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This
is NOT your traditional ride story but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Delete it if you don't...
Through
Malik's eyes...
After
our accident in June, my mom, Maggie has been very careful with me.
For those of you who didn't know about it, I sort of lost my head over
a passing mare and then lost my footing in some sand at the Hopkins
Creek ride. I went down, my mom went off... not a pretty scene! My
folks were pretty upset but the vet (Randy Rice) and the rest of the
folks at the ride took really good care of me there and after I went
home, my leg healed fast. It was only a bad bruise and not a tendon
injury which was what everyone feared. But I missed a bunch of rides
and Mom took it very slowly the rest of the summer. She gave me alot
of rest which I didn't really appreciate. I think she was kind of
nervous and I was kind of naughty at first when she started riding me
again but I couldn't help it!! I am a boy, ya know and I wanted to get
OUT there and be MOVING!! When I want her to know I am unhappy with
her, I do a very nice Pepe LePiew (sp?) bounce. Makes her mad and
makes Jennifer (her daughter) laugh as Mom hollers "WHAT is he
doing with his legs?". "HOW is he doing it?". Max, my
riding buddy and Jennifer's horse, just motors down the trail and
doesn't pay any attention to my antics. He isn't impressed. But I know
he has his little sidesteps he does to Jenny when he's being naughty.
He isn't such a goody two shoes...well, to make a long story short,
they finally took me to a ride again. I thought they would never get
around to it. Mom took so much time taking me out and making me
practice in the sand and griping about getting my feet up!! Sheesh,
what did she think I was doing? Swimming in the sand? So, they finally
got around to taking me to a ride...guess what? My old galpal, Dallas,
went with us, too!! That got me kind of excited!! We haven't been to a
ride together since last summer!! I think she's a pretty hot babe. In
fact, I was sort of hopping around in the trailer too much and scraped
my leg. When we got to the ride and my dad, Nelson, saw my leg
bleeding, HE started hopping up and down...he was pretty ticked off
with me. I was showing off for Dallas when he backed me out of the
trailer and he got even madder...Mom had to help me out with that. Dad
wanted to just get me back in the trailer and go home but Mom wouldn't
let him. She said if I couldn't go out, then Max and Dallas still
could and I'd have to sit in camp and wait. I didn't like THAT idea.
It didn't hurt and when Mom trotted me for Dad to see, I made sure to
move like a million bucks to show them it didn't! The vet said it was
just a scrape and the exercise would help any swelling anyway. They
sprayed REALLY cold, icy water on it with one of those dang garden
sprayers. I like it when I'm hot and it really cools me down but boy,
there was so much to see and do, I didn't want to stand still for
that. I have to admit, though, it did make it feel better and I
finally stood there for Mom to spray it awhile. When I vetted in, the
vet said I looked GREAT. I remember this guy from the ride in May
(when I won Best Condition at the Little Manistee Memorial Ride) and I
sure like him. His name is Steve Halstead and he says some pretty
flattering things about me. I am not so sure I appreciate him telling
my mom about those 100 mile rides he thinks I'll be able to do
someday. He could have kept his mouth shut about THAT!! Otherwise,
he's cool. At the ride, Mom shoves some more of her delicious COBB in
my face... she says that stands for corn, oats, barley and beet pulp.
Well, whatever it is, it has cherry flavored oil in it and it's
delicious. She wets it down for me and adds carrots and apples....mmmmm,
mmmmm GOOD! She is my grain goddess!! I had been getting lots of it
all week, 3 times a day, sometimes 4 and ALL the grass hay I could
eat...some gal named Susan told her a bunch of stuff about hydration
and gut motility and electrolyte balances and all kinds of stuff
(you'll have to ask my mom about that...). Well, whatever they are
doing, it must work, because I FELT great and looked marvelous, too
(if I do say so myself!). Well, everyone else said so, too, so it must
be true!! I don't know what the lady with the Appy is grumbling about
though...she is prejudiced about my color. Apparently my GREY spots
aren't the kind of spots she likes. I don't care what color her mare
is....I'm willing and able! Mom says this is getting too long and it's
time for a break...she wants to clean off her keyboard (my hooves are
a little rough on it) and check her ebay auctions. So, I'll have to
finish later...
