mar 25 2022
now this is serious...
a very long time ago-- i can even tell you where i was standing...( north of haverhill) i saw a "jog cart" for sale --- that is a 2 bike wheel type trotting horse racing cart... it was during my parade phase of child rearing....when parades were paying good money to have animals in their parade-- and we had them -- i don't know what i intended to do with the jog cart, but i wanted one- here was one for sale. $225 and i just plain did not have $225 even if it was to make money with the object. the fact that i still feel the pain of not being able to buy that cart is significant....
so here i am now.... with 2 of them... one janine tried to throw away- it is in a pile behind the arena....- and all it has are flat tires....dammnnnnit i am not throwing that jog cart away... even tho i don't have a clue why not. to be continued....
the second jog cart became the front section of the "half fast fire department". which pulled by donkey mary involved a 20' ladder and the tiller wheel with either earlene or a stuffed bear riding the tiller... it was very popular that year.....
the continuation. why not throw out?? so now i have 2 that need only air and paint.... and i do have 2 perfectly beautiful black horses that may have come from the amish world of driving.-- in my history i would have been thrilled to have that amt of "given" for any paradee..... except one issue stops me cold. those 2 horses came from the auction world.... why did someone give them up?
welllllllll.. there is one hidden thing that makes a driving horse useless... "she has run". once they have run away with a cart, they will again. at the most inopportunistic time..... the reason horses wear blinders is so they can not see the carriage they are dragging behind them... if they get a glimse of the carriage they move forward and they see that the carriage. comes right behind them so they decide it is chasing them so they bolt forward and the faster they go the closer it seems to chase which becomes a life threatening race often killing themselves and any people riding in the carriage or standing in their way......
this situation is often repeated with dogs... particularly when sonne one ties a grocery bag to the leash handle-- and then drops it.--- the bag then becomes a strange object flipping around at the heels of the dog... and you get the same response... "run it is going to bite." there was an accident in a fall river parade where an older.. experienced team of draft horses got running and tried to go up and over a p ick up truck killing themselves and 2 people in the truck. ther was another ?boston? where s spectator came along while the driver was waterhing his horses with a bucket.. and some well meaning animal person siad" you should take off the bridle so they can drink better " it looked like a simple request....and when he did the horse saw that carriage, and took one step.. it followed him. so he ran.. you... no one i know of... can stop a horse in that panic run state....-so even if it is slightly comical to see matt try and stay on a horse that is bucking... that is a very minor situation compaered to one terrified of what is behind them.
there are those... i was once one of them..."oh i can work it out of my horse... she is so resaonable i can do it." .. well i could not-- and she was saved only by getting the 2 wheeled car stuck between 2 trees..breaking axle, wheels and harness. but she lived. this is why when janine buys a horse at auction.. she pays matt to get on him and see i f he can get the norse to show any strange signs of misbehaving...."flying back" is another wierd thing horses can do... when tied to a post/tree/ whatever. most horses will. "respect the rope..." and just stand around... but then there is the oddball... who will stand very quietly if you drop the tie rope on the gground. but will become insane if you tie the rope to a wall or tree.... trying desparately to back away from this thing that is tied to his head....
that is 2 life saving tips from someone who. has been there.... and dogs will sometimes show that panic and run if they think something is chasing them.
not always... but it is that "sometimes" that could kill you.
