November 24, 2012

Boomer

Bitsy being a regal beagle at the party last night.
On the day after Thanksgiving this year, Austen of Guinness on Tap threw a party for all of us college friends.  The two of us went to college together and married into a group of guys who also went to school together, so we see quite a bit of each other even now that we are all separated by several hours of driving.

And of course, I couldn't go see her without going riding!  We have developed an unofficial tradition that wherever she is boarding, when I come to ride with her she puts me on the smallest and/or most ridiculous horse/pony in the barn.  At her first barn in Ohio, we went on a snowy trail ride and she put me on an aged Tennessee Walker that had been a stud until a couple of months previously, when he got his important parts hung up on something in his stall and had to undergo an emergency gelding.  Yeah.  At the second Ohio barn, I rode Bella the Wonder Pony:


Bella: so small, so angry.

...who showed me why she was no longer being ridden by anyone at that barn as she bucked, snorted and angrily spooked her way around the arena, while I giggled hysterically.  For more on those two rides: Ride I and Ride II.

Today, I went out to grab "Boomer" and was greeted with this:


Yeahhhhh, buddy!  When I saw Boomer's massive belly, table-sized back and yak-like winter coat, I knew that there was no way I was going to keep a saddle on him unless I had one of those rubber pads underneath. 

That's not him standing off to one side or anything, that's just his belly.
So I did the most reasonable thing I could have done and rode him bareback.


Austen had some trouble getting the first picture to come out right...
He ended up being a blast to ride.  I just tooled around at the walk and trot, bursting into giggling fits when I saw myself in the arena mirrors as he tossed his head indignantly at my attempts to take up contact.  I tried to sit where I should have sat, anatomically, on him, but his fat pads pushed me forward until I was riding his shoulders.  Oh well!  Austen, meanwhile, was riding a 17.2hhish barn elephant of a horse, and enjoyed patting the top of my helmet as I rode by her.

When I got off, my hip flexors hurt like I'd just done a Crossfit workout, thanks to the width of his back, but I had so much fun, it didn't even matter.  I have a serious affinity for ponies, and his little sewing machine trot was just what I needed this afternoon.

Thanks, Boomer!

4 comments:

  1. Ponies! Sounds like you have had some adventurous rides :)

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  2. I love ponies! I got to do a jumper course on one like Boomer in college. We beat everyone.
    3 of my guys have backs like that, so I know all about wide.
    Looks like so much fun.

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  3. What fun! Ponies are certainly a special sort.

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  4. Boom Boom! I think you should just take him. You are the first person to ever look decent on him that can give him the ride he needs. While he is fun, I looked ridiculous on him...and children, well he takes serious advantage of them.

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