Here we go, at last the picture of me that I was waiting for. I'm on a mare named Sugar here in the Ram falls area.

So, today My bro and I went shopping for heavy horses. I can's believe how cheap the auction horses are going. It must be because everyone is worried about not having rain.

We had one horse picked out that would have worked. Not a team, like we wanted, but if we could have found one that matched him, we would have been set. Even if we couldnt find one to match him, he would have made an amazing breaking horse. 17.3 hands high! ( That is about 6 foot 4 for you non horsie people).

I noticed some funny looking marks on the back of this horses pasterns, before the sale, and I asked the gentleman who was selling him about them. " Ahh, they're just hobble burns, maam. This horse is broke to hobble well." This gentleman was an outfitter, with the funniest looking, oldest cