This material and any attendant photo illustrations are copyrighted © 2007 by R. J. Sagely. The reprinting or distribution of the whole or any part without express permission of the author is prohibited.

Nothing Much… by R.J. Sagely

I went out the other day to take a ride on my horse. I walked out into his paddock and he looked back to me from where he stood across the fence from the other horses. He didn’t come over to me though I waited a little bit. But then he did not leave from where he stood, like he used to when he saw me coming, bridle in hand. His left hind foot remained casually cocked and he just stayed there. Not much happened.

I walked on over to him and stopped a little outside his reach, positioned between his head and his shoulder. His head came up a little then swung over my way and he reached his muzzle out toward me. I reached my hand out to him, palm down and slightly cupped and he snuffled a bit before swinging his head back and letting out a sigh. He shifted his hind legs and let the right one relax, shook his head a little and then his eyelids drooped a tad. He was staying put where he used to walk off, or turn his hind end to me or lay his ears down and… well, scowl at me. But nothing much happened.

I walked the remaining steps up to his shoulder and put my hand on his withers to stroke and scratch his coarse hair. He is an appaloosa and his hair is thick and coarse with a lot of interesting swirls and whirls throughout his body. I tossed the lead of my mecate easily over his neck and gathered up the end and turned slightly taking a small step. He easily moved his feet to reposition himself so that I could scratch his withers some more. Brought his head around and gave me the once over sniffing that also gave me opportunity to scratch him on the muzzle and jaw, to stroke and straighten his forelock. His feet were still steady and he was waiting in so very relaxed a way. Not pulling his head off or putting that little kink in his poll. No, nothing much was happening.

I got my reins up in the crook of my elbow and directed his muzzle over toward me. His response was light and easy and I slid the headstall up so that I could hold it in my right hand. I cupped the snaffle and waited the moment it took him to open his mouth so I could slide the snaffle on in. He licked at it a couple times and stood patiently while I fastened the throatlatch and tied the reins up so they wouldn’t catch on anything and so that I could lead him without pulling unevenly on his mouth, should something happen that I wasn’t ready for or expecting. I turned to walk back to the barn, letting the lead slide through my hand but picking up a feel that went to his head through the lead and brought his poll, then his neck, then his shoulders, hind foot under and front foot around to follow, the feel right down to his feet. He fell in along with me and we moseyed on back. Nothing much happened and we stopped at the gate/door to the barn.

This day I stayed at the outside of the door and directed him through first. He stepped on past me and as the lead began to straighten up he was positioning himself to come back around and face me. The aisle is only about a horse length wide so he does this with due care, looking and feeling his way with calm feet. As I came through the door he backed two steps to let me in so I could close the door and then backed two more when I faced him and raised the lead. He used to just raise his head and set himself up to use his shoulder to go through me and push me out of the way, if he came to thinking he needed to (whether he needed to or not). As his left foot started off the ground I started past him and he easily rolled on in behind me. I kept the lead in the crook of my arm while I brushed him on the near side. I dropped the lead and continued on around behind him, brushing as I went. He already had a leg cocked up and just stood soaking up the attention. Some sparrows flew into the barn, right past his head. He gave them due notice but they weren’t all that troublesome and so nothing much happened some more.

I picked his feet clean and saddled him up, sometimes holding the lead and sometimes letting it to the ground. As I took the first snuggling pull on the cincha, he looked back at me. In the past he was pretty grumpy about this and on occasion would move about or make a little lip/teeth snap. But he let out his breath slowly after the slight snugging and lowered his head. I went to put on my chinks and spurs and he waited with nothing much happening except him looking for grain scraps on the cement floor. He stepped on the lead, which put a feel up over his poll because of how the reins are tied. But that didn’t result in anything except him stepping back off of it and then looking off to the side for more grain scraps. He stayed put completely after that so nothing much happened while I geared myself up.

We walked outside and I gypped him around me a couple times. Brought him in, stood at his shoulder and cinched on up to get ready to mount. He was standing with his front feet a little close together to take my bulk so I rocked the horn gently until his left front squared out and he stood solidly on all four. I put the mecate lead over my arm and gathered up my reins and piled on. This used to result in him walking off but he just stood there. Nothing much happened.

I waited before reaching down to pet his neck and before I got there he was already looking back to see why it had not happened yet. I picked up a little of the slack in the reins and looked over toward the south pasture gate, leaning over and sitting up as I focused out there. His ears picked up and his feet shuffled around to roll over that way and we headed out. These first steps used to take place in an awful hurry and I used to just go along for the ride for awhile each time. But we strode right up along the gate, I leaned over and unlatched it and we worked our way through. A deer flew up out of the undercover on the far side of the pasture. He was looking out there but it did not worry him too much and he just stood there while I latched the gate, with nothing much happening at all.

I could probably write for a few more paragraphs about gathering up the other horses and bringing them down to the roundpen. About how the colt is finally able to lope out across the field without all that bothered feel coming up through the seat of my pants. About how he looks for me now more often when things get tight and waits for me now when things are OK. How his frame has stretched, his croup and withers evened out and how my Wade now fits him and I don’t end up riding up on top of his withers cause his butt is so crunched up it forces the saddle forward. I could write about a whole lot of things that happened during this ride that really don't seem like nothing much, just little pieces of nothing really, I guess. But when I answered my wife about what happened during my ride… all I could do was smile and say, "Nothing much happened… but I sure had a nice ride."

Here’s hoping nothing much happens for you next time, too…

This material and any attendant photo illustrations are copyrighted © 2007 by R. J. Sagely. The reprinting or distribution of the whole or any part without express permission of the author is prohibited.