The Owls Approve Blog Hop: I'm a Loser, Baby

This week Beka asks us:

Let's talk about your horse's biggest fail. What did Thunderhooves do that embarrassed you, scared you, shocked you, or just annoyed the hell out of you?

WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN?! There is a reason that "pony" is a four-letter word.

The very first day I brought Dino home, instead of backing politely off the trailer, he spun himself around in the tiny little 2-horse straight load, almost got stuck, leaped out, and then proceeded to drag me all over creation. My friend that had trailered us over literally said to me, "Good luck with that." and then left us there. Dino was so rotten and had no ground manners, and we had to lead him with a chain shank for the first 4 months or so that I owned him. True story.

Bad Pony needs Mr. Shanky

He and his BFF Toby also got in the habit of escaping from the Pony Palace to graze all night.

Dino once also escaped the Pony Palace and then ate at least 2 gallon-size Ziplock bags of SOMEONE ELSE'S GRAIN. And didn't colic. Somehow.

He's also, in general, just kind of an asshole. I will freely admit this. He is not nice to other horses and has intimidated his poor roommate Digby so badly that sweet little Digs will sometimes only stand with his front feet in the shed because he's terrified that Dino will chase him out.

However, this has worked to everyone's advantage in the past. If there is a horse that's being really rude, we just turn it out with Dino. Horse gets its butt solidly whooped by the pony, and magically starts behaving.

Dino also used to have a really amusing and highly irritating habit of spinning around in the crossties. He would do a complete 180, wrap the ties around his face, and then back up until his halter popped off. Thank the Lord he doesn't do this anymore. I'm sure Jess and Rachel can think of several more horrible pony-like things that Dino used to do before he became civilized.

HAHAHA I IZ SO BAD!!!

And that's not even delving into the beginning of our horse showing career together!

Just getting in the in-gate was a process. It involved a lot of beating. And spurring. And bucking. And angry faces and swishy tails. And then there was The Horse Show That Will Not Be Named, during which Dino was essentially possessed by Satan.

Ponies. Never a dull moment.