by Connie Foss
though he’s not the same one Meg used when we were here before. This guy reminds me of Santa Claus, with a belly that surely shakes when he laughs, “like a bowl full of jelly.” Meg has an place that is just for the farrier, where we can be cross-tied, with the ropes going from our halters to fasten in rings on both sides of us.That way no one has to stand there and hold us as the farrier works on our feet.
is Bubba. Bubba this is Chuck. Bubba is the top guy at The Chocolate Farm. He’s done great things, Chuck, but there are even greater ahead.”
feet need, huh?” Not a guy to waste time, Chuck gets started and picks
and you’ll be good to go.”
to be a problem.As Meg starts to snap him in the crossties, he screams and rears, striking at Meg. Chuck drops his tools and helps Meg control Prince, whose eyes are huge, the white showing all around.
crossties. “You know, horses have a good sense of smell and can smell fear hormones from other horses on a vet’s or farrier’s clothes. Could be there are some on my clothes. Is he usually easy to handle, Meg?”
“No, Chuck, he’s a handful…no matter what I’m trying to do with him.”
“Well,” said Chuck,“we’re just going to have to show old Prince that farriers aren’t mean guys. Is there a special treat he likes, Meg?
“You’re always so good with my horses, Chuck. Thanks. Prince doesn’t like apples, but he does like carrots. I’ll run and get some. I buy 5 pounds at a time, so I’ve got plenty. It’s high time I get started gentling Prince.”
Chapter 26
Prince
I’m ticked off! Prince is ruining everything! All day and all night we have to listen to him sucking air as he cribs in his stall. I try to talk to him, but he won’t listen…just whinnies at me. I know there’s something eating at him, but for the life of me, I don’t have a clue what it is. He’s upsetting the whole stable, and Meg is even more frustrated with him than we are.When she goes into his stall to work with him, he wheels and kicks, and, for heaven’s sake, he has to wear a halter all the time because he’s too hard to catch. I’ve heard Meg and Bill talk about what
acts this way.What happened to him that caused this? He wasn’t born afraid.
When Julie and I are out in the pasture together, we talk about everything. It is so good to have family. I really missed the sharing when we were in different stables. Now that we’re really home, we can share those years we were apart, and that’s fun. But what we really need to talk about is what we can do to help Prince. If we don’t get him straightened out soon, someone is going to get hurt. Meg and Bill are doing their best, but Julie and I put our heads together to see if we can help.
“Jules, since you’re stalled right next to Prince, do you talk to him…like you do to me?”
“I guess I really don’t. Certainly not like I talk to you. I talk to you because I always have.You and I are like one. Prince is different. He seems so angry.What would I say to him?”
“I don’t know, but maybe you could just say whatever…like the weather, how you feel, what you did with Meg, chatty stuff. Then you could ask him questions. Get him to talk.What do you think?”
“Okay. I can do that…shouldn’t be too hard. If nothing helps, at least I will have tried.”
talking on her cell phone as she puts him back in a stall...but not the right one. Obviously, she’s not paying attention, for Percy’s stall is on one side of Julie, and Prince’s stall is on Julie’s other side.Whoops!
“What are you doing in here, twerp?” nickers Prince.“Don’t you know this is my stall? Go back to your own.”
“Hey, big boy, I ain’t one you can order around. Anyway, you’re not in charge. Meg is, and she put me here. So there!”
The rest of the day Prince and Percy avoid each other, each staying in his corner. We can’t help but notice how quiet Prince is. There is no cribbing noise, no frantic whinnying.Actually, the day is the most peaceful day I’ve had since Julie and I came back.
When Bill comes to do evening chores, he, too, notices how quiet things are. “What’s going on in here, guys? How come it’s so quiet? Prince, are you sick or something?” When Bill goes into Prince’s stall to feed him, he’s startled. “How in the world did you get in here, Percy? You’re lucky you’re still in one piece. Come on, little guy, I’m taking you back to your stall.”
