Stepping Off the Stool

     Autumn let out a big sigh when I pulled up to the barn before 5am on Sunday morning.  When I show up at that time it only means one thing...I'm about to get all  Toddler in Tiaras on her.  We were entered in the local horse show at the fairgrounds and were competing in the halter classes (you don't ride in halter classes you just stand next to them and walk and trot them past the judge).  We had the first class that started at 8:30.  I took out the list I had made the previous week, listing out the specific order in which I was to accomplish each task to get ready in time for the big day.  I started from the top and worked my way down, careful not to stray from it's order.  I didn't want to make any mistakes and have to face myself.  I can be a real hard ass and I didn't want to deal with my attitude.  
   I braided Autumn's forelock (bangs) as she ate with her head buried in her grain bucket.  While she ate her hay I brushed her down and polished her up.  I then moved onto braiding her tail which came out sort of crappy but I was already done with my tea and I needed to conserve what caffeine was left pumping through my veins for her mane. 
    I waited for her to finish eating the last straws of hay before I took her out of her stall.  I put her on the cross ties in the aisle as I set out braiding ribbons, combs and the step stool.  I started the braid close to her ears.  She held her head high so I was on the top step of the stool.  Autumn's patience held out for about 30 seconds before she started pawing and kicking the ladder out from underneath me.  Let me translate some Autumn body language for you...pawing the ground is Autumn for, "I want more hay", and trying to kick a stool out from under you, is Autumn for  "NOW!!!".  I pushed against her to shift her weight to stand on the foot she was snapping out with.  That worked twice and then she caught on that she's 2000 pounds and can easily ignore that.  As she continued to paw I continued to tell her to stop as I nudged her with my knee.  My caffeine had just tapped out as I was doing my cirque du soleil braiding job on my battered step ladder when she gave the stool the whap that broke the camel's back.  I got off the stool and stepped down from all that natural, horsey Buddhism, liberty, meditative, spiritual union, non confrontational, be calm and never get emotional at your horse, horsemanship crap I had been reading over the last few years.  I let her have the after-all-I-do-for-you spoiled brat speech.  Her eyes grew wide and her ears were pointed stiff at me as I stomped and hissy fitted around the stables.
    I ended my explosion with a relieved deep breath.  I pushed my hair back, climbed back on to my step stool and finished braiding her mane as she stood perfect statue still.  When I got off the stool she looked at me with her soft brown sparkly eyes.  I hugged her and told her I loved her. 


Two goofball friends

     At the  horse show Autumn worked her magic on the runway.  We came home with a couple of first and second place ribbons.  We both ended up having a great time and looked marvelous doing it!





Autumn... America's Next Top Model



   Thanks for reading! Please send this on to your friends, especially if they are publishers, if you enjoy my stories.  If you would like to leave a comment or would like to be added to our mailing list please contact me at Jacksonhillhorseygirl@aol.com. 

Copyright (c) 2013 Jacksonhillhorseygirl.com  June 19, 2013