My little Tucky boy took hold of the little rope around the waist of my morning robe the other day. To my dismay, before I even had my morning coffee, he was trying to lead me around like a dog (or so I thought). All I knew is he was laughing hysterically way too early in the morning, and he got awfully bossy once he got a good grip on my new leash.
After I had my cup of coffee I humored him a little, and he began “leading” me down the hallway, while also making kissy noises and calling me like he does the puppies. He took me to his room and tied me up to the corner post of his crib, and then he sat down on the floor to play with his dinosaurs like this was normal procedure. When I tried to slip off into the rocking chair, he shouted frantically, “No mama, you’re my horse! I tied you up to the fence post!”
Hmmm…it’s hard to know what to do when you are a cowboy’s beloved horse. After a couple minutes of this play-acting I felt a little more compassion for my horses who always seem to break their reins or bridles when I tie them up to a post one-minute too long. I can’t tell you how many times my sweet, ornery horses have snapped their bridles and reins in half while I went inside the house to get something “real quick.”
At the ranch this weekend, we ponied the little ones around on my REAL horse, and left him tied up for a little while beforehand, so they could finish eating dinner. It was great motivation for the kids to eat their carrots and beans. But guess what my horse did? He broke my bridle. He didn’t run off, he just broke the bridle so he could reach down and eat some grass.
You can lead a horse to a fence post, but you can’t make him stand there (that goes for me too, Tucker). I can’t even imagine having a saddle on my back!