probably bad_riding but whatever

[soulhorse]

This weekend we were bored at the carriage stand so I decided to get on Mikey, the 19 hand Percheron I drive...



He's so freaking big.


I'm rocking my new North Face jacket that was veryvery expensive, even though it was half off 'cause I bought it over the summer. I really like it though.


Driving Mikey into the city


haha. People ask all the time if they can ride on the horse instead of in the carriage. Nope, only I get to do that. :P

Comments

[thought-bubbls.livejournal.com]

Yes, probably bad_riding....but I would do it too ;)
He is gorgeous! is driving in the city very scary?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_acerbusangelus/]

Not really, you just have to keep your cool. Sometimes driving Mikey can be scary, because he is only 7 and does really unexpected things, almost always when I have passengers in the back. I just always have to be ready for him to do something stupid haha.

[candysgirl.livejournal.com]

Driving in the city is fun! The more traffic there is the more creative you get to be! I'm not sure about Boston, but some of us in Indy invent new routes if the streets are blocked that utilize the awesome extra space...on the sidewalk. Its good fun! Or when the boss says I need you *here* in 5 minutes and there's no way to do it the 'proper' way using the streets. So when the one ways go the *wrong* way...sidewalk!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_acerbusangelus/]

Ha we CAN NOT go on the sidewalk here. That's crazy! Even if there was a way to physically get up there, we'd be arrested and stripped of our license within minutes. haha

[candysgirl.livejournal.com]

Hahaha. Our sidewalks are extremely wide. Some blocks you can't because some of the restaurants have outdoor seating that takes up most of it, but most are wide enough. :)

As for being arrested? Our boss was a police dispatcher. We're pretty well immune to anything but a good scolding...

Not to mention, the cops downtown are generally pretty bored and spend a great deal of time talking to us. Half the time we do stuff like that with their 'permission' (i.e. they're conveniently looking left while we march up on a sidewalk to their right...). There are a handful of guys that actually get pissy and yell at us, but most of the time if they catch us up on the sidewalk they just shake their heads and look the other way.

Most of the time if we're up on a sidewalk (and really there are only about 4 of us ballsy enough to do it) its because we're taking a shortcut or traffic is gridlocked and we're trying to get through. The cops hate when things are gridlocked and generally if we're like, "Uhhh, this will get me out of your way faster" they typically just let us do it.

[candysgirl.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha my boss would SO kill me if I ever did that. She is broke to ride though and apparently enjoys trail riding. We'll have to test that out when she comes to live with me in a few years...

North Face is amazing. North Face, down and Carhart bibs are the way I survive Indiana winters!

Hey, the mare I drive is nearly 18 and still does completely retarded things. OH MY GOD THE BUS IS GOING TO EAT ME RUNFORTHEHILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No mare, no its not. Oh, yeah, I'm good now...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_acerbusangelus/]

Yeah my old boss would have killed me for it, but my new boss doesn't care what we do :P

Mikey's issue is that sometimes he decides he doesn't like things, and whips around and jackknifes the carriage so bad that it could flip over. He's a silly boy.

[candysgirl.livejournal.com]

Jackknifing is SO not fun. The mare I had last Christmas was a loon. She's a pretty white Perch named Fergie. She's a total sweetheart, but lived in a pasture her whole life and was with her 8yo son that had never truly been weaned (he wasn't still nursing, just had NEVER been separated) until we got her. Then they dragged her downtown and said, "This is your life now mare!" She did more or less fine with the trainer. Then I got her and her world was all shaken up again and she went totally bonkers. She was damn good at those patented Arab teleporting spooks. She was horrifyingly unpredictable where she'd go too. Sometimes it was away, sometimes it was toward. Sometimes she'd try to whip around and jackknife (NOT FUN!!!!). Occasionally she'd try to bolt. I got her to quit all that, then passed her on and got Cheyenne back. Then things went downhill and she's back with the trainer...

At least Cheyenne is predictable. She'll jump a foot or two away from the scary thing and then try to bolt forward. And nearly 3 years later she knows I'll 'save' her from the scary things so the 'bolting' is now limited to a few trot steps that stop with a warning, "Maaarre..." I love my silly spotted girl!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_acerbusangelus/]

haha! wow Fergie sounds...fun. The last horse I drove at the old company, Charlie, was spooky, and he was supposed to be the "advanced" horse or whatever, but after driving Mikey, he was a joke. Charlie's spooks were super predictable. He just threw up his head and danced a little when the duck tours went by, sometimes darted to the right. Pshaw. I don't think any of the drivers at my last company could drive Mikey, 'cause all their horses are 30+ years old and have been working in Boston for over 20 years. NOTHING spooks those guys, not even parade floats going over their heads. I still love my Mikey though, silly as he is.

[candysgirl.livejournal.com]

Fergie was interesting to drive, that's for sure. It was about like dealing with Mika when I first got him before he learned manners and got gelded... She's doing a lot better these days, but yeah for a while she was certainly interesting.

Mikey sounds fun!

That's quite old! Ours all retire at 20 no matter what. Then they either go home with a driver or live out their lives on the company's farm.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_acerbusangelus/]

Yeah, it's really excessively old. I no longer work for that company, I was basically laid off when I spoke up about (among other things) the fact that three of their horses that work 50+ hours a week on the streets are over the age of 30. I feel like they deserve a nice retirement after putting in 20 years in the city, especially since one of them has been dead lame for over 2 years. Ugh. That's really awesome that the horses at your company get the nice forever homes that they deserve for retirement.

[http://users.livejournal.com/poisonous__/]

How did you get up there?!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_acerbusangelus/]

Adam gave me a leg up then I stepped on the shaft and put my leg over! But I also figured out how to get up there by shimmying up the shaft from the box. lol we get bored out there!

[http://users.livejournal.com/blitzen_/]

lol, *snap*

i was wondering if you were using the shafts.

[http://users.livejournal.com/blitzen_/]

.... and how did we get on???