Chat
07-01-2016, 11:45 PM
Yikes about the guy with the fireworks! Serves him right to fall on his own firecrackers! I did something similar to the little punk who whacked my horse with his skateboard (too bad he didn't have fireworks to fall on!). I was riding, not driving, so I threw my horse into reverse and about backed over top of him. His eyes almost popped out of his head as he jumped out of the way just in time and ran off cursing.
I think the scariest thing my team ever encountered was sparklers at a wedding. It was a nighttime wedding and we were not accustomed to driving after dark. The couple were late coming from the reception hall so we had to wait in a very dark parking lot for a good hour, which as you observed earlier can be one of the hardest things to get horses to do calmly. It was a very crowded parking lot so there was no walking around to get the jitters out. When the couple was finally ready to leave, about 150 people came pouring out the doors and swarmed the carriage. A couple of the groomsmen were there to help keep the crowds back, but there just wasn't that much room so we were a little cramped. Then there was a loud, crackling hiss and a sudden blinding light as all the sparklers were lit at once. A lot of smoke went up and the overwhelming smell of gunpowder really set Jet on edge--he was only four years old and had never smelt anything like that before. I'd never seen sparklers at a wedding before (this was the beginning of the fad) so I had not prepared the horses for such a thing. And when the newlyweds came out the whole crowd started screaming and jumping up and down. It was pretty frightening for all of us, and the horses felt very claustrophobic in that moment. But I kept talking to them and playing with the reins a bit to steady them and they came through it alright. There was a little head-tossing and some prancing in place, but they didn't try to bolt for the hills. In that moment I was very proud of them. They transported the bride and groom nicely to their getaway car at the bottom of the hotel driveway, but they were never so eager to get out of a place!
I think the scariest thing my team ever encountered was sparklers at a wedding. It was a nighttime wedding and we were not accustomed to driving after dark. The couple were late coming from the reception hall so we had to wait in a very dark parking lot for a good hour, which as you observed earlier can be one of the hardest things to get horses to do calmly. It was a very crowded parking lot so there was no walking around to get the jitters out. When the couple was finally ready to leave, about 150 people came pouring out the doors and swarmed the carriage. A couple of the groomsmen were there to help keep the crowds back, but there just wasn't that much room so we were a little cramped. Then there was a loud, crackling hiss and a sudden blinding light as all the sparklers were lit at once. A lot of smoke went up and the overwhelming smell of gunpowder really set Jet on edge--he was only four years old and had never smelt anything like that before. I'd never seen sparklers at a wedding before (this was the beginning of the fad) so I had not prepared the horses for such a thing. And when the newlyweds came out the whole crowd started screaming and jumping up and down. It was pretty frightening for all of us, and the horses felt very claustrophobic in that moment. But I kept talking to them and playing with the reins a bit to steady them and they came through it alright. There was a little head-tossing and some prancing in place, but they didn't try to bolt for the hills. In that moment I was very proud of them. They transported the bride and groom nicely to their getaway car at the bottom of the hotel driveway, but they were never so eager to get out of a place!