Chapter 27
Nothing Like a Friend
The next day Meg tells me that she and Bill did some serious talking the evening before. Was Prince quiet because Percy was with him? Is a friend what he needs to calm him?
other friend for him. It’s not fair to use Percy that way,” Bill decides. “When I was a little girl,” Meg remembered, “the farm across
the road had a little goat that lived with one of their horses.They were
the best of friends and always together. Remember the goat farm out
on the old county road that leads to the lake? How about we go out
there tomorrow and look into what it takes to keep a goat?” “Good idea. I’ll call them now and tell them we’ll be out after
morning chores.”
The next morning shortly after the feed tubs are licked clean,
Bill’s pickup truck pulls up to the stable. Soon he and Meg come in, and
he hollers, “Hey, guys, you have a new stable mate. Her name is Josie.
Wait until you see her… she’s a pygmy goat! Prince, here she is…your
new roommate.”
Walking right along beside Meg is Josie, a tiny little black and
white goat on a leash. No longer does Percy seem so little. Compared
to Josie, he’s a giant.As Meg and Josie walk toward Prince’s stall, Prince
knickers ever so softly. And when Meg opens the stall door and leads
Josie in, Prince lowers his nose to give Josie a kiss lick.
“Would you look at that…that great big, rangy guy loving that
little tiny goat.” After watching for a while, Bill adds, “I think we’ve
solved Prince’s problem, so I’m going to build a shelf by Prince’s hay rack
and feed tub so Josie can hop up on it and eat with Prince.” That night, the stable was so quiet, even Tom noticed. As he passed by my stall on his nightly rounds, I heard him hiss,“Hope it lasts,
hope it lasts, hope it lasts.”
Apparently, it is lasting for as we eat our oats the next morning,
Josie is eating out of Prince’s feed tub, right along with him. As I’m
thinking about it, I decide to talk to Prince sometime and ask if he had
a friend living with him before he came here. That might explain why
he’s been so upset. He’s just been lonesome. Maybe Prince was unhappy
when he was just a colt. Maybe he was alone and nobody took care of
him or loved him so he became afraid. It must be awful to feel alone in
the world.Thank goodness he has Josie now to keep him company and
love him. On second thought, I guess we don’t need to know why he’s
been unhappy. We just need to help him know we’re on his side, and,
between Josie and the rest of us, we’ll make sure he never feels alone
again.
Chapter 28
Prince Begins Training
No way can Percy be a saddle horse, but he can pull a cart.When I watch him work in the indoor arena, it’s like watching a toy train instead of the real thing…so perfect but so small. Percy looks pretty snappy pulling the cart. He has quite a strut to his walk and trot, though when you think how heavy that cart is with a person in it…the person being Meg…you wonder where all of that strength comes from.
Julie, of course, is pretty well trained for her Western Pleasure classes, but she needs exercise, so Meg takes Julie on a daily trail ride in the woods. Julie says she loves that time of day, when she and Meg are enjoying the outdoors and each other. It brings back memories of how
> Prince and I are the ones who need the most training, both of us in the jumping department.Yesterday I heard Meg talking to Bill about the jumping.“Bill, I’ve never trained a jumper from the start. Bubba learned
Maybe he would be better off with a more experienced trainer.” “Meg, everyone learns best by doing. You learned how to ride
a jumper by doing it. And you and Bubba are pretty darn good in the
shows. Now that Prince has settled in, and he’s comfortable with you…
with us, just take it one step at a time. Just like you do with any other
training.”
“You’re always upbeat.Thanks, Bill, but if you have any criticism,
please tell me. I promise it won’t hurt my feelings…very long,” she adds
with a smile.“We just have to make The Chocolate Farm a success, and
we may need a lot of criticism to get there…constructive criticism, that
is,” Meg says, with that impish smile lingering.
“Ha,” Meg scoffs as she heads toward Prince’s stall, while Bill goes out to change the oil in the truck.
Chapter 29
Six Interesting Visitors
“It’s been three days now, three days, for heaven’s sake, since I’ve been able to take our two guys out to do their jumping. Will this rain ever stop?” Meg is unhappy, but so are we. I miss being outdoors sailing over the jumps, but we seem to be in a wet weather pattern. The rains are heavy…Meg says torrential. As I look out at the jumps, they’re sitting in a lake. No way will we be able to jump outdoors.Too
happen.
“Bill, the roof’s leaking! There’s water in the tack room, and now
it’s dripping over there…in the corner of the arena.” Meg is pointing
where we are headed.
She has just gotten me out of my stall, and we are about to start
long lining. “We’ll have to stay out of that corner, or it’ll be a mess. I
least put some buckets under them?”
“ I was just about to do that.”
I really miss the sunshine. I feel kind of grumpy, and it sounds
as though I’m not the only one. Meg snaps at Bill, and both snap at us. Golly, I’ll be glad when this rain stops!
“I know, Meg, this is the pits, but thank your lucky stars we’re on high ground.
twice before the folks packed us up and we moved.That was not fun!”
We’re still eating our morning rations the next day, when Bill and Meg come running in.“You saddle Julie, Meg, and I’ll saddle Bubba.”
Faster than you can imagine, Bill and Meg are mounted and we are out in the rain going somewhere through the mud.
“ When we get there,” shouts Bill through the downpour, “we can each bring a lamb back draped across our laps. We’re lucky these horses don’t mind wading in creeks,‘cause that’s what it’s going to seem like.The Brown’s spread is on some pretty low ground.”
the Brown’s spread. When we round the corner, we see the trouble. Their house and barns are like boats sitting in water, and soon we’re splashing through it.
“Head toward that second barn, Meg. That’s the sheep shed,” hollers Bill.
When we get there, we wade right in. The lambs are all in the grain bed of a truck, and they are bleating their little hearts out! I hadn’t known what a lamb sounds like, and they can do a good job of being heard.
Clyde Brown, looking wet and tired, reaches up to shake Bill’s hand and tips his hat to Meg, as water drips from the brim. “I really appreciate your taking these lambs. I just weaned them a week ago. Otherwise, they’d still be out in the hill pasture with their moms.That’s high ground, so the moms are wet but okay. I just got back from putting the milk cow out there with them.”
There isn’t time for talking. It’s time to get to work, so Clyde hands a lamb to Bill, helps him get it settled across his lap and saddle before he hands one to Meg.
As we head out in the rain with a lamb across our withers, Julie worries, “Bubba, I don’t know about this. Do you think we’ll be okay? This seems so weird. I’ve never even met a lamb before.”
Glancing at Julie, I can tell she’s uncomfortable, but Meg sooths her with her voice and hand, and Julie calms down. Come to think about it, I’m not too pleased with this job, either. It feels funny…having that thing scratching my shoulders with its feet. But if Bill and Meg need us to carry lambs, then that’s what we’ll do.
“Six lambs, right, Clyde? We’ll make three trips, and the lambs can spend the rest of the rain snug in a horse stall. Be back soon.” With that we head back to the road, accompanied by the bleating of our new passengers.
When all six lambs are drying out in their new home, it’s obvious
I eat, Bill puts a couple of slices of hay in their stall, and they immediately begin to chow down.With their bleating stopped, peace returns to our wet home.
Chapter 30
Sunshine
In spite of the late start to our day, we get in a full day’s work, though in the indoor arena. Since Prince and I can’t jump indoors, we do
strength, but it burns off energy that can really build up when you’re just standing around in the stall.Then, too, it’s always good to review the basics, for one does get rusty. Prince still needs the poles to help him
Actually, Prince is doing quite well. Meg must think so too, for I heard her tell Bill that Prince might be ready for a Hunter class in the spring.That’s the way I started. Hunter jumps are lower and always the same distance apart.
