not holding still. So the fishing line caught in my helmet and this mustard covered hot dog was bouncing all over my face and shirt. Needless to say I smelled like mustard for the rest of the day and I still hate it to this day.
Oh yeah, since it wasn't my fault that it caught in my helmet I was given another run. Yes, of course we WON...

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Racing...

9/5/2012

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My brother Cliff loved to race the horses, but for some reason every time he and I raced one of us would get hurt, lol...
One of the times I got hurt we were racing across a cow pasture and I just happened to be riding the clumsiest horse we owned. Well Alona managed to find the only thing in the entire field (a cow trail) that was slightly uneven. Of course you can imagine we went down on it. She tripped and went down on her knees and I neatly somersaulted over her head... It was super fun (said no one ever) hahaha... I actually didn't get hurt though.

Another race that stands out in my mind was one where it was not my turn to get hurt. Cliff was riding the stallion and we found a nice even pasture to race on. We didn't even get five strides out before his cinch broke and off he went along with his saddle. Eagles Wing ran all of the way home and I walked with my brother and threw the extra saddle over my mount.

When Ghost Wind and I got good at working with each other it became near to impossible to beat us. He was never a fast horse but he is more intelligent than most. So when a race could be won by sheer intelligence we always won. One of my other brothers and I liked to race on paved road because the horses had to use just the right amount of go or they would be in one spot spinning out. Well of course Ghost Wind had it down after just one run. Start slower and then push, I loved beating my brother. We were pretty good at the barrels too because he would gauge everything just right.

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Drill Team...

8/26/2012

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We rode our Curlies in a horseback drill team for many years riding in parades and opening for shows and rodeos. My horse Ghost Wind absolutely loves attention and upon seeing a camera he will hold a pose for as long as he thinks you are looking at him. Anyway, we performed our routines to music and Ghost Wind sure loved the beat of the music. He would time his movements with it and it was just like he was dancing. All of the horses loved being a part of the Drill Team and Ghost Wind just soaked up all of the attention he could get. The local newspaper would frequently be at the shows and rodeos getting pictures and of course Ghost Wind would be posing every chance he got.

At one of the rodeos my little sister and her horse got to hold the American flag for the National Anthem and throughout the entire song her horse was urinating. We did our best to muffle our laughter but it was hard and her face was as red as the flag. She wanted to go hide as soon as it was over.

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The difference with Curlies...

8/26/2012

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Well, one of the big differences we noticed with the curlies is that they think before they react. Even when they are enduring pain of some sort, they have shown us that they will suffer pain in order to keep from putting us in danger.

One example of this is when we were out brush riding in the mountains. We had probably ten riders on our curlies and I was in the lead. Apparently I stirred up a nest of yellow jackets that everyone behind me got the pleasure of riding through, lol. We had one beginner rider with us that had only been on a horse once or twice. The horse he was riding knew he was new at it and instead of running off with the rest of the horses he walked just as fast as he could while getting stung over and over. After we got out of the brush and I got a chance to check him out, that poor horse had at least twenty yellow jacket stingers on his belly and legs.

And that is a typical Curly...

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<<Previous

Best Horses in the World

Remembering...

Mounted Shooting

The Hardee's drive-thru

Putting out hay...

Niawen and the fair...

Why I hate Mustard...

Racing...

Drill Team...

The difference with Curlies...

Carrie W.

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