I took these photos after finishing the 50 on Granite Chief this last Saturday at Color Country. Of course, I knew he would roll – that is about as predictable as the sun setting each day. He at least doesn’t roll with his tack on (anymore, lol) like Bo did at lunch the first day when I left him in the large corral unsupervised for less than 30 seconds <sigh>. Ahhh well, it’s not like it hadn’t been rolled on by a horse before. I remember when I first got that saddle – it’s a Bob Marshall Sports Saddle, and it belonged to Weaver. It’s peaked in the pommel and works great on Bo’s withers (as it did on Weaver). One of the first rides I took Weaver on was up to the top of the Tahoe Rim Trail and when we got up there I let him graze while we ate lunch and before I could blink he already had green grass stains on the pommel. Bo reminds me of Weaver in his temperament and personality.
The only time Chief has rolled with his tack on was at Cuyama the first year I took him there. We had lunch in camp (I really like rides with all the checks OUT of camp) and I put Chief on his hi-tie and went to get lunch. I was only out of sight for a minute and when I came back Chief had rolled and squished my camera which I had left in my saddle pack. Now at least I know not to leave anything breakable in my saddle. Oh yeah, one other time I was leading Chief down a steep hill on a really long, hard and hot ride early in his career and when we got into some deep sand he dropped to roll. He dropped so fast I thought he’d died – it gave ME a heart attack! I seriously thought something was wrong with him. I think my reaction to that probably gave HIM a heart attack. It got him to hop back up real fast so he didn’t actually roll.
You can tell in these photos that Chief was having fun – he got both sides pretty good and then went over and peed on his hay. Doesn’t he look happy? That’s when I noticed he missed a couple of spots! I did throw in one additional shot of him that I took after cleaning him up. You don’t want to know how long it took to brush all of that orange out of his coat! I think that deep down, Chief really wants to be a chestnut horse. The way his fleabitten specks keep increasing he may end up solidly colored someday!
I know all about that! The only time Mimi is actually white is when she gets abth right before a ride. All other times, she’s an interesting mix of brown, yellow, and green.