After Josie came to live with Prince, another problem popped up. I thought it was really funny, but I know it can’t go on, or Meg and Prince will never get anything done. You see Josie has bonded with Prince just
his stall to do some long line work, Josie comes out, too. No, Meg didn’t
out. She just jumps up on the shelf by the feed tub and out through the feeding port, landing, plop, in front of Meg.As Prince circles Meg on the long line, Josie does, too. When Meg signals for Prince to reverse, Josie reverses, too. They look like a well-practiced drill team.
The problem becomes obvious when it’s time to saddle Prince. Having a goat underfoot is not good. As Meg moves, Josie doesn’t, so Meg has to work around Josie, and Meg’s frustration is growing.
“Bill, this is not good! It’s never going to work. I can’t get anything done with Josie in the way.Would you please take care of her?”
“Babysit a goat, huh? Instead, how about I make a door to cover the feeding port of Prince’s stall? I’ll hinge it so we can raise it up to feed through.” Bill is always able to calm Meg when things don’t go her way. I feel sad that Meg is so uptight. I suppose she’s worried about making a go of The Chocolate Farm, but we’re all in this together.
Though the door over the port solves one problem, when Josie is left alone in the stall, she makes it known hat she isn’t happy. Between Josie and the lambs, it’s a noisy place. Oh well, it could be worse,
I asked him how he handled the noise. “Who me? What noise? Oh that? No big deal, when I want some peace, I just duck down under the
nice quiet day. I’m going there now, and you’re welcome to come along,” he chuckles as he scurries away.
Fortunately, in a couple of days, the water drains off the jump arena, the lambs go home, and the ground dries enough for us to get back to our normal routine.
What Meg and I are working on is lead changes. In the jump patterns at shows, the jumps are set up so a horse needs to be able to take off on a jump from either one hind leg or the other. Meg says it’s kind of like a person being able to write with either hand equally well. Both take a lot of practice! Sometimes, I seem to get all tangled up with my feet, but other times it works smooth as silk.
One morning as Meg is giving me a good brushing and I’m enjoying every stroke of the brush, she tells me what she has in mind for us.“Bubba, now that Prince is coming along, he will be in the Hunter and Hack classes.You could continu
e to show in the Hunter classes, but let’s just keep you as a Jumper. Since all of the Arabian shows don’t have Half-Arabian Jumper classes, you may only get to show in the Halter classes at those. But you and I are going to crash the jumper classes in the All-Breed shows.We won’t take anyone else with us.Those shows will be all ours.”
Chapter 31
Show Time and Our First All Breed Show
The winter storms have passed and a lovely warm spring greets
First off is the Arabian Spring Show in the valley.Though I’ll only
show representing The Chocolate Farm in the Hack and Hunter classes. When we were talking the other day, Prince told me he was afraid he would disappoint Meg. If there is anything any of us wants the most, it’s to please Meg. I told him,“From what I’ve seen, you have it all together. You’ll be great!”
He was.He didn’t bring home the blue in the Hunter class,but he did in the Hack. In the Hunter class, he didn’t jump a clean round having nicked one jump, but he earned second place. Julie, in her dependable quiet manner, continued adding to her blue ribbon collection, so The Chocolate Farm was well represented in the whole show.
“I am so excited,” Meg said, as she and Bill were getting us ready to load in the trailer for the trip home. “You were all so good! Just three of you, and yet we are taking home more ribbons than any other farm at the show.The Chocolate Farm is on the move!”
We are, for not only is The Chocolate Farm doing well in its regular shows, but also we’re about to take on the all-breed shows.The
a day to drive there. As Meg wants me to have time to relax in a new situation, we arrive at the show grounds two days before the show is to begin. After Meg gets me settled in my stall, unloads the feed and tack, and organizes the tack room, she puts a halter and lead on me, and we walk around the grounds.
Though there are a few familiar faces, most of the people and horses are new to us. The show grounds are much bigger than our usual, being the state fairgrounds. It’s not only the site for the fair and for this type of a horse show, but it’s also the site for the biggest horse races in the state.
