Rodeo Re-Ride Guest, Mindy Hoggan, has graciously agreed to share another bucking stock story - from a girl's point-of-view! Gotta love it!
The HALTERED HORSE
The last performance of the rodeo has came to a close. We are getting ready to trail the horses back out to their pasture. I head out to the hill to close the gates & open the gates to the pasture. There are about 4 gates that have to be closed so the horses don’t escape. All of which are high traffic areas for timeys getting to their trailers. By the time I get the 4th gate closed…the 1st one I started with usually has to be double checked again. This fun lil’ game is the reason I stand guard out on the hill…to ensure that the gates aren’t opened & horses turned loose.
I holler for the guys to send the horses. My gates are closed & the pasture is open. Standing in the dark up on the hill awaiting the horses. The bucking horses not used in that performance were already out in the pasture. They made their way up to the hill to greet me. That nights rodeo horses come loping out of the building & meet with their comrades. As I look thru the herd of horses I see a……horse with a halter on it. Ugg, some timey’s horse must have gotten loose and now was joined up with the bucking horses. I make my way into the middle of this sea of bucking horses. I get a hold of the lead rope but she isn’t wanting to lead very well. Satin Sheets ( a beautiful blue roan bucking horse), ran between us and was dragging me & all but running the lead rope under her tail. I turned loose of the lead rope not wanting to get kicked. The haltered horse was all riled up by the other bucking horses, I’m sure. I slipped around to get ahold of the lead rope again; this time trying to get close enough to the fence so that I can take a wrap around a post to snub her up. Thank the good Lord above I couldn’t get her close enough! She drug me across the hill top again & I start YELLING for the guys at the door for help! "HELP…there is a horse with a halter on! (ugg…seriously…..I can’t even catch a stupid timeys horse)" A bull fighter & a CSI roughy make their way outside to help me. (thinking I’m crazy) No, there is actually a horse with a halter on it. The three of us can certainly get her cornered up & caught. The rest of the bucking horses are tired of being ran around & head out to pasture. I set out to turn her back. ……Nope….there is no bluff in this ol gal & she didn’t even bat an eye at me trying to stop her. SERIOUSLY! Ugg….so the guys & I head out around the bucking horses afoot & in the dark. We sort off a small set of horses to bring in with her. Well, sort her off & catch her. I’m on the gate & the bull fighter is sorting. Holy mackerel….! There are 3 of us & we still can’t get her cornered up!After try, after try, after try….I’m fed up! Let’s run her back in the building. I run down to the building, thru the side door & holler for the big door to be opened. The rest of the crew inside….now thinks I’m crazy also. Why? They ask. Just open it! I have a horse with a halter on. They open the door & we run in the haltered horse with 2 other bucking horse companions.
Low & Behold……..This black & white mare is packing a number 4 brand on her hip (our rodeo company brand) & a 100 number brand!HOLY CRAP!!!!! This is 100 MISS LIZ…..one of our bucking horses! We run her into the stripping chute to get the halter off. This mare was not even in the short go performance! How in the heck did they get the halter on this horse! If I was truly evil, I would make you wait to hear the rest of the story…like I did.
HOW did they get a halter on that horse?????! This question plagued me all night! It probably would have plagued me for years if it wasn’t for a random turn of events. David & I get to the rodeo grounds to load the rodeo stock & head home. Well, some nice girl had parked in front of the loading chute. Her pickup was locked & no one could find her. No problem, we had to gather, sort & do a few things before we loaded. The college team was there cleaning up & a some of the kids came out to help us gather the stock. One of the guys says….Oh, there might be a halter on one of the horses. I don’t even hesitate.....before following with a ….HOW DID YOU GET A HALTER ON THAT HORSE!!!!????
He proceeds to tell us that she had got stuck in the fence the afternoon before. She was pinned with a leg thru the fence. Her hips were pinned so she couldn’t really move. They put the halter on to help get her out but once they’d freed her…..They couldn’t get the halter back off! LOL…..wow, that would’ve plagued me for life if I wouldn’t have heard the rest of the story!
I would also like to thank the college girl that locked her keys in the truck. After we were sorted & ready to load….the truck’s owner still hadn’t surfaced. After about an hours time….a group of inexperienced criminals finally perfected our breaking in skills. The trucks wheels had been turned to the left so…we pushed the truck up hill & out of the way so the semi could back in. All a new experience for me, which I appreciated learning new skills. But most importantly, THANK YOU….because if that truck wouldn’t have been parked there….I might never have known how a halter got on that horse!
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