Cheezit is Crackers.
Nancy DeMarco
guineas settled in, stay out of the road, and put themselves in the
coop at dusk. They eat ticks and watch for predators, and I think the
foxes are a little bit afraid of them. So they are working out very
well. I can't tell them apart, so their name is Darryl.
On an unhappy note, early last week when I was still herding them into
the coop at night, I had a one-night conflict. I worked late, and Jim
was not successful in guinea herding and capturing. And by the time I
got there, it was pitch dark, and the silly things were roosting on
top of the run-in.
I figured if I got them down, they would run off into the night
screaming, and something would eat them. And if I left them where
they were, something might eat them. So I left them. The next
morning there was no sign of them, but after a couple hours I heard
guineas hollering in the distance, and I eventually found two of them
sitting on a stone wall alongside the road about a quarter mile away.
They were yelling at the cars as they went by, but stopped immediately
when they heard my voice. I think they actually looked relieved.
I managed to herd them home, whereupon they ran in circles flapping
their wings and leaping into the air with joy. They haven't left
since. They run to greet cars that drive up to the house, then run
away, shrieking in terror, when a person steps out. My clients get a
kick out of them.
So, back to the Cheezit.
Lucy and Louise sleep in that run-in. When I cleaned it on the
morning following the guinea murder, there were two flattened spots in
the shavings where the girls had been nestled in deep bedding,
twitching and dreaming, oblivious to the drama about to unfold. And
there were deep gouges in the shavings and earth, where two horses
were suddenly awakened by sounds I seriously doubt I can adequately
describe. They both, apparently, bolted for their lives.
Before this night, Louise enjoyed chasing the guineas. Since this
night, she runs away from them. Even the chickens make her a little
bit nervous.
Today, I didn't have quite enough time to ride her, so I decided to
put her on the longe for a few minutes to make sure she did
*something*. And since I had a row of four cavaletti set up for Lucy
to bounce at the barn end of the ring, I took Louise down to the coop
end where I had room to make a big circle.
She started out a teeny bit concerned, trotting most of the circle,
and cantering a few steps as she passed the dreaded guinea-harboring
coop. I figured she'd settle. But instead, she gradually picked up
steam until she was cantering toward the coop and bolting away. About
this time, the guineas came to see what all the commotion was about.
Did I mention that they grew up with horses and have no fear of them?
Both guineas hopped into the ring and started running in circles
honking and flapping. Louise started to lean in on her warp nine
circle, doing her best to take it to warp eleven. The guineas seemed
to enjoy her efforts, and honked louder, one leaping into the air
while the other cannon-balled to the ground to scratch himself in the
sand. Louise thought it best to speed up a bit.
I started walking the circle toward the barn. The guineas followed.
Louise put a bit more effort into her dead run.
We reached the cavaletti. Being a sensible girl, Louise slowed down
enough to run between them. And for reasons known only to them, the
guineas decided to run back to the lawn and look for apples. With
each circle, Louise paid a bit more attention to her footing, and a
bit less to the guineas. And bit by bit, she regained her composure
and fell into an elevated trot, snorting and blowing and showing off
her popping veins and that cresty neck of hers. When I asked for a
whoa, she stopped, snorted loudly, and stood quivering, eyelids
crinkled in worry and ears fixed rigidly in the guinea's direction.
So, she was only crackers for a few minutes. But it appears that the
guineas may complicate things for a while to come. She'll get over
it. Eventually.
Nancy
Tamara in TN
> This is about Louise.
but honestly,where ya gonna see so nice and big a trot??? ;>
Tamara in TN
Tara
news:8248b015-75e7-4af6...@p32g2000vbi.googlegroups.com...
>
> So, she was only crackers for a few minutes. But it appears that the
> guineas may complicate things for a while to come. She'll get over
> it. Eventually.
THANK YOU for the best laugh I've had in a while!!!
Tara
MA Sandy
Good God, Nancy. I thought MY life was crazy and eventful!!!
IMO, it is the mares!! Run screaming now! ;-)
I am riding a 20 year old TB/Morgan cross mare who is DEFINITELY more
TB than Morgan at times! But, she is fun, for me at least! (but, I
also admit I am not playing with a full deck!)
Then we have the 9 year old QH/Morgan cross (I sense a pattern here,
since Lance is a Morgan/Clyde cross!) mare who is learning to BUCK
when she isn't sure what I want her to do!
The 20+ year old QH mare is just grumpy these days EXCEPT for when she
is packing around total beginner little kids (especially the
Therapeutic riders!)
Sandy
(pining for the days when Charm, the QH, was our ONLY mare!!!!!)
Dr Corinne B Leek
<nancy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>This is about Louise.