Mashallah
Almalik
AERC#
H30565
Back
to our story....
This
past weekend was pretty hot but more muggy than hot. I'm a desert
horse and I don't mind the heat but that muggy stuff isn't fun. That
also seems to be the time when my mom insists on taking me out to
ride, too. Oh, well....it rained Friday night a little bit but
actually cooled it down some. I didn't sleep as much as I usually
do...they put Dallas on the other side of Max and he decided not to be
my friend anymore. He kept rushing at me all night with his ears laid
back. Really hurt my feelings, too, cuz we always nuzzle up and
scratch each other at rides. But he was more interested in being by
Dallas. We didn't have to ride out until 9 a.m. that morning...my mom
wanted me to do 2 25s instead of 50 miles because she was worried
about me....first ride back and all. I could have done it, I know it!!
But, she said, NO...let's split it up into 2 days! OK, OK...what
choice do I have? She's the boss! I was pretty excited about getting
tacked up and riding around but I felt pretty darn good about
myself....I could tell she was kind of scared, so I toned down the
bouncy. When they said "Trail's open", she said Yee Ha and
away we went...there were 6 of us doing only 25 on Saturday but right
away, a young girl nudged right past us and Mom made me LET them go
by!! I did NOT like that. Max always takes the lead cuz he thinks he's
such hot stuff but I didn't pay him any mind this morning. It wasn't
long before we hit the hill...it's not just a hill...it's sandy and
it's a loooong hill. I LOVE it...I can dig in and huff and puff like a
locomotive. I just feel like exploding with the energy I have! Sure
enough, we passed that girl on her horse. I was polite and didn't make
a big deal out of passing her like I did when I passed Dick and Rocky
in May... she caught us again later and Mom made me let her go by
again! But I settled in cuz I knew we would get a chance later to pass
her again! Sure enough, just before the vet check, she was off walking
her horse. Mom thinks because she didn't know the trail she thought
the check was much closer...it was about a mile from the vet check
sign yet. So we kept right on cruising by and Mom even let us gallop
part of the way. We trotted into the vet check and my pulse was down
in less than 2 minutes...I trotted out looking like a million,
too...what can I say? I'm buff!!! Max pulsed down right away, too and
we were both looking pretty darn good. We pigged out on COBB and
goodies. Max drinks like a fish...makes Mom mad when I won't but she
doesn't understand that I think I am a camel...I come from desert bred
horses! I don't NEED to drink until I'm 20 miles out anyway. She
sneaks in enough water in that COBB stuff anyway!! I think she tries
to sneak in that salty stuff, too, so she doesn't have to shove that
syringe in my mouth! I peed a lake while
in
the vet check....felt sooooo good!!! And it makes Mom soooo happy and
she doesn't get as mad about the drinking thing. I can't believe how
these people go on about my urine! Sheesh! Anyway, after our 30 minute
hold, we're out again. Did I mention how I LOVE this trail??? It has
hills and ups and downs and arounds...it keeps changing all the time.
Mom lets me GALLOP as hard and as fast (almost) as I want up them,
too. It really charges me up!! I don't know why she won't let me go
DOWN them the same way. I think it would be great fun but she gets
pretty worked up if I try and starts muttering something about the
damn Snowy River man. We're working on the compromise where sometimes,
she lets me TROT downhill if it's not too steep. I can live with that.
We also passed a lot of trees CLOSE up if you know what I mean...Max
got in trouble when he took Jenny too close to one and banged her
knee. I was soooo careful and Mom practiced her leg aids with
me...she's getting the hang of this thing! She did pretty good and we
were both happy. None of the other riders ever passed us after the vet
check. Mom made us slow down and walk through the deep sandy areas...
made Jenny and Max and me kind of mad cuz we wanted to go a lot
faster. She still gets nervous about the sand though and I guess I
understand why... she has to gain some confidence back in both of us.
She's trying really hard and she'll do OK. We came into the finish in
just over 3 hours, pulsed right down and both Max and I looked and
felt great. I knew we could have done another 25 yet that day!!! Mom
came back from her potluck dinner later that day quite pleased and
happy about something called a BC...whatever that is. Apparently,
she's so fat and I'm so fit, we won a blue ribbon and a pewter
bookmark. I didn't care as long as I got my COBB and hay!!! The Tin
Cup Springs conclusion in a moment...stay tuned!
