With less that a week to go before the 9/11 anniversary, you and I both know that there is going to be tons of stuff on TV and the radio, in memory of those lost, that is going to make us all sad, depressed, and angry all over again. It's the nature of the beast, and even though this anniversary is one not to be forgotten, it's not what you would call a "celebration." So, to help relieve some of your pain, if such a thing is possible, I've stolen some of the lyrics from one of the songs I have on my computer, that I downloaded sometime last year soon after 9/11. I've been playing it a lot this past week. It does put a smile on my face, and I love the tune. Hope it helps. Sung to Simon and Garfunkle's "50 ways to lose your lover"
"The problems hiding in a cave across the sea
The answer's easy if you take it logically He'll never stop us in our struggle to be free There must be 50 ways to get Bin Laden:" "The president has put a bounty on his head He doesn't care if he's alive or if he's dead We'll send Commandos there to pump him full of lead There must be 50 ways to get Bin Laden, 50 ways to get Bin Laden:" Just hit em with a bus, Gus then send him a scud, Bud Just hang em from a tree, Lee So, we can stay free Stab him in the back, Jack Blow up the cave, Dave Step on his veil, Dale Just listen to me It will not grieve us here to see him in such pain We have to stop him 'cause he's totally insane He's gonna end up with a bullet in the brain, There must be 50 ways to get Bin Laden He thought the US would give up without a fight But now he's gonna face the full force of our might We'll show Osama what is wrong and what is right. There must be 50 ways to get Bin Laden. 50 ways to get Bin Laden....... Repeat, as often as you'd like. I'm listening it to it now, while telling ya'll about my new horse, because a horse tale must follow even feeble attempts at humor here on Ridecamp (I'm trying to follow the rules, Steph, I really am), and I'm even silly enough to try and connect the two. He's a grade horse, my new guy, never registered, but my guess is he's Anglo-Arab. I have no idea where he came from except some farm in South Carolina. His original owner is unavailable to me and the woman I bought him from told me he was abused by the guy she got him from. We're not even sure of his age. Somewhere between 6 and 9. I've checked his teeth, and my guess is around 8, but, it's a guess. And, he's got scars all over his body. Healed, but permanent things that make it look like he's been thru the ringer quite a few times in his life. I bought him from a gal named Kathy whom I met at a Georgia endurance ride. I was doing a 50 miler along with the wife and kid and Kathy was doing a 25. She started admiring my registered Arab named Makhsouss quite a bit. She told me her horse was impossible to control, and she was wanting to sell him. I took a good look at her horse, and I thought I saw some pretty awesome looking legs. Reminded me of Dance Line's legs, even though this Arab cross grade horse was about 15 hands and Dance comes in at 17, easy. The horse's name that Kathy had on his Coggins was Satanic Spirit. I could see problems right away with this name, especially since it was my wife's final decision on whether or not we purchased Spirit. My wife is kind of religious, and I knew the name Satan would not survive in my household, at least not with my wife still in the house. Satan, the name, had to go. The problem was, I had to make some sort of horse swap with Kathy, since I had only had a 3 horse trailer, and couldn't take all 4 of them home with me. A family conference would be required here, and any one member could terminate the deal. We don't like giving up one of our own, in fact, this would be a first time for us if we went though with it. I took Spirit for a quick run on Friday, he tried to rear up on me, but my Saddlebred buddy, Dance Line, had taught me a long time ago how to stop that one. It's easy really, works on all horses. You just apply hand pressure on the neck, slightly above the withers. Sprit gave up on trying to rear and I put him in a couple of tight circles, then released him in a direction I thought was safe enough to travel. He flew! Literally. I immediately lost control, like I ever had it to begin with, and down the isolated part of camp we went, subsonic speed. I know we hit 40 mph before I finally got him to slow down by pulling back on this monster kind of hackamore, with a bit in it, thing that Kathy used on this horse. He started throwing his head around, from the pressure, but hardly lost a beat in an uncontrollable fast canter and gallop combo he had going on. This horse has to have some Thoroughbred in him and if he wasn't ever raced on the track somewhere, I'd be surprised. I finally got him under control, we did a few circles, and I decided his next ride would be with a much less intrusive bit. But, even then, his legs, his movement, I fell in love. I could tell, for me, he just might be the one. It's always been a dream of mine, back in the "not yet ready to be released" playbacks in my brain. Cause, one day, if I ever find the right horse, I do want to compete with Val, Debbi, Darlene, and, yes, that woman from North Georgia. I want to play the game as it was intended to be played. But, I need a magical horse to do this. My main problem is I'm a six pack short of being a heavy weight rider, and I do think this is a big anchor to carry when competing against the tiny hineys that top ten in my part of the world down here in the Southeast. And, my new guy, whom I've renamed "American Spirit," just might be the one. Believe me, I'm gonna go slow, the first year or two, if such a thing is possible with this guy. You see, Kathy was scared to death of this horse, and she thought he might one day kill her. She was interested in a trade with Rebel. And, I might have some sort of death wish, because Kathy's fear was my desire; this type of horse fits my personality quite well. It's hard to give up on a horse who has been in the family for as long as Rebel has. Especially a horse like Rebel, who had gotten my kid thru more endurance rides than any rider/horse combo my family has so far come up with. Problem is, Rebel's conformation, and leg problems kept coming up at the endurance rides I had been going to, especially when my wife started riding him. With the light weight of the kid, and Jennifer's cute smile, she was able to get more completions than either my wife or myself could get riding Rebel. I tried to tell Kathy all this, but she kept saying she was only going to do LD's, CTR and some show ring stuff with Rebel. She was very interested in Rebel's breeding, an area where I knew very little. I just knew he was full Arab, registered, and I had purchased him from a neighbor of mine 8 years ago. He was unbroken back then and recently gelded. The gelding took place because Rebel had been breaking through his own fence and making unannounced visits to another neighbor's barn, where he evidently ravaged the mare inside on several occasions. Even after the gelding, Rebel still continued to sneak over the fence next door and relive those earlier encounters. To be Continued
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