Friday, January 20, 2012

Aliens Abducted My Horse

I finally connected with my neighbor, the one with the beautiful arenas; two indoors and two outdoors! She and I came to an agreement for 'leasing' riding space on an hourly basis a few times a week. Yesterday I tacked Doc up and we walked across the street. We waited for the owner to come down with the contract and then went into the hallowed ground arena.

Doc in front of the arena

My Mrs. Owner took me out of the stall after breakfast. She scrubbed some of the dirt off. I was a bit disappointed as I had worked really hard at getting clay in my forelock. Do you realize how difficult that is to do, short of standing on your head in a mud puddle? She put the saddle and bridle on me, slipped some extra hay to Pippin - oh, yeah, I saw that. She thought she had pulled a fast one on me... but I notice everything! The next thing you know, we've walked across the street and a huge door is opening.  I am sucked into a space that is so very foreign. It has to be the inside of an alien space ship. I have obviously been abducted for some nefarious purpose.

The arena is more than perfect! It is huge: 80' X 240'. There are several jumps set up and extra poles you can use as cavaletti. They have some poles set in concrete stands for pole bending and a few other odds and ends. The arena is used for a therapeutic program on Saturday mornings, so there are even some toys here and there, and a lot of small balls near a basketball hoop. Doc isn't quite sure about his surroundings. He sets out at very fast walk, something that is very unlike him. We truck around the arena in one direction, with Doc checking out the jumps. I have him turn and we truck around the arena in the other direction. We zig-zag in and out of the jumps. We go in and out of the poles. Doc walks like he is heading home and the barn is in sight. I have to remind him to slow down! Doc? Needing to be slowed down?!! How could that be? And the trot was even worse. I was wearing spurs and carrying a crop. Both superfluous! We spent a good deal of time trotting, making circles, transitioning down into walk and halt. It didn't slow him down one iota.

The space is very strange. There is stuff all over. There are painted poles strewn about on the ground.They lie this way and that. Maybe they spell out some sort of message. There are what look like small sections of a wood slat wall standing up, all by themselves. They aren't part of the wall, though, they are in the middle of the space. I wonder if they are some sort of trap. My Mrs. Owner is taking this abduction thing way too lightly. I need to take over. It's my job to keep her safe. I'm going to see if I can get out of here, quickly, before the aliens start using some sort of alien rays on us! I walk as fast as I can, and then I trot even faster, looking for a way out. 

The owner of the stables came down to see how I was doing. Up until that moment Doc had been fast, but he had been quiet. Then, for whatever reason, he realized he was missing Pippin. He began to neigh, plaintively, and horses from the stable would call back. Doc seemed to get more anxious. After talking a few minutes I went back to walking and trotting, but Doc was worse than ever. Now he was distracted by calling to Pippin.

A human came into the room . She didn't look like an alien, but you never can tell. I'm thinking those alien people can be kinda tricky. I start yelling. I can see some horses outside the alien building. I yell to them. I tell them to get out, get help. They just say, "Hi" back to me. They must have been abducted and brainwashed. Now I really gotta do something. Or we will become brainwashed, too. I start trying to go faster, yet. I keep calling out, telling the aliens to stay away. My Mrs. Owner just doesn't get it. She keeps trying to make me slow down. She keeps trying to confuse me and make me think about something else. Have they already taken charge of her brain?

I waited until we had a fairly decent trot down the length of the arena without my having to tug on the reins the whole time. I waited until I asked for a halt, and got one. After cleaning up a bit, you know, those little round 'apples' that seem to appear out of ... nowhere,  we left the arena and had a fast, but uneventful ride back home. Doc was sweaty - it was warm, on top of his working faster and harder than he normally would. I still can't figure it out. My horse must have been abducted by aliens!

Finally my Mrs. Owner took me out of that place. I felt a bit better then, and I felt great when I could finally see Pippin. I neighed to Pippin to tell him that I was OK. The aliens had tried to take me away, but I was brave and strong and fast. They didn't get me.

11 comments:

  1. Bodhi and I were a little spooked at first when we moved to Canada and started working in indoor arenas. They do feel a little alien--unnatural maybe?

    Sounds like a wonderful set up though!

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  2. Whew! Good thing Doc didn't get abducted by the aliens! I would have missed him! This post had me laughing so hard!

    Sounds like a great arena!

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  3. Camryn here:
    Boy did you bring up a memory. My first arena (lucky for Mom she was leading me), I did a freak out big time and was outa there in a heart beat. After that first time I was just fine (except the fact that arena always means work).

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  4. What an adventure. Cute horse version. Kind of makes you wonder what they really do think.

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  5. Oh my...I hope Doc can make friends with the aliens and work out they pose no threat and do indeed wish him to just enjoy their horsey toys.

    Blessings Kelsie

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  6. It is so funny how they "suddenly" remember they miss their friends! And I wanted to comment with a big thumbs up on having a contract confirming the agreement for facility use, hurray! :) Corinna

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  7. New places can be really scary..next time he will do better! :)

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  8. I rode Doc back to the arena today - just outside as today wasn't 'my' day to ride. He was perfect. But, when I think about it, he was perfect yesterday as well.... until we got into the arena. Doc's been in a few arenas a few times. All times, but one, he had other horses with him. I think he was really concerned that he was boxed in and couldn't see other horses. The other time he was alone in an arena was during a driving clinic, and he bolted with the clinician driving. It will be interesting to see if he settles as this become part of his routine.

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  9. poor Doc! But how cool that you have an arena so close that you can use!!!! He'll get used to those aliens and their big strange ship, I'm sure. Especially once he realizes he only has to visit and not stay long term.

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  10. Arenas can be spooky places, Doc did fairly well. Once he has been there a few times, and he "allows" you to be the leader who will keep him safe from alien abduction, he will be fine.

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