A Trip We Will Never Forget Part 1

This trip was a roller coaster of emotions and tougher than we could have ever expected. With that being said, I am dividing it into 3 parts.

Wednesday, bright and early, we loaded Roscoe and ourselves to begin the journey to Indiana. Roscoe knew right away that this was not a show drive and Rosemary called to him as the trailer rolled away. By the first stop he was wondering where the heck we were going. By the second nearly 6 hours in, he was resigned to the drive that was beyond his comprehension. I told him he made this trip before, only in the comfort of Rosemary's belly.

Are we there yet???

We had taken out the divider and left him loose so he could move or stand as he wished. He reaffirmed my preference for straight load trailers by standing straight each time we saw him. He would change sides depending on which hay bag he chose to eat from, but he seemed comfortable. Roscoe drank at every stop and ate his wet alfalfa cubes. Though he did decide that eating cubes out of his feed bowl was not as fun as eating them out of the little bucket we used to soak them. He had a lovely streak of green up his blaze because of that choice.

Green nose

His biggest issue was that he really had to pee. I told him to pee in the trailer which was bedded deeply with wood chips, but he just could not do it. Finally at one of the gas stops with a grass area right by the trailer, I decided to let him off. Just in case, we used the chain lead. He thought the cement was a bit strange, but he was happy with the grass. He nibbled a bit before stretching out and peeing. Such a good pony!
On the road again we started the last 3hr leg of the journey. Peggy had navigated the whole way, directing us to a great route. She was also in charge of the radio, which at one point resulted in a laugh fest as she tried to find a country station on the XM and kept finding foreign channels. Overall except for some 40 degree temperatures we found in some places, the drive went really well. Then just at the end we made a wrong turn. Our tired eyes saw the name of the road the breeder lives on and did not take in the fact the sign said north and she lives on south. When we picked up Rosemary, we followed her to her place since we had picked up one of her other ponies at her other property. So this time we drove and drove, not seeing her house. When we saw a covered bridge we knew we had not seen the last time, we called her for help. Sure enough we had turned 2 miles too soon.

The Stud is IN

Eventually we made it to her place just as dark was descending. We settled Roscoe into his stall and then got to play with the foals. Roscoe was already being teased by one of the mares. He turned into uber stallion right before our eyes. We ended up having to close his top door to block his view of the mares and make sure he stayed in the stall. He also seemed fascinated by the foals running about.
The two foals, both related to Roscoe and Comrade, were so awesome to play with.

Rosemary's half sister Rebecca and her colt

The colt, Roscoe's cousin, was really friendly and starting to get frisky. He would bite at his dam and visit a young mare, getting her in trouble with his dam.

Always sticking his head somewhere or running around

His sister just born on Mother's Day, Roscoe's great aunt, was more reserved about approaching us. Her dam kept her away if she could. I had cookies in my pocket that I used to gain the trust of both the mares. Lisa told us we had to play with the foals while we were there. Such a hard job...

Roscoe's Great Grandmother and Great Aunt

Long baby legs are good for itching

Over the next days, I kept cookies on me so that the mares became more comfortable. I was so happy when the filly's dam let me play with her baby and stayed calm. The farrier in me had me picking up feet all around. They both were really good about that. I hugged them, rubbed on them and just plain enjoyed being with them. The filly even let me move her around a little with an arm around her butt. We even got to see the other young Cob mares and one gangly Warmblood filly. It was a pony huddle. Lisa gave me a pop quiz on who their dams are, I passed. Some of them will be bred to Roscoe so she wanted us to meet them. One named Rosalee, another Rosemary half sister, has been a favorite of mine since I first looked at Castleberry's website. Sadly since I know her ponies well, when I asked about one that had really cool markings, she told us she had passed away.

Pictured on left: RIP Chantilly Lace From '10 visit

The horses all went out at night due to the flies, but Roscoe had to go out during the day since he had not been on much grass. He was lonely not having anyone near him in the turn out. We ended up taking off his muzzle because the field was not too plush and he was running around so much he needed the calories.

Free after 13 hours on the trailer and a night in the stall

 He enjoyed watching the others when he came back into the barn. The colt made his day by calling to him. The tough part was that he was a bit hard to handle. Near the mares he immediately dropped and called. He reared and tended to forget about you. I learned to back his butt into the stall so that I could distract him enough and safely take off his halter. One day though my luck ran out. Walking back to the barn after turn out he was beckoned to by one of the mares. She most likely is in her foal heat and Roscoe was more than ready to answer her call. Well he lunged forward forgetting me, hit the end of the lead which engaged the chain and kicked out in frustration. I seriously worried he broke my rib, he did not, as I gasped in pain. I also worried about holding on to him since the roadside gate was open. Plus I would die of embarrassment if I could not handle my own horse. I knew he did not mean to connect with me. If he wanted to get away, he easily could have while I was getting over the shock. I regrouped and was able to back him down to his stall after Mom opened his door. He backed in and let me take his halter off before acting the dodo stallion to the mare in the next stall. Roscoe realized pretty quick that expending that much energy was not really worth the effort. I showed mom by chest and asked if she saw anything. Her eyes got big and she nodded. Oh yeah I am totally rocking a Cob hoof print.

So swollen and colorful, the other part of the hoof print is not in a spot I can show

My large fat deposit, otherwise called a breast, did something useful for once and deflected some of the kick. I have a huge bruise and scrape which turns a bra into a torture device. Luckily mom had arnica cream in her purse that I could use after icing.

Time to say Farewell

Coming to this barn had turned Roscoe into Castleberrys ReFflection, total stallion. Mom had told him that he was here to do a job, and then he could come home. Well he was ready to work. Maybe he figured he could hurry and finish so he could go home earlier. With everything, we could still get him to listen so his training was holding. Over time Lisa will introduce him to her yearling colt to hopefully be able to turn them out together. Then he will have a buddy.

A banana before we leave

I told Lisa we needed regular pictures and updates. Except for the two weeks he was phantom trained we have seen him almost everyday of his life. It helped to drive away after seeing him settled and accepting his circumstances. Part 2 of the memorable trip coming soon.