Re: mud

Truman Prevatt (truman.prevatt@netsrq.com)
Thu, 12 Dec 1996 12:28:10 -0400

>Duncan Fletcher wrote:
>>The rule about riding muddy areas is: Ride through the mud, not around it.
>
>I follow this rule unless/until going through mud becomes dangerous like
>really boggy and sticky - then I will take another path to avoid pulled
>shoes, tendons, muscles, etc. Like Teddy, I don't ride in these conditions
>unless I have to - like at a ride.
>

This "rule" really depends on where you are. In FL if you see mud it is
most likely a bogg and can be more like quick sand than mug. You can
really hurt a horse. Several years ago several of us were riding in the
Ocala National Forest. We came upon two riders going down to a lake to get
water. The had to cross a "muddy" area. When the first person went in his
horse sunk up to its belly and started thrashing. This threw the rider off
and the rider started to sink. Some one in our group had a rope (luckly).
I tied the rope around my waist and crawed on my belly out to the person
and wrapped my arms around him and the people on solid ground pulled us
out. All ended well except those damn rope burns hurt.

The moral to this is that all that is shinny and black isn not a mud puddle
with a hard bottom!

Truman

PS The horse managed to get out and was okay. The rider had to go get her
head sewed up from catching a hoof from a thrashing horse.

Truman Prevatt
Sarasota, FL