Dontworrybeappy
Well-Known Member
We have a local Renaissance Faire here in Norco/Corona (SoCal) every spring, and I help out with a friend who provides carriage rides for the run of the Faire with her Percheron mare and beautiful vis a vis. Last year we brought Appy along a few times, and tied him to the shaft where he seriously thought he was helping Molly pull that carriage!
Saturday we were getting ready to take the carriage into the Faire, and a guy approached us as he was making arrangements for a surprise wedding the next day (yeah, wild, heh?) and he wanted to schedule a ride for the bride. When Wendy told him she wasn't going to be there, he was so upset that I offered to bring Appy and his wooden road cart to do the job instead. He was so thrilled he handed me $20.00 on the spot!
So the plans were made, and I went home a little early to get the man ready for his "gig". This year I decided to pasture breed all the mares, and have two herds put together, one with Buzz and his girls, one with Appy and his girls. I haven't done anything with the herd horses other than farrier and feed/care for a couple months, as I've been so busy and tired with foaling client mares. (I know, bad me... but there's only so much of me to go around!)
So I pulled Appy out, clipped his bridle path and gave him a quick bath, then blanketed him and tossed him in a stall for the night. Cleaned up the cart and put it in the trailer. Next morning I loaded Appy into the front stall through the escape door, and (in my costume) drove off to the Faire. Hitched up and drove with my assistant for the day up to the Faire site just in time to be there for the cannons to fire! They spooked me more than they did Appy!
Around the Faire we went - he was prancing and happy and loving the whole thing - not a spook from the man at all. We did the whole day with no check, too! After the first couple of times around the site (several acres), we began the routine that went on for the rest of the day.... stopping several times for people to pet him, take photos of him and their little kids, then off again to keep moving and be a part of the "show".
We did the wedding and all went off well (and the groom popped me another $20!) and we gave several cart rides to kids and adults alike. All day that little guy put his all into the act - and most of the time the lines were loose, the whip was superfluous and he was on "auto drive" - picking up a trot all day long whenever I let him, and zooming around the one fairly empty part of the Faire, making the cart bounce along the ground and cracking me up@
When we'd take a break he'd stand hipshot and snooze... and once I was back in the cart, off he'd go again! The only sound he made all day was one big whinny when we were waiting for the gate to be opened on the way back to the trailer at the end of the day.
When we got home, he pranced and called to his girls on the way back to the pasture, and ran and bucked and circled his pasture like he was fresh out of a stall!
Gotta love my boy!
:wub
Saturday we were getting ready to take the carriage into the Faire, and a guy approached us as he was making arrangements for a surprise wedding the next day (yeah, wild, heh?) and he wanted to schedule a ride for the bride. When Wendy told him she wasn't going to be there, he was so upset that I offered to bring Appy and his wooden road cart to do the job instead. He was so thrilled he handed me $20.00 on the spot!
So the plans were made, and I went home a little early to get the man ready for his "gig". This year I decided to pasture breed all the mares, and have two herds put together, one with Buzz and his girls, one with Appy and his girls. I haven't done anything with the herd horses other than farrier and feed/care for a couple months, as I've been so busy and tired with foaling client mares. (I know, bad me... but there's only so much of me to go around!)
So I pulled Appy out, clipped his bridle path and gave him a quick bath, then blanketed him and tossed him in a stall for the night. Cleaned up the cart and put it in the trailer. Next morning I loaded Appy into the front stall through the escape door, and (in my costume) drove off to the Faire. Hitched up and drove with my assistant for the day up to the Faire site just in time to be there for the cannons to fire! They spooked me more than they did Appy!
Around the Faire we went - he was prancing and happy and loving the whole thing - not a spook from the man at all. We did the whole day with no check, too! After the first couple of times around the site (several acres), we began the routine that went on for the rest of the day.... stopping several times for people to pet him, take photos of him and their little kids, then off again to keep moving and be a part of the "show".
We did the wedding and all went off well (and the groom popped me another $20!) and we gave several cart rides to kids and adults alike. All day that little guy put his all into the act - and most of the time the lines were loose, the whip was superfluous and he was on "auto drive" - picking up a trot all day long whenever I let him, and zooming around the one fairly empty part of the Faire, making the cart bounce along the ground and cracking me up@
When we'd take a break he'd stand hipshot and snooze... and once I was back in the cart, off he'd go again! The only sound he made all day was one big whinny when we were waiting for the gate to be opened on the way back to the trailer at the end of the day.
When we got home, he pranced and called to his girls on the way back to the pasture, and ran and bucked and circled his pasture like he was fresh out of a stall!
Gotta love my boy!
