I don't know if they ever caught the responsible party, but just like eating at Jack & the Box, I feel pretty safe that they won't screw up again.
I was outside when I suddenly heard this loud WHOOSH and I thought, "No way, it can't be. It's Winter." But sure enough, a hot air balloon was going over. I was like, "What do I do...Mara's gonna flip." I put a halter and lead on her and just held on in case she decided to try to leave, like Baasha did his first time seeing one. However, Mara's German, and these are pretty common here. She just watched it carefully, as did Bellis (transfixed) and she kept checking with the neighbor mares across the street (who were much, much closer to the thing).
You can see in the photos she's going back and forth from checking with the neighbor mares, and watching the balloon. I don't know why these things have to go over horse fields, I think that shouldn't be allowed. I've heard they are even allowed to land in your field if they must. Whatever. I also think it's foolish to ride in something with no brakes and no reliable steering, over country roads with powerlines, so I won't ever go up in one.
Mara's really good with vehicles, she must have been born next to an Autobahn. She apparently sees it as just one more vehicle type, it was no problem. Whew!
Below are two videos of Mara and Bellis and the hot air balloon. If you hear a really awful sounding bird, that's just one of the many annoying crows around here. I am working on getting a video that shows exactly how annoying they are.
http://youtu.be/gwtN-LefeK8
http://youtu.be/jXx8FpWFZEQ
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6 comments:
Cathy at Cascade Gold Akhal Tekes had a balloon land in her manure pile once. Balloonists traditionally carry a bottle of champagne (not the cheap stuff) to gift to landowners if they come down in an awkward location.
I don't think balloons are more annoying (or much less controlled) than ultralight aircraft, and we get a LOT of those around here!
"We ain't skered of no stinkin air ballon. . .".
:)
Amazing what they will or won't blow up at...
Last night on yahoo news, there was a news story about a second horsemeat scandal going on...this one in France. I know the french eat horsemeat...but, I am guessing this was not marked as such? I did not read the article...it gives me the shivers. Horses are to me, the same as a cat or dog in ways, and NOT to be eaten.
Help! I need a report on how your jigging problem is coming along. I seem to have purchased a horse which prefers to jig than walk.
aarene, i like the champagne idea but if i lose my horse, i'm gonna need more than one bottle.
kay, amazing, that it was no biggie.
tara, that was the problem in europe last year - the meat was labelled cow but it was horse/cow mixed. nice.
kathryn, wow, it's rare for someone to ask me for tips in my blog. i would have to say good luck, and try everything you can think of. i try not to give mara an opportunity to jig, by not putting her in situations where she feels she has to. the other day i felt that tremendous urge to jig come over her as we turned around and headed for home. i was able to change her mind by completely relaxing my body and doing some very deep breathing, while making sure the reins were totally loose. she walked a lot faster than on the way out, but she didn't jig so that was ok. i knew if i had taken up the reins she would have jigged all the way home. i never cured baasha of it, he would sidepass down the trail at a jig, literally perpendicular to the trail, both directions, as i tried to bend/serpentine him to distract him from jigging.
with mara when she starts to jig i take one rein and pull it out to the side abruptly and say Quit, and then release and relax and give her a chance to walk normally. this kind of knocks her off balance, cuz she's so green, and seems to work, at least for now. it's kind of a one-rein stop movement.
buck brannaman said to encourage a jigging horse to jig, using reverse psychology (?) and ride like a sack of potatoes to show the horse it's no fun to jig. i know for a fact that did not work with baasha, he loved jigging enough that being asked to do it, and having a rider thump on his back, was worth it to him.
please let me know how it goes cuz i will probably have this problem the rest of my life. i think it's my fault, because i am a very forward/miles-motivated rider, and the horses sense that we've got a goal from me.
My new mare is sweet and lovely but she has the jigging and to compound it - really wants to be a "peanut roller" type quarter horse in the worst way. So I'm probably doing way more half halts and fussing in the bridle than she prefers, as I try to remind her to keep her head at least vertical and bleargh.
being a sack of potatoes and doing a one rein "knock it off" instead of asking her to halt when jigging is what I'm going to try on Friday. Tomorrow I'm going to just go watch my trainer ride her and she'll talk aloud what she does and why she's doing it and maybe I'll take some video or something.
Annie would also be perfectly content to jig with her nose at her knees in tight circles or around a bending line forever and ever. Too bad I'm hunter jumper and not western pleasure!
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