Here’s a true story for you to smile about :)<\/p>\n
A trainer named Junior
\nby Paula Turner
\nMy 14-3 hand Quarter horse, Junior, couldn\u2019t see over the fences we were jumping his last two years of consistently beating the big boys in international level 3-day eventing. Three hours a day dressage and endurance training kept him well occupied. Too dad-gum smart, I always called him my farm manager. Upon first moving back to NC, I filled in for a friend mananging\/training at S.P. farm \u2018til they got a replacement. Without the full-time job of event training, JR had to find other ways to occupy himself.<\/p>\n
Now, I told the farm owner it wasn\u2019t a great idea to feed yearlings loose in the field from buckets hanging on the fence; whoever\u2019s boss hoss eats from everybody\u2019s bucket and just lords it over them. And it\u2019s a dangerous invitation for injury. Ah, but she couldn\u2019t afford the extra help that required. Sometimes you just simply have to zip the lips, as in If you can afford breeding, raising, and training racehorses, this high-fallotin\u2019 farm with miles of good fencing, a barn \u2018lotta folks would like to live in\u2014and everything else I see around here, you can darn well afford to have somebody bring those youngun\u2019s in for meals, peaceful and separate from each other\u2026 No, the diplomat says, \u201cI recommend bringing the weanlings and yearlings in to eat their meals separately. They will each get the right amount of feed, and they\u2019ll eat in peace without having to fight for food. Otherwise your dominant yearlings could get more aggressive\u2014from too much feed\u2014while the weaker ones get weaker\u2014physically and mentally\u2014because the dominant ones steal their food\u2014not to mention beat them up at any sign of resistance. Somebody could easily get hurt too\u2026\u201d But hey, what did I know? \u2013This was how they\u2019d always done it, and that was not about to change. Besides, what\u2019s an occasional busted knee or leg?<\/p>\n
Anyway, since Junior never found a fence that could stop him, he pretty much went wherever he darn well pleased. And boy, did he ever enjoy feeding time\u2026 He\u2019d eyeball the groom, who went around putting out feed\u2014four buckets along the fence in three paddocks. By the time she got to the third paddock, he would have jumped into the first and started chowing down\u2014after domineering the heck out of some colt. Seeing this, the groom climbs across two fences and heads for him. Unperturbed, JR keeps eating \u2018til she\u2019s right on him, then moves to another bucket\u2014and so on. Eventually he gets her running the fence line trying to keep him away. \u2013At which point, JR\u2014still chewing a mouthful of steamed, crimped oats\u2014trots to the opposite fence (that the groom last climbed across) pops over like it\u2019s a stick on the ground, and resumes his ritual at the nearest feed bucket\u2026 He loved leading the groom a merry chase, jumping back and forth from paddock to paddock\u2014sampling everybody\u2019s food\u2014while the groom got exhausted and frustrated to the point of tears.<\/p>\n
When asked for help I told her, \u201cYou gotta beg.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me like I was nuts. \u201cBEG?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, beg. Don\u2019t just go after him thinkin\u2019 you got an ice cube\u2019s chance in hell. You have to stop, call him and say please.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face said I was still nuts.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, next day\u2014right before feeding time\u2014I saw her head toward JR, who grazed\u2014innocently\u2014near the weanlings\u2019 paddock. Thinking to outsmart one of the hands-down smartest beings I ever knew, she carried a bucket\u2014with feed\u2014to entice him. My head shook. Oh yeah, right\u2026 good luck. Shaking the bucket, she neared my boy, but JR didn\u2019t allow her within the thirty-foot penalty zone. Grazing paused, he gave her a \u201cyou think I\u2019m an idiot?\u201d look, turned, took two steps, casually air-lifted over the fence, and resumed grazing on touchdown. I stifled the laugh and hid behind a shrub.<\/p>\n
Her voice was loud. \u201cJUNIOR!\u201d I chose to resume some vital task in the barn, but peaked out often. Twenty minutes and several jumps later, I looked out to see the groom on her knees\u2014hands clasped in front\u2014pleading with her tormentor. \u201cJunior, please\u2026 you\u2019re such a good boy\u2026 please, please let me get you.\u201d JR grazed closer. She continued pleading\u2014on her knees\u2014until JR decided she\u2019d learned her lesson, came for the grain and let her bring him in.<\/p>\n
Thanks for sending it Paula.<\/p>\n