Friday, November 28, 2014

Scary Good Fun

**

Today I saw something on Facebook that could possibly give me nightmares. No, not the abused puppy pictures. (Damn, why do people post those things without warning?) Anyway, what I saw was this (sorry, it wouldn't embed,you'll have to pop over to their page to watch it): 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152194433561433&pnref=story

I have no idea what this event is even called, other than insane. In other words, it looks like a total blast, but only if they'd let me ride a real saddle. The scary part is while I watched this, I tried to picture myself doing it on the only trained jumping horse we've ever owned. And that, folks, was terrifying.

Her name was Betsy. She was a Roan Hancock mare, only fourteen hands tall (that's small, for you non-horse people) and had an attitude the size of King Kong. Some people we knew in southern Alberta had bought and trained her as a jumping horse for a junior competitor. She could clear five feet, but was too much for a kid to handle.

The one thing you could say about Betsy...she never bucked. She didn't need to. She could inflict all the damage she wanted before you ever got off the ground. You couldn't catch her, and if you tried to corner her she'd run you down. Once you did get a halter on her, she'd either drag you, step on you, or knock you cross-eyed with the side of her head. And to top it all off, she had a mouth like a rock, and wasn't above grabbing the bit between her teeth and taking off with or without you.

She was also, pound for pound, the best rope horse we've ever owned. She could fly and she had a killer stop. All you had to do was nod your head and rope. Betsy took care of the rest.

And because she was so athletic, we couldn't resist training her to run barrels.

May I say, I've done things that were more frightening than the time I ran Betsy in the big Choteau arena, but I'll have to think for a bit to remember any of them. Her finest moment, though, happened at a jackpot up in Alberta, with my sister Lola aboard.

The fence around the arena was woven wire topped by a wooden rail. I have no recollection what kind of run they made. They flew home from the third barrel and Lola pulled up at the scoreline. Instead of slowing and circling, Betsy ran straight up to the fence, planted and launched.

She would've cleared it, too, if she hadn't clipped that one hind leg on the top pole.

I can totally see Betsy in the competition in the video I posted. She would have either blown all their doors off, or it would have been a complete runaway with four or five laps at full speed around the arena and then she would've lawn-darted me into the water hazard. Either way, those people in the crowd would have remembered her.

I guarantee, none of the people who knew her will ever forget.

**

Enjoy this story? Want more? Sign up for my newsletter and get a story in your inbox a couple times a month. Plus prizes and stuff if show even a vague interest in my upcoming book, The Long Ride Home, due out from Samhain Publishing on Feb 3, 2015. http://montanaforreal.blogspot.com/p/sign-up-for-tales-from-frozen-north.html


**

Monday, November 24, 2014

Shifty Business

*

I confess, I occasionally have a hard time finding reverse on our stick shifts, but in my defense:

Our Dodge Ram Pickup



The Chevy chore pickup



My parents' Dodge Ram pickup (shown in actual position)



The International grain truck



Seriously. Can't we all just come to some kind of agreement?

*

Monday, November 03, 2014

Ranch Wife Workout #73

*

"Take this hammer and bucket of staples and walk the fence down to the end to see where the wires are down."



Yes, this picture was taken today. And sadly, no, it's really not that unusual to have this much snow here in November. Or October. Or September. 

*