BBBs: Buckwheat, Bees, & Blood

Although this is not a great picture: this is Buckwheat. It really doesn't do him justice. He has good withers and seems tall next to Jupiter. (: He is 8-years-old and Lynn says he knows nothing. She is a good friend, so she brought him home last weekend and has been riding him all week for Toni. I went with them on Tuesday evening and he learned a lot about water and mud crossings. He spent some time learning about downhill with someone on his back (not his favorite). One night Lynn took him up on the "trailer court" and the two of them sweated off a few pounds. Not only was it hot, he was a nervous wreck and she couldn't stop until they had something positive to stop on!

Today we all went up the Hennessey. It was Toni's second time ever driving the truck and trailer and she did super--even with a flat tire on the way back home. Lynn rode Buckwheat and Toni has been riding Buster. Midway through our ride, the two of them switched and Toni spent some time with Buckwheat. He did really well all day. Buster doesn't really care about him and spent some of his time worrying where Jupes and Star were--he wanted to be with them. He went down the hill backwards because he knew Star and Jupiter were behind him on road and not on the trail (on accident no less--you can't let me and Shirley in the front, we'll miss the turn!). Anyway, Lynn had fun on Buster and got him all wound up on the way down. They jumped over logs and did some cutting and turning. Poor Zigs is feeling jealous and abandoned already, I hope Buster doesn't tell Ziggy how much Lynn said she liked him.

Once again, I was the cheap entertainment. On our way up the trail just past the torn up meadow on the back side, Jupiter began humping, twisting, bucking, and generally having a fit. As I was clamping down and pushing myself off his neck, I was yelling for him to "KNOCK IT OFF!" Finally it sunk in that Shirley and Lynn were yelling at me to "GET OFF!" because there were bees attacking Jupes. You know it's hard to get off when you've been trying so hard to stay on. But I managed to slide down him on the downhill side. I told him, "Come on!" and we took off running down the hill.

He got stung a few times, but I managed to get most of them off him. He has a couple of welts. I got stung on the ear and the belly. I also tore open my thumb on the buckles of the breast collar so I had blood everywhere, too. But we're fine. I think Jupiter was really tired of fighting the horse flies and bees that followed us down the road as we finished our ride--I know I was. He rolled as soon as we got home and then went for water. It was a tough day for the rookies today. (: