How is it Monday again?!

I went to the beach yesterday for a nice mid-day ride. My friend Linda was meeting some old friends of hers, and asked me to come along. Well, with Beau laid up, the next available beastie is Sonny. Humm. Sonny has had the whole winter off. But, he is a pretty laid back guy- so I figure he can handle it. Humm. Sonny has never been to the beach before. But, with the aforementioned even temper- he has taken well to every new situation I have put him in. Humm. Sonny does not load well. But, I've been working him on and off our trailer all winter (its a slant load- he certainly prefers the straight) and Linda said she would come pick us up in her straight load. So, I figure the palomino needs to earn his keep- so lets see how it goes!

When we left- it too about 25mins. Bill was here- we used lunge lines to "encourage" him to walk forward and he got right in with Miller and seemed settled- so I packed up his tack and off we went! Man, oh man. For a QH/Draft cross bought for his even temper- he was hot! And, again in his defence he has had the WHOLE winter off- and has never been to the beach! He was very tense- and I felt like he wanted to jump out of his skin at any moment! He listened well though, and I was certainly able to keep him in control- I just wasn't going to be able to relax. He did get "sticky" a few times and lost his forward- he didn't want to be pushed and we teetered on the brink of a meltdown- but he pulled it together! I was proud of him!!! By the end of the ride- he was in the waves! This horse jiggs for the hose and bath time... and I had him in the surf! So, all in all it was a nice time- in the grand scheme of things I missed being on MY horse- and I had more horse under me than maybe I wanted- but a ride on the beach beats pretty much anything in my book!

Linda and Miller were very patient with us- the boys had bonded in the trailer and Miller certainly helped Sonny relax. We had to turn back at one point- it was a beautiful day and the beach had lots of people- I didn't trust Sonny to walk thru a smaller area to get to the next stretch of sand- he was melting down and I didn't want to risk it. The boys trotted a nice long length of the beach and her girlfriends continued down. I felt bad that Linda missed being with her pals- but she was very gracious and I appreciated her and Miller immensely!

After a nice ride, it was time to load up to go home. It was a nightmare!!!! And that's an understatement. I have never seen Sonny this bad. I've heard stories of him once coming home from a show- but this was the first time I was responsible for him and he was seriously stubborn! And we are in a beach parking lot with the sun setting...with carloads of people watching the show. It took 2 hours to get him on. I was about ready to call a vet to tranq him, or start walking (its maybe 30 miles?!) when a 300lb woman in an older model sedan with handicapped plates filled with grey haired ladies cruised by with the window down and shouted "try a blindfold...it works every time!" Linda heard her say something about seeing it on TV but I missed that part- I was willing to try anything so we tucked a fleece vest into his halter, stuck a bucket of grain under his nose and about 2 mins later we slammed the ramp shut!

To make matters worse there was this really creepy man in a big red van parked directly behind us. He had been there when we arrived and was there when we came back from the ride. He was yelling things at us, and making hand gestures from his windows and got out a few times to "offer" advice. As soon as we had Sonny in the jerk starts tooting his horn in congratulations. Sheeze, people. He was so weird, and after the ordeal- we couldn't get out of there fast enough!

The whole day ran a lot longer than I had anticipated- and now the weekend is over, and it's Monday again! The vet comes out this afternoon to check Beau. I can't wait to take him to the beach!!!