Yeah, a fancy NH word for "get out the spook". You might think, given that I ride Harley solely in the back yard arena, that there are plenty of things he hasn't seen. You might believe he's been sheltered, not exposed to many spooky objects, not heard many odd sounds. You are perhaps thinking, "Wow, You better get that horse out more before he competes, or he's going to KILL you the first time he startles at something." So let me give you a brief list of all of the spooky objects Harley has been exposed to.
Swirling ropes - I have twirled his leadrope beside him, and over his head.
Plastic bag - ran it all over his body, and shook it beside him (both sides)
Strange gardening equipment - Thank you, CRNG
Airplanes - The county airport is near my house, so often, they take off and begin landing over the arena
Birds Flapping - You laugh.... Harley initially spooked the first time those large-winged buzzards took off of the high power electric line poles
Gun fire - Thank you, neighbor boys. Now, keep them pointed AWAY from the arena, and you can continue to live
Dogs barking unseen and see - Thank you, neighbors, for not keeping your dogs on a leash, and letting them run into my property
Drums - Thank you again, neighbor boy. Da Dum Dum Ching!
Keys - I jingled a set over his head yesterday (from the ground, and from the saddle)
Standard phone ring tones - because we can't always switch to "vibrate" from the longe line center
Cars & Trucks - neighbor's driveway lane behind the arena
Golf cart/ Gator - See above
Bicycles - See Above above =)
4-wheeler - Again it's up up there
Tarps blowing - Not under saddle, but beside his stall, a tarp tore loose in the wind storms, and my lazy self hasn't removed it yet
Saws, and Carpentry tools - Thanks R, for continuing the washrack and sink construction with Harley on the x-ties
So, the way I see it, remaining are fountains, trains, screaming kids, metal bleachers, and arena advertiser banners.
=) It's amazing how noisy and busy life in the country can be.
2 comments:
Love that - glad to see you included screaming kids, too. Odd as it sounds, kids, the non-screaming variety, were seriously scary to one otherwise really steady gelding I rode. Come to find out, he'd never seen children before. Great to find out at the beginning of a parade route!
Thankfully, he decided they weren't going to eat him and settled down, but I had a good laugh over the fact that the huge-headed mascot-costumed people didn't throw him, the marching band with baton twirlers and flags garnered a mere hesitate & snort, and the go-cart whizzing, fez-wearing Shriners didn't even rate a second look. It was the toddler attached to mom's hand that had him straddle-legged and backing up. Don't know what he though she was!
Kids are scary!!! =) They eat horses for snack, don't they?
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