And she sounds just like "Geeze, Louise!" should. <eg>
If she didn't, the book you're writing about her adventures (how's
that coming, BTW?) wouldn't be quite so much fun. Just wait 'til you
sell the movie rights....
>But first of all, I'd like to report that the
>guineas
Are completely insane.
Olga (of the Iceys) has guineas and they're not quite so entertaining
as are yours.
But, yes, they seem, um, in another dimension.
>So, she was only crackers for a few minutes. But it appears that the
>guineas may complicate things for a while to come. She'll get over
>it. Eventually.
Maybe. ;-))
Love the Cheezit stories.
Corinne & Crazy Canuck Crew, true Cheezit Fans...
--
*** Conserve Energy: Laughter is easier than Anger!
*** cl...@ns.sympatico.ca
Hunter Hampton
<nancy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>I managed to herd them home, whereupon they ran in circles flapping
>their wings and leaping into the air with joy. They haven't left
>since. They run to greet cars that drive up to the house, then run
>away, shrieking in terror, when a person steps out. My clients get a
>kick out of them.
So do I. <g>
Hunter
Nancy DeMarco
> but honestly,where ya gonna see so nice and big a trot??? ;>
It was purty. :)
Nancy
Nancy DeMarco
> IMO, it is the mares!! Run screaming now! ;-)
I wuv my mares. :)
> Then we have the 9 year old QH/Morgan cross (I sense a pattern here,
> since Lance is a Morgan/Clyde cross!) mare who is learning to BUCK
> when she isn't sure what I want her to do!
Louise does this *thing* that I have come to refer to as her tack
adjustment. She does it shortly after I get on, usually while we're
walking, and sometimes when I first ask her to go up to trot. It's a
little hop with her front legs flung out in front of her, a lift of
the withers and lowering of the neck. It feels like she's trying to
toss the saddle a bit farther toward her tail, or maybe pull her hair
flat under the girth.
She does it once, and that's the end of it. A quirky little thing,
she is. :)
Nancy
Dawn J-L
She is a fine character. As are the guineas.
I really enjoy the guineas at my repro vet's facility. There's one
that hangs with the chickens 'cuz apparently he/she(??) thinks he/she
is one. Goofy critters. I did get to the see the guineas quite a bit
this year since we had something like 17 mare cycles where we hoped
and/or attempted to breed. (Two pregnancies after all that effort!
And my repro vet is good!)
--Dawn JL
a fan of Cheezit and guinea fowl
MA Sandy
I would LOVE to say that the bucking is quirkiness on the part of Miss
Ginger's Spicy Hot, but she does it at times when she is most spooked
or distracted or frustrated about something and/or doesn't get what I
am asking.
Did if the first time to me in the dressage show I took her to this
summer during the second ride through of the Training 1 test when I
asked for the right lead canter (you can hear Kris Anderson commenting
on the tape she was making for me that she looks worried as if she has
been FORCED into that lead or is just uncomfortable with it!)
Second time was when I had a grid of 6" x-rails set up around the
outside of the outdoor and we were tracking left; one of the BO's sons
fired up his Harley - she spooked, bucked, jumped the fence, bucked
again, then turned around to see what that bogeyman was!
Third time was last Thursday am when I was cantering her, yet again on
the right lead. When it is windy, there is ONE corner of the outdoor
which causes her to spook (she doesn't even look twice when the wind
isn't blowing!) YUP, the buck was while we were cantering a rather
oddly shaped 20m "circle" at the evil end of the ring! Cantered her
on left lead there and no problem and then cantered right lead circle
other end of the ring and no problem with that.
YEE HAW!!! Have to remind myself periodically that this mare is not
only 9 years old, but is MUCH greener than we previously thought (Did
I ever mention the story of HOW we got this horse and how the story
from that woman varies A TON from that of a woman I met at that
dressage show who owns Spice's coming 3 year old baby? BTW, we will
have owned her for 3 years in the spring - you do the math!!!!)
Have to say, life is NEVER dull in my world, but Nancy's and Eileen's
still have me beat seven ways to Sunday!
Sandy
(Looking for another horse for the lesson string and it WILL be a
gelding, dammit!!!! ;-))
MA Sandy
> Second time was when I had a grid of 6" x-rails set up around the
> outside of the outdoor and we were tracking left; one of the BO's sons
> fired up his Harley - she spooked, bucked, jumped the fence, bucked
> again, then turned around to see what that bogeyman was!
OOOPS!!! We were tracking RIGHT, not left!!! AND that was no longer
a very fun jumping school after that - glad that we are in NO hurry to
get her jumping stuff, since a flatwork reschool was called for in the
limited time I had to work her BEFORE I had to do the horsehandling
for Hippotherapy sessions that morning!
Sandy
(right, left, whatever!! Except for maybe Miss Spice, eh?)