Lakota wants a bigger horse trailer

Hello all, 

Wednesday, I was making the hour drive from Equest Therapuetic Riding Center in Wylie, Texas when my good friend, Leann called and said bring your handsome Curly over and lets ride before the sunsets. After four classes and my own riding class I was exhausted but thinking of riding Lakota and watching the Texas sunset was just too tempting. 

 

I hurried home, luckily my lead foot on the gas pedal of my pick up truck didn't attract too much attention and I pulled in around 4:30 pm. I hurried to get feed and hay out and then started the dreaded ordeal of hooking up my horse trailer. Twenty minutes of back up, park, jump out and look at where I am and repeat..... I was sweating very unlady-like but finally had the bumper pull on top of the hitching ball by 5:15 pm. 

Running on a banana for lunch and pure desire to ride I sweet talked Lakota into the trailer. Now, I must admit if I didn't use treats that boy would not be on the trailer. I try everything and while I don't always agree with using treats instead of good training .....after 40 minutes of his big brown eyes just staring at me I give in. So, blump, blump blump, blump we are in.....yahoo, now I realize I ain't no young whipper snapper anymore  and I'm dragging.

Open the gate, pull out, close the gate and make the turn look back in my rear view mirror. Nooooo, I have a flat on the right tire of the horse trailer.  My speed goes down to 5 mph. I creep along praying I'll make it to Leann's place, which thankfully is less than three miles from me. She comes out and opens the gate and sees the look on my face. We unload Lakota he is greeted by all her horses, Cash, Fly, Chester and Cheetoe ( our Curly pony) and the neighbors seven Arabians. Then the dogs take turns greeting Lakota, I am thinking this is definitely desensitizing at it's best. Lakota is a great. He snorts a bit, which seems to be a thing all my Curlies do when they first encounter new things, and then settles down to munch on her grass just in case it taste better than ours.

Billy, Leann's husband comes home looking exhausted and I feel awful about asking for help. He is such a wonderful guy. He takes the flat tire off and puts the spare on without even an ugly look on his face. I know how I would feel if I drove up and saw someone standing there by a horse trailer with a flat tire in my driveway. 

Now, I am thinking, it's getting late, no ride tonight...time to get home and get to bed. 

So, we start to load Lakota. He is not buying it. He is not going back in. I try everything and even my last resort....treats! NO WAY, he says and at 1300 pounds he means it. 

By now, I am thinking it would be faster to just walk him home. Then, Leann, goes over to her super nice three horse slant trailer with dressing room and opens the back doors. She says, give it a try. I walk Lakota over to the slant trailer and step up and he is in. No hesitation....she looks at me and said, "Girlfriend, you are gonna have to get  Lakota a bigger trailer"! 


Next Saturday, hubby and I are going to a Clinton Anderson clinic in Ft. Worth. Hoping to learn a few tips on loading horses on trailers.... for our Curly friends{:>

 

Lakota, a very smart Curly horse and his friend with thumbs, Angie