...you can't just shoot 'em

I had a lovely ride, Tuesday morning, with my oldest son who has a wonderful balanced seat and soft hands but just doesn't care to ride - he has to be bullied into it actually. I don't usually, anymore, but the younger was gone flying with my dad and I 1) wanted someone else along since I planned to be riding a young mare and 2) needed two horses rode and only had time for one.

We ended up having a nice, long, relaxing walk - he even talked to me in actual sentences rather than monotones and grunts. Those of you with teenage boys know what I'm talking about. We were back to the barn and untacking when THE PROBLEM arose.


with this horse: : yes, this sweet boy, GLAMDRING TOS.
He has a habit that in nearly 30 years of horses, I've never had to deal with before. He can get his bridle off. Yes - the durn straps are tight :) He persistently, obsessively and habitually rubs his head on his leg, the rider, any innocent bystanders, any type of tree or fence - After years of regularly scheduled beatings and harsh language, he has learned to be pretty sneaky about it and so he managed to hook his bit on the little tag of a thingy that fastens the round pen panels together. He shook his head a couple of times then set back, popped forward, set back again .... and can you believe the durn bridle slipped right off without breaking... I'm still scratching my head over that one. Unfortunately, the panels were next to a pipe rail and at some point of the escapade he managed to smash the tip off his canine tooth so just a nasty little jagged edge is sticking out of the gumline.

He gets no sympathy, but he does get a trip to the vet in the morning. and maybe a story in his honor.

- I'm thinking about writing a story about a horse who slips his bridle and runs away and gets eaten by a dragon before the hero can come to his rescue, because of course, the hero has no horse because the horse slipped his bridle and .. ummm... you get the idea.