Well, Dad invited me over yesterday to help him hook some horses. …..seems real nice like quality father daughter bonding time……really….he just can’t hook them by himself. It’s a good trade. He gets a little help….I’m realistic…I’m not much better than no help. Anyway, I get to learn how to hook the teams again. The horses he has now are pretty nice. That being said….I think anyone of them would paw you on the head if you looked at them wrong.
The 1st set of horses hooked & ready to go. Runners are frozen down & Dad has to loosen them. Dad hands me the reigns & we’re off! It’s a little tough in the yard & the horses have to dig a little bit. A little riled up….& a herd of Dogs barking & biting at the teams head’s…..Hoo Waa! It’s a little wild…mainly cuz my driving isn’t that great ;) We blow left…look out borrow ditch…...right…another ditch….Barbwire fence straight ahead…..a little left…I finally get them shot across the road into a field & down the trail we go. About half way around the field they were working together pretty good. About that time Dad mentions that…He was a little curious as to what way I was trying to go when I left the yard. J We finish our loop & head back to the house. Load a few bales to go feed. I hop in J2’s plastic sled dragging behind the sleigh & play a fun little game of picking up strings while Dad works with the team on side passing. When we head back to the barn I ask Dad if he was really worried when we left the yard? He says “No, I was worried I would have taken the reigns”
It went well. My driving improved a lot…I thought. For the next set of horses I call Mckell & Ellie to see if they want to go sledding behind the team. Good times to be had to all…right ;) Well, we get them hooked. One of these horses has only been hooked 1 other time. He was a little more difficult but we got everything done up & were ready to head out again. McKell & Ellie positioned in a good spot to hold on. I’m at the reigns & we’re off……in a blaze of fire! Holy Crap! Horses blowing everywhere! Dogs Barking! Dogs Biting! Screaming at Dogs to get out! I’m pulling every which way put together! Dad’s yelling DRIVE! Left….Right….iy Yi Yi! Too much every direction….& way to fast! Dad is yelling to give him the reigns….oh ya….that’s not a good sign…. ! By the time he gets the reigns we are in the middle of the road….close to jack knifed & 1 horse down. Yikes…! Mckell….. “How did I let you talk me into this” I’m trying to act real calm….like oh, It’s fine….as I am screaming at the dogs to get out & trying to gather up the strings which are now scattered all over & under the down the team. Whew…we get everything straight & are off again. I run & jump on the sled. Dad gets us back out of the yard & headed down the road at a high rate of speed. He gets them changed over into the field at the next gate. (To be quite honest, it is pretty impressive how well he handles the reigns…but I don’t tell him that ;) I take the reins & out around the field we go. They worked well. The new horse was soft so he got aired out pretty soon. They were good enough that I gave Dad back the reigns & Ellie & I headed back to the sled to have some serious fun!
I drive that a little better….lol….mainly cuz I only had to keep Ellie & I in the sled. I kneeled & Ellie sat on my lap. We had a blast….tucked sagebrush…..rode the waves (aka…dips in the trail)….laughed until we were silly & only got bucked off a few times J
All in all, it was a great day! More Hamer Highlights coming soon :)
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