SLEIGH RIDE??(story)

["Louise Burton" <firedancefarms@prodigy.net>]

 Well, the first ride of the season...and here I am...sitting here with 10
 inches of snow...yes, record for here in Oklahoma...and the ride is going
on
 in Texas...so...what to do?  The kids are driving me nuts...been three
 days....so...
 A SLEIGH RIDE!!
 Bruce jumps out to put sleigh runners are the cart...he made them years
 ago..I don't think we ever used them...one of the things he made before we
 left Idaho...and here is Bo (Fa Al Badi+/) endurance stallion of 3500
 miles...just hanging out...not for long!!!
 Amber, age 12, goes out and tacks him up with the harness..I look out of my
 window..she is having trouble..he won't open his mouth for the bit...wonder
 why?  I call out to her to warm it up in her hands first!  Oakies!!
Anyway,
 we get Bo hooked up...off we go...the runners make a lot of noise and
 drag..Bo is not too happy...Jesse, age 15, Amber and I are in the cart
 cruising along, when BOOM!  Amber and I are suddenly flying through the
air!
 We land on the front part of the cart...inches from flying back feet...I
see
 not particularly my life, but my expensive Pentax camera biting the snow!
 WHOA!  That does it!  The runner is bent all up...who knows what it hit,
but
 whatever it did, it bounced us almost completely out of the cart!  Back to
 the house...take runners off..back to wheels...put the camera AWAY.

 So, we didn't get to go on the endurance ride.  Amber and Jesse are
 bummed...already behind in points, you know...Bruce and I don't
care...we're
 riding the Russian broodmares until breeding season (they are open) and
then
 change to our coming 4 year olds for limited distance in May.

 But....what fun we had!!!  Bo just LOVES the cart...so proudly he "carries"
 his family...we are singing SLEIGH RIDE at the top of our lungs....we
travel
 down roads (Cougar Prowl trails) that are completely unmarked after the new
 snow last night.  The snow makes the cart quiet and smooth.  Bo is flying
 down the roads at a fast trot..somehow we never landed in a
ditch...couldn't
 have seen it anyway!  Louise Burton
 No wind, 25 degrees....what a great time!

 Some things to note:  Bo had shoes on.  He would do better barefooted, but
I
 found he was fine as long as he was trotting..the snowballs come out...it
is
 walking that he has problems.

 PLEASE PLEASE give your horses warm water during the cold and exercise!  Bo
 drank THREE buckets of water when we got back!  Believe me, they will colic
 if they don't drink enough in the winter!

 Hope you enjoyed my little story....go out and enjoy your horses...do
 something crazy and fun...if you want to see a photo of the cart
adventures,
 e-mail me...I didn't want to send it to the list because a lot of folks it
 messes up their computer.

 Happy Trails!
 Louise

 Firedance Farms Endurance Arabians
 Oklahoma
 http://pages.prodigy.net/firedancefarms