I told a customer at work yesterday that I have “Horse Radar”. He looked at me funny…and I explained that I had seen his wife out trail riding the other day along a road, and wondered if he was riding with her. He said, “No, that was her daughter and a friend. Why?” I said, “Oh, I was just jealous, and told my husband—see? That’s what we should be doing today!” He said, “You have horses?” I said, “Yes, but I don’t get out to ride much.” He said, “Well, you should talk to my wife, she’s always looking for somebody to go riding with.” Phone numbers were exchanged, Facebook friend requests sent, and now his wife and I are planning to go ride at some trails as soon as we can!
That’s how Horse Radar works. This particular guy lives alongside a highway we travel down frequently, and as far as I knew, he was a single farmer who had some cattle and a successful row-crop operation. But I noticed awhile back that the place was looking a little different. First we noticed a big trailer loaded down with pipe fencing panels painted a crisp clean white. “Hmmm,” we noted, “Looks like they’re putting in a new fence.” A few days later when we drove by, we saw them digging the post holes, this farmer and a girl with a long blonde ponytail. “Hmmm,” we said, “Looks like he’s got good help.” “Maybe she’s a horse girl,” I said hopefully.
A few weeks later, my hopes were confirmed. She had a round pen, a beautiful new white fenced paddock, and a bigger pasture with two gleaming bay horses grazing in it. A nice horse trailer and a row of round bales were lined up beside the barn. Sure enough….she was a horse girl! I made a mental note to try to get to know her.
Horse Radar is when your thoughts are so keyed in to horses that you know by heart every place along the road that has a horse in the pasture, and your eyes automatically look to see it every single time you drive by. Even during the winter, when you know that particular horse owner sends their horse to be boarded at a place with an indoor arena, you still look at their empty pasture every time you drive by….just in case.
Horse Radar is when you make a trip across the country to visit relatives and decide that of all the 50 states to choose from, you like Utah best because of all the beautiful horses you see alongside the interstate.
Horse Radar is when you see an AQHA bumper sticker on the back of a pickup at the local grocery store and wonder who it is because you’d like to get to know them. So then you walk through the store looking for the person in cowboy boots….that’s Horse Radar.
I’ve had it my entire life, and I expect I’ll still have it when I’m ninety years old looking out my nursing home window and just wishing I could catch a glimpse of a horse. Aw, but that’s a long time from now. I’ve got a lot of riding to do between now and then.
Last time I rode, my husband helped me take all of the kids riding around the barnyard at the farm. It takes about an hour to get the horses all caught, brushed, saddled, kids helmeted and placed on board. But they really have a good time once they start riding, and I always think back that the trouble we go to is worth it. But then my husband took all the kids in to Grandma’s house so that I could ride by myself for another hour, which was super sweet of him.
I rode Penny, the buckskin mare, and we took off alongside the highway and across the river bridge and rode in to town. She was unfazed by any traffic, but the bridge was a little scary for her. I had to get off and lead her over it the first time, and she was snorty and wary of the two siderails. The hard part is timing it so you can get across without any cars coming along. Not that the horse is scared of the cars, but it is usually the car drivers that are surprised at a horse being on the bridge, even if it’s out of the way in the other lane, and I don’t like to scare people, so I try to wait until no cars are coming. It seems there are two types of drivers….those who see you and hit the brakes like you’re a wild deer that might cross in front of them, and then they drive way over on the other side of the road so they don’t scare your horse…and those who see you but don’t slow down at all because they’re in their huge noisy diesel pickup and they think it’s cool to gun the engine as they pass just to see if they can spook your horse. Either one of them makes me hate riding alongside the road.
So I want to try out some of these parks that are designed for trail riding and horse people, because I think it would be more fun, relaxing, and interesting for both me and my horse. My new horse friend said she usually goes on Tuesday or Wednesday nights, so I’m looking forward to it. It will be a challenge…for me to break out of my comfort zone (yes, I’m worried about what to wear—tennis shoes like I prefer, or should I dust off my old boots so I don’t look like an idiot???), for my horse to learn new things (no, I’ve never taken Penny out to trails, much less alongside other horses she doesn’t know), and for us both to reap the benefits of Horse Radar (making new friends in the horse world). Wish us luck!
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Loved reading this today—- I have it——HORSE RADAR!!!!!