ForumGarden

Well I guess it had to happen sooner or later. My grandson ( Tony, 12 years old) has been spending the summer with me. He's a great kid and we've had lots of fun. I'll be sorry when school starts and I have to take him home. He helps me with everything I ask and even volunteered last week to take care of feeding the horses in the evenings. I watched him do the job by himself and he did just great so I let him do it own is own without Grandma standing over him. He did just fine until last night.

He came in from the barn almost in tears...said the horse wouldn't go back out for him and his butt hurt. We have an electric fence and there's a wire that goes across the gate from the lean-to to the rest of the barn. Seems he had hung the wire too close to the gate when he let the horses into their stalls and the wind blew it next to the gate and then somehow his butt got next to the gate and....welll you do the math.

I tried very very hard not to laugh my arse off cause I've been bit by the gate myself and learned quickly where to hang the wire when the wind is blowing. Along with the fact that when I was a kid it took me longer than the average bear to learn NOT to touch the fence wires.

Needless to say I showed him where to hang it so it won't happen again.

Gonna have a good time explaining to his mom and dad why we should call him Sparky now.

Mean old granny, ain't I?

Grumpaz

It's funny, when I saw this thread title, it really took me back, because

for years and years family friends had a big ol' palomino gelding named

Sparky. He did it all, taught untold numbers of kids how to ride.



We had a mare that used to WALK THRU barbed wire fences. Tuck her

head under the top strand, and step ever so carefully through. She

never panicked so it never hurt her. Dad thought he'd fix her by putting

up a hot wire. This was in the old days when they had those

big control boxes and they "clicked" when they were on. To save

electricity, dad would turn it off most of the time after the horse learned

it was there. Well, she also learned she didn't hear any more clicking so

she'd just walk thru the fence when it was off. THEN she started walking

thru it when the hot wire was ON, so dad decided to wet down the

ground around it and she finally quit. This is the same mare that could

RUN with hobbles on front OR back feet. Really nice when you're up in

the mountains deer hunting and your horse is 3 mountains away from

camp at breakfast!!



:-6

Oh valerie I'll just bet that mare was a treasure. Funny the things horses can figure out to get what they want.

The Charger boxes are smaller now but they still flash a lite to let you know they are working. When I was a kid my grandpa run his fences off large 6 volt batteries that he got off the railroad where he worked. He had them stationed all over the place and I would ride fence line and let him know which ones were still clunking and which ones were dead.....ah..those were the days.

Attached files

Man, you and I could reminisce for DAYS, sounds like!



I know those batteries you are talking about oh-so-well, Dad worked

for 40 some years for Southern Pacific!



The mare WAS a treasure... just about evey year she'd foal the prettiest

little colts you ever did see!!



In case you missed it, here's pics of the beauty I got to ride a little

over a month ago: (His name's Zephyr!)





http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/showp ... ostcount=1



:-6

Grumpaz wrote: Well I guess it had to happen sooner or later.


What a marvellous memory he'll have of you and your place. Not too many

are given that opportunity nowadays...

(His name's Zephyr!)

Valerie he is absolutely drop dean gorgeous!!! What is he? He sure is a beauty.

Bill Sikes wrote: What a marvellous memory he'll have of you and your place. Not too many

are given that opportunity nowadays...


Bill there have been a bunch of memories for both of us this summer. He's been a pleasure to have around and I'm gonna miss the bejesus out of him when he has to go back to school. It's not like he lives that far away and I don't get to see him cause I do. But this has been OUR summer. He'd never been to 6 flags so I took him about 3 weeks ago. We had a blast. Because I am mobility challenged ie: I'm gimpy, I took my scooter so we didn't have to stand in line for some of the rides I went on with him. It was a fabulous day.

He's got his grandma's sarcastic sense of humor so we are always ribbing each other about something. Hence he is now called Sparky or ElectricButt. Can't wait till he get married and has kids of his own and I can tell them alllll about my summer with their Dad when he was 12.

He's a 6 year old Quarter Horse. He has Peppy San Badger lines but

I can't ever remember his registered name... I should write it down!

Zephyr is in there somewhere so that just became his stable name!



:-6

Well all good things come to an end. Had to take Tony home for school registration and being home made him homesick so we came back here and got all his stuff together and I took him home for good the next day. That was Friday. I'm still going down the hall to wake him up in the mornings. I'm still looking for him in the living room or outside. I'm still thinking of things to tell him so we can laugh about them.

The day I took him home he told me twice that he'd had soo much fun with me this summer. I felt sooooooo good. How many 12 year old boys would admit they had a great time with their old grandma. I called over there today and told them I want him back. His Dad said No. He needs time to remember who that kid is. LOL

It was a great 6 weeks. I miss him. Really miss him.

Here's some hugs for you: