Shetan was giving it his all but no matter how much heart & uumph he threw into this race Eclipse was It was also clear this was the first time I'd witness Shetan working hard to keep up with another horse. Shetan has an ego the size of the state of Texas so I knew this wasn't sitting well with HRH. I didn't know what to expect next but I kept my eyes open anyway. Two weeks later I called Gary and asked him to race again; but, this time I asked to please let Shetan win. All I heard was a big sigh followed by “only my sister” I had to explain since our race Shetan was making life miserable for Eclipse. He went out of his way to keep Eclipse out of the run-in shed. The shed was long enough to hold 20 horses & there were only 6-8 horses in that pasture,so there was plenty of room for everyone, but Shetan would push and bogart his way through the other horses [all bigger then him] to get from one end to the other just to keep Eclipse from getting in the run-in and out of the sun! I don't think he believed me but, Gary reluctantly agreed to a repeat race. We raced again; we let Shetan win and all was well in the kingdom of the pasture! Shetan gave Eclipse free access to the run-in shed. They lived happily ever after from that day forward, 2 years later My brother died after being in a coma for 6 months. He had a heart of gold just like Eclipse and was solely responsible for my interest in horses & learning to have confidence, but That's another story for another time, ECLIPSE: THE RIDER-LESS HORSE: January 1990 ~ I began riding Eclipse after Gary passed away in body, but not spirit. It literally took me 2 years to teach him he could “walk” calmly. Now Eclipse has two gears: 1st & 5th!! Hehe But Shetan was making Eclipse's life miserable after every ride and it was my fault. I stopped riding Eclipse to give him a break from Shetan's living hell. By ‘92 I couldn’t stand leaving Eclipse behind when we went out on trail rides. so I started training him to come along; first on a tow rope, and then at liberty [where there were no streets to cross of course] Friends would lecture me non-stop on all the potential dangers until they finally saw for themselves Eclipse acted like a rider-less horse on the trails. Maybe he appreciated being part of the group adventure so much He was thrilled to do anything & EVERYTHING I asked. It sure was a pleasure.. If he started to stray ... I only had to say in a soft voice "Eclipse, if you want to come again you have to listen." To everyone's amazement he'd turn around and re-join the group, either side by side or behind, follow the leader style. Eclipse was as fast as the wind and so smooth to ride. You couldn’t even feel his feet hit the ground. His speed was intimidating! If you remained calm you’d remember he had working power brakes and all was well! Eclipse had a heart of gold. Kids were attracted to him like magnets. As fast and as high spirited as he was you'd never expect the way he acted with kids. Little girls especially; If we placed an 8 yr old girl on his back and lead him around, he would keep tugging on the lead rope as if to say, Everything's OK, you don't need to worry. Sure enough, soon as I let go, he would walk the little girl anywhere she wanted to go. Her wish was his command! AMAZING! He loved taking care of little girls. Now, little boys were a different story! If they stepped on the gas just a little they got a lot! As for adults: If anyone was in a sad mood, even a stranger, Eclipse would leave the herd, walk over to that person and mush his nose in their hair or tug on their shirt collar; not stopping until he got you to giggle. he wouldn't leave until you said "I'm Ok Eclipse!" ... as if on cue, he'd turn and canter back to the herd. The other day I was reminded of the time we rode and left Eclipse back at the barn. Well, the next day as we opened the barn door, Eclipse pushed his way into the barn aisle; walked right up to the cross ties & stood stock still as if to say "It's my turn!" Soon as you clipped the cross ties to his halter, he'd be so happy he would twirl the cross ties by tossing his head. First one side, then the other! What a clown!
DONNA: Sharon talks to them as if they are her children and they understand what she says. Eclipse certainly let us know how he felt. He was sweet and calm and kept closing his eyes while I brushed him. What an absolute darling pony. He really enjoys being fussed over and talked to. I love the way he peeps over his stall rope and bangs the rubber mat thing at the front of the rope to let you know he’s there. LOIS: On the drive to the barn I explained to her I wanted this to be a fun experience she would always remember so I was giving her my main horse "Shetan" to ride because I trusted him the most. I also forewarned her when she sees Shetan in the stall: tossing his head; screaming and acting up she'll think I'm out to kill her. Hehe Then she’ll look outside in the pasture and see a very cute Gray Arabian quietly grazing & she is going to think she wants to ride THAT horse'. We hadn't even gotten to the barn yet, but I knew I couldn't stress this point enough: “YOU DON'T WANT TO RIDE THAT GREY HORSE!!! Eclipse was not as quiet as he looked and Shetan was not as wild as he was acting in the stall. Eclipse was fast as the win with power brakes but, back then, he had only ONE gear: 5th!!!! The minute we got to the barn Lois took one look at Shetan’s behaviour in the stall and panicked. She refused to ride Shetan. She took one look outside, saw the cute gray Arabian grazing and became adamant about wanting to ride that cute quiet horse in the pasture "Eclipse". I couldn't believe it! Lois completely forgot everything I said in the car. She'd made up her mind she wanted to ride that quiet gray horse in the pasture and nothing was going You can’t imagine how long it took to convince her how dangerous it was and how scared she'd be riding Eclipse. Of course, seeing Shetan's wild antics of twirling his head, spinning in the stall, and screaming didn't do much to help my credibility one bit! ha-ha!
To my relief, she finally yielded, trusted me and agreed to ride Shetan. To prove she made the right decision I rode Eclipse. After she watched Eclipse under saddle, no more words were necessary; Louis knew she'd made the right decision and we had a ball! Of course Eclipse paid dearly for all that fun! Shetan was so jealous he made Eclipse's life miserable for the next 2 weeks. It broke my heart, but I couldn't do anything. That's the nature of the herd. But that day I decided not to ride Eclipse again; and I didn't for years.
 I turned & saw Eclipse flying. I mean high tailing it as fast as the wind kinda flying; up from the lower field through the hedge opening and around toward me. His feet barely touched the ground. Eclipse was not going to be left behind! He he The
site of Eclipse flying with his tail up and his mane flowing took my
breath away. That is, until I saw him throw both front feet
straight out in front of him and slide to a stop about 10 feet
in front of
me! At first my heart skipped a beat; I'd never seen him do that
before. but then I caught the expression in his eyes
He wasn't sure he could stop in time. For a
split second, neither was I! But he did! My smile
stretched from ear to ear. [Eclipse's
skid marks measured a whopping 15 feet!]
Gosh, he sure poured his heart into it.
How could I want to ride alone and not take him. I couldn't resist! Eclipse joined
us for the ride! I'm glad Eclipse
finally feels "entitled" . ha-ha So
now , that Eclipse was joining us I had no choice but wait for "HRH" Shetan. Otherwise, I'd never
get very far on the trails once Rockin' Rita & Eclipse heard "HRH"
screaming. He rules!
Didn't
take long before I heard the thundering hooves. Here he comes twirling
his head as he's flying. Don't know how he does it without loosing his
balance but he does. The cutest!
We kept our ride in the woods this time, circling the trails several times. I wasn't taking any chances venturing into the open fields where Shetan could play his 'hide and seek" trick. Shetan tolerated my riding RockinRita but he didn't love it, so he would pull his pranks to get RockinRita upset. I wanted no parts of RockinRita bucking and rearing today. So we had a peaceful ride, trotted for at least 20min straight. Felt great! Kept my posting rhythm by thinking "flat stomach... flat stomach" LOL! Bumped into my landlord and his dog "Duffy"
.. Joe actually complemented me on my flower gardens and we had a nice
chat. ran into Marilyn and her boyfriend Alan,
he was actually nice. At one point, Shetan and Eclipse halted,
raised their heads and stared just like hunting dogs when they spot a
bird. I looked in the distance through the trees and saw some other riders.
I shouted to them! Asked which direction they were headed so I
could avoid them. Soon as I told them I was riding a Stallion,
they knew why I was asking and didn't mind telling me. He he They were headed back to the show grounds, so we
waited where we were.
Shetan still had his head held real high. His ears and eyes were still on the alert toward the other riders. After a while I wasn't sure how much longer Shetan would remain still, so I turned in the opposite direction and picked up a trot so he'd follow. Hence avoiding any potential trouble, keeping the ride peaceful *smile* All I need is for someone to report me riding
with loose horses. I might be told I can't do it anymore which means I
could never leave the barn. I had a clear view of the show grounds from the back of my barn, so I'm always on the alert and try not to ride when
there might be others trial riding, schooling over cross country jumps or whatever.
When we got back to the barn I let Rita
open the gate with her nose. This time it was followed by
Shetan
opening the gate with his nose and Eclipse got the honours as well.
They
seem to like it, because each one waited a few moments to
let the first horse get through the gate and half way to the barn before they opened the gate
for themselves to come through..*shrugs*
 . |
always just a ½ length ahead; running effortlessly; for the pure joy of running and staying close to Shetan for the pure joy of Shetan’s company.
It was so obvious Eclipse could have, by a long shot, left us in the dust. All my brother had to do was ask him nicely and in a blink of an eye they'd be in the next state with energy to spare. Gary felt so proud of his new horse. He was smitten. It was written all over his face.
Updated: 03-Jan-2012 |
