This morning as it is with every morning around 7:00 am, Remington takes it upon his gigantic doofus self to make sure that everyone is up and aware that he wants his breakfast immediately. As I slumber peacefully with a vision of finding a wonderful new job swirling in my head, his vision is quite different and he starts off the daily routine with a bang, literally.
Clang, clang, clang goes his horseshoe against the gate. A couple of minutes go by and I try to drift back to sleep. Clang, clang, clang, hay do you hear me up there? Of course I hear you and I'm going to ignore you.
Oh I don't think so, clang, clang, clang. Grrrr, now the dogs are awake and are jumping up to see if it's time to go out and the cat starts to yowl loudly. A strong go back to sleep will work. Or, so I thought. Who am I kidding.
Clang, clang, clang, wake up mom, I'm hungry again! Ok, ok, now the dogs are back to jumping up, and the cat starts his yowl fest once more. I can hear the chicken squawking furiously because she doesn't appreciate the gigantic stomach on stilts causing the barn to vibrate and disturbing her roosting. Bok, bok, bok!
Alright, already, I'm up. I open the door to let the dogs out, and the clanging miraculously stops. And there in the early morning light, stands my precious bouncing baby boy with his head hanging out of the stall acting innocent and sweet. I know that walnut sized brain of his is thinking "heh heh, it worked again". And you know what, it did.
So down to the barn I go, and he stares at me with his big soft brown eyes and nickers softly to let me know how much he loves me bringing his breakfast. The poor starving boy, how could I be so remiss. After all it's been minutes since the hay bag reached a state of emptiness.
But, before he gets his breakfast, I tell him with a very stern voice, to never ever kick that gate again because he's already destroyed one and I don't want him to repeat the offense. He stares at me with obvious understanding and remorse while I hold the feed bucket in front of him to hold his attention.
He's now been warned and tomorrow I just know that he will wait patiently and quietly for his breakfast.
Wanna bet?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Trainer Mom Tells a Remi Tale or Two
We call him Remi. His registered name is:
REMINGTON OF RIVERBEND #M17523, born Mar. 21, 1997; out of LIBERTY KNOLLS MINNIE MUFFIN.
I"m his trainer /Driver. His owner is Cheryl Davis and she literally had to talk me into buying this boy. When we got him he was what would be called a long yearling. He was just a mere 17 hands. He stepped on her foot and it was love at first sight. I only agreed because the man who had bought him at the National Clyde sale had a halter on him that was too small and had literally grown into his flesh behind his ears and nose. OK. We'll take him home and fix him and then he goes!! Ya right..
Raising Remi has been an adventure. The first thing he did when we got him home was to stand his front feet on the air conditioner so he might better see the roof of our house. Ever try to explain to a repairman or your ins company that your horse has crushed your air conditioner unit. I don't recommend it. Next, while being shod if front of the carport, he just had to see what the gutter on the roof was made of so he reached up (not very far I might add) and took a bite of it. Of course lets not forget when he decided to see if my new truck was edible. By far the best was my birthday, when I decided to have a day away from the horses and discovered upon my return that he had broken a tree(3 in. diameter and about 18 ft tall) and was now happily playing with his new stick much the same as a dog. You would think I'd have learned better by then, but noo at least I got a photo of him playing with his next tree victim.
We were looking for a potential match to my shire 18.2 and 2400 lbs. Again NOO. He now stands over 20 hands. How much we won't say until the official word comes from Guinness. The last time we weighed him he was over 2700 lbs , but that was 2 yrs ago before he started to fill out. My guess today would be something over 3000. He eats more than 2 square bales of hay, a little over 5.5 lbs of pelleted feed and 1/3 cup of oil per day, his water bucket is a 55 gallon drum, but lets not forget grazing and round bale rights.
I have permanent shin splints from ground driving him and doing cavaletties (4 yrs) for his co-ordination as we waited for his growth plates to begin to fuse. I have had 3 people run from our place when he threw a teenage tantrum. If they had only waited they would have seen that he was just a youngster playing, but size intimidates. As far as I know he is the tallest registered Clyde ever. He has driven a few private events, brought in the judges to the "Big D horse show for the last 2 years and has quite the following in several states all hopefully awaiting the day when he gets recognition. We get phone calls from his fans regularly asking when that will be. Whatever else he is, if he gets the Guinness record or not, I know that I have been blessed to have this horse in my life. He has been a true once in a lifetime adventure but most of all with all the wonders in the world I know I only have to walk out to the barn to see one.
REMINGTON OF RIVERBEND #M17523, born Mar. 21, 1997; out of LIBERTY KNOLLS MINNIE MUFFIN.
I"m his trainer /Driver. His owner is Cheryl Davis and she literally had to talk me into buying this boy. When we got him he was what would be called a long yearling. He was just a mere 17 hands. He stepped on her foot and it was love at first sight. I only agreed because the man who had bought him at the National Clyde sale had a halter on him that was too small and had literally grown into his flesh behind his ears and nose. OK. We'll take him home and fix him and then he goes!! Ya right..
Raising Remi has been an adventure. The first thing he did when we got him home was to stand his front feet on the air conditioner so he might better see the roof of our house. Ever try to explain to a repairman or your ins company that your horse has crushed your air conditioner unit. I don't recommend it. Next, while being shod if front of the carport, he just had to see what the gutter on the roof was made of so he reached up (not very far I might add) and took a bite of it. Of course lets not forget when he decided to see if my new truck was edible. By far the best was my birthday, when I decided to have a day away from the horses and discovered upon my return that he had broken a tree(3 in. diameter and about 18 ft tall) and was now happily playing with his new stick much the same as a dog. You would think I'd have learned better by then, but noo at least I got a photo of him playing with his next tree victim.
We were looking for a potential match to my shire 18.2 and 2400 lbs. Again NOO. He now stands over 20 hands. How much we won't say until the official word comes from Guinness. The last time we weighed him he was over 2700 lbs , but that was 2 yrs ago before he started to fill out. My guess today would be something over 3000. He eats more than 2 square bales of hay, a little over 5.5 lbs of pelleted feed and 1/3 cup of oil per day, his water bucket is a 55 gallon drum, but lets not forget grazing and round bale rights.
I have permanent shin splints from ground driving him and doing cavaletties (4 yrs) for his co-ordination as we waited for his growth plates to begin to fuse. I have had 3 people run from our place when he threw a teenage tantrum. If they had only waited they would have seen that he was just a youngster playing, but size intimidates. As far as I know he is the tallest registered Clyde ever. He has driven a few private events, brought in the judges to the "Big D horse show for the last 2 years and has quite the following in several states all hopefully awaiting the day when he gets recognition. We get phone calls from his fans regularly asking when that will be. Whatever else he is, if he gets the Guinness record or not, I know that I have been blessed to have this horse in my life. He has been a true once in a lifetime adventure but most of all with all the wonders in the world I know I only have to walk out to the barn to see one.
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