06.19.08
Visiting horse friends, carriage driving and newborn lambs
Recently we spent a couple of days with Kim and Jack, our friends who are keeping Abby now. We trailered over with the boys, Gilford and Glendale, so we could do some carriage driving on the dirt roads around Kim’s house.
Gilford and Glen at the horse trailer– you can see the Eagle carriage still inside…
and tacked up and harnessed for an excursion. Don’t they look excited!
We had three outings with our horses in drizzly conditions, in various combinations of driving and riding, including a longer drive with Gilford pulling the 4-wheel Eagle carriage and me driving Glendale put to Kim’s Meadowbrook cart. The boys were reasonably well behaved, Glen acting like the green horse he is and Gilford mostly just going along.
Hubby on Gilford (using bareback pad) next to the Meadowbrook while Kim drives Glendale. Behind is Kim and Jack’s house; they remodeled an old farmhouse just like we did, and acquired a lot of acreage.
Typical green horse behavior shown by Glendale:
stopping suddenly to watch other horses or a white donkey or aluminum pieplates hung in a garden;
shying sideways at bush noises, such as dogs suddenly running up from behind or out of treelines right beside him;
not wanting to walk past a couple of rams right next to the road, even though thehorses were pastured right next to those rams the whole time they were at Kim’s;
not wanting to walk through a puddle;
startling at a truck pulling a flatbed trailer which passed from behind… even Gilford, who’s been driving for 3 years, spooked into a run once or twice. Fortunately, there were no runaways or mishaps and both horses were easily brought back under control without panicking.
I got these bits of video on the day when Kim drove Glen in her own Meadowbrook cart and Dad was riding Gilford. We often put Glendale in the lead, which he accepted most of the time; but if he felt balky we’d have Gilford go in front.
Glendale is afraid to cross a puddle until his big brother goes first. Many horses shy at crossing water, even just puddles, even grown horses. Our very young guy is quite steady in that he doesn’t try to turn or run away, though he does back a couple of steps which is not desirable either in a driving horse. He will learn better with experience! You can see him listening to his driver’s voice (Kim) and learning to put his trust in her.
Glen hesitates to pass a pond, then stops to check out nearby horses, concerned mostly about a white donkey! After his brother goes in front he feels more confident and picks up speed, even going past a tepee with hardly a second glance! Not quite 3 years old, typical green horse behavior; he is put to Kim’s Meadowbrook cart.
Other excitement was also in store for us… one of Kim’s ewes had just lambed the night before our arrival, and the day we were to leave a second ewe gave birth! Kim has three more due to drop lambs any day; they are Leicester (SP? Lester?) Longhairs, a pretty rare breed. Kim has a bunch of wool, does some weaving, and plans soon to try her hand at spinning.
Baby ram is less than an hour old, born while we were out driving.
This uncommon breed is Leicester longhair. Mom ewe cleans off yellow meconium which he passed during delivery– soon he will be white, on his feet and looking for food!
The pastoral scene across Kim and Jack’s back yard, showing their sheep shed at right. The black horse in the near distance is our (former) Abby! Doesn’t she have a nice life!