Mashallah
Almalik
AERC#
H30565
Mom
says I have to hurry up and finish this. It's taking too long! Besides
it's almost time for my supper. Can't miss that!
So....where
were we? Well, Mom was pretty happy about the BC thing and all the
nice things the vets and other people were saying about me. She kept
slipping me extra apples and carrots...I certainly didn't save any for
Max. He had been so mean to me the night before. I didn't bite him
during our ride today but I sure thought about it...Mom could tell and
she told me NO a little too loudly but I was just trying to let Max
know my feelings were hurt...and I wouldn't mind giving him something
to think about!! Anyway, I settled down that night...Max came over and
we sort of made up with each other. He didn't mean to hurt my
feelings. We still had to ride 25 miles together on Sunday, too. The
weather was still warm and the air was heavy all night long. On
Sunday, we had to start out at 7 a.m. Dad was snoring too loud so Mom
got up extra early to hang out with me and sit by the fire. I like
watching that fire in the night...it's pretty soothing. And I didn't
like hearing those coyotes off in the distance so I was glad Mom was
up. We tacked up and moved out for the vet who said Max and I both
looked great and were ready to go. Mom was pretty nervous about the
vet lady who showed up to ride the night before... she is a nice lady
(her name is Sara Michelin) and when I lost my head over her mare at
Hopkins Creek and went down and hurt my leg in the sand, she came back
and helped me and my mom. But Mom knows she is a pretty serious
competitor, too and she wanted me to do well and learn from our past
mistakes. As it turned out, we leap frogged on the trail with each
other a few times and of course, I had to give my manly spiel to
Sara's mare but Mom helped me keep my head and I remembered the
business at hand which helped us finish strong and in good shape. We
would have done even better on the loop back to camp had she figured
out earlier that I had forgotten to pee in the vet check and I HAD to
go so bad!!! She couldn't figure out if her heart monitor was broken
or if I was broken so she finally stopped, took off her watch, which
kept beeping madly and drives us both nuts and when I started to
graze, the urge took over and I peed a lake AND two rivers and then
away we went! This day, Mom let us go faster in the sand, a gallop
once in awhile where it was deepest and trotting or walking where it
was safer. We were ahead of the vet lady and her friend most of the
way until the last two miles and then they passed us...oooohhhhh, boy,
was I upset!! Max was, too. He wanted to be FIRST. I think Jenny did,
too. Mom wouldn't let me have my head until it cleared and I agreed to
a steady trot...I can trot pretty fast when I want to. We caught up
and just before camp, Dad had slosh bottles for all 4 of us and then
we cruised into camp....Max and the vet lady's mare can trot like
nobody's business and Mom didn't want me to lope... I wanted to try
the Pepe bounce but she wouldn't let me do that either. We finally
settled on a sloooooow (maddeningly slow for me) lope which helped me
to catch up and then we trotted the rest of the way into camp
together. We were all pretty hot but having a good time. I was pretty
excited about that pretty mare and getting back to camp and COBB so I
took longer to pulse down. The vet lady's mare pulsed down first and
then Max and I tied each other for time. But boy, I love that spray
bottle then....they use it a lot and walk me around and pat me and rub
me all over. Oooh, I do like the finish part of the ride, too! It took
us about the same amount of time as the day before, maybe a few
minutes faster (2:59). We got more COBB and apples and carrots and
after somebody blew a horn and Mom and Dad were gone for a bit, they
came back with a red ribbon and a beer mug with a pewter mare and foal
on it...now the mare wasn't bad looking but I hope they don't expect
me to DRINK out of that thing. She says it's another one of those BC
things. Like I said, just give me my COBB. At least she didn't come
back with one of those blankets like she did last time and made me
wear it and pose with it. Sheesh...I wish she'd bring me back
something I can use for myself!! But, she was pretty happy with me and
I got some extra apples and carrots again. Works for me!
Mashallah
Almalik
AERC#
H30565
Miles of Smiles! Maggie and Malik
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