Saturday, September 20, 2008

Showdown at the 7MSN Corral

Update: Now that I've posted these pictures and looked at them a few times, I realized it's only a matter of time before one of the boys does get a leg hung up in one of the panels. So I spent a few hours today moving the portable pen out of the big corral. They'll find another way to get themselves into trouble, but at least I've removed the obvious one.

When the burros play, it's a gentle pas de deux. When Hank and Lyle play, it's a WWF smackdown. My heart stops a few times and a few more gray hairs pop out of my head, but in the end, nobody gets hurt. Hank and Lyle are best buddies, and you'll just have to trust me that they are not being aggressive here - this is just what geldings do.

In these photos, neither horse is confined to one side of the corral or the other. They could move back and forth if they wanted to, but they've agreed to some sort of equine ground rule that Hank will stay on the inside and Lyle will be outside the ring. As always, click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.

In the left corner we have the veteran Hank, a 15-year old Paint. And in the right corner we have Lyle, a 7-year-old upstart Quarter Horse.



Round one begins with Hank making a sneaky move through the panel.



He brings Lyle to his knees!



Lyle is back on his feet, calculating just how far away he has to stand to escape Hank's grasp.



Hank rears up and tries a sneak attack from above! Rancher Woman cringes as she envisions his hoof getting caught on the panel.



Lyle counters with a fierce look and Hank backs off.



The bell rings ending the round, and not a moment too soon for Lyle.



Lyle recovers and races around the outside of the corral. He comes in with a left hook.



Look at that follow through!



Lyle is still on the attack! He comes at Hank with a mid-air right hook!



But Hank counters with an airs above the ground.


Lyle decides he has met his match in this Lippizan-wannabe and throws in the towel.

28 comments:

  1. What is it with Lyle and the FACES? LOL!!! I love that one with the rainbow in the background. Classic!

    They look like they're having a real good time together :)

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  2. it looks to me like Lyle is really wanting to stick his tongue out at Hank, but decides to not push his luck.....I'm willing to bet his making his plans for the next bout! :)

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  3. THAT made me chuckle. Thanks for the entertainment. The final image has the makings of a calendar page.

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  4. What a show! (nice colour commentary I must say) :)
    Truly, thanks for the laugh, I needed it after doing some very sad blog reading elsewhere.

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  5. I really got a kick out of this post/pictures, and the facial expressions ... what a hoot!!! The bit of a rainbow peeking through in the one picture is neat.

    Do they do this often?

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  6. Great photos! I love when horses play. What's with the tongue? Maybe Hank tastes bad?

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  7. Pat, they do this about once a day in the summer, usually just as the sun is going down and the air cools off. It's all about the weather - if it's windy, or rainy, or the temperature drops suddenly, or it starts to snow, all hell breaks lose and they play all day.

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  8. I was holding my breath when Hank reared up near that fence panel. Isn't it amazing how they know and pull their legs in just before it happens? Siete does that on our flexible fence occasionally. The worst that's happened is that she's pull up the fence post. Lyle makes me laugh with that long tongue - what a boy!

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  9. You must have a fast camera to capture those pics! The tongue is precious!!!

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  10. Oh my goodness...I don't know why (because I see it all of the time between Bo and Waska!), but these pictures really cracked me up!

    Maybe it is because of Lyle's yawning?? Of course there is also the great commentary! :)

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  11. Oh my - those tongue shots crack me up!

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  12. We really love your photos.... and your animals. They're so fun to "watch". Especially love the tongue hanging out - what an expression! :)

    George & Alan Fan

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  13. That was a riot & those photos of Lyle are absolutely priceless!

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  14. You are always in the right place at the right time, Linda.
    These are just awesome photos, especially the action shots.

    Your Hank and Lyle shots would make a fabulous horse calender.

    Lyle's tongue photos just make me smile. And at least he's not reaching that tongue up into his nose, eh?

    :)
    ~Lisa

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  15. You've managed to capture it all on film! That was quite a treat to see the "game" frame by frame.
    Very entertaining (although it must be nerve wracking to be worrying about them catching their legs) Thanks for sharing.

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  16. That's hilarious. Our three geldings do this but in the fields. Keil Bay quite often drops to his knees to nip the pony under the armpits, and they all rear to full height and strike with front hooves.

    The scariest thing they do is run races at full gallop in the dirt paddock. I'm always afraid one or the other of them will run right through the fence.

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  17. Love your blog...always look forward to seeing what you and your animals are up to next...
    These pics and commentary were great... love the one w/the rainbow
    and the last one w/the tongue cracks me up! Can't wait to see what Mon. brings...
    Thanks for sharing!

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  18. Black boxed in - beautiful colour horses! What great shots.

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  19. You all catching that rainbow???? Cool post.

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  20. Bossy? Is that really you? Woohoo, this blog has made the big time! Wait til you see my next post ... with the burros doing their pas de deux all over that rainbow.
    Thanks for stopping by.

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  21. Funny, Lisa, over at Laughing Orca directed me to your sight and now I visit regularly. Then I get directed here through the Black Box thing.

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  22. LOL we have showdowns like that here, but it involves two pint size dogs!!! Love the photos and the tongue sticking out is priceless. As always, your blog brings a smile.

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  23. GREAT post! Hilarious. And the faces--what is it with that guy? My animals tend to run away very, very quickly when I bring out the camera. Yours love it! What's your secret?

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  24. Haha, I actually laughed out loud. I liked the narration, but the pictures were plenty.

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  25. Those were hilarious but I even cringed as they reared up around those panels. But you did such an amazing job capturing the moment and that last tongue shot had me laughing.

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  26. I spent several hours yesterday reading through your blog from the beginning (i am not totally caught up yet) but I am so very impressed with all you have done and accomplished... what an inspiration to women everywhere!
    I cant wait to hear and see more antics of the critters you have they are so entertaining I love the picture of Lyle with his tongue out... he seems to be saying ENOUGH already take that LOL
    Laura

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  27. WHAT are you feeding these guys?

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  28. Those are some really nice pictures of your boys having some fun! ;) You should do something professional with your photos....maybe a 7msn calendar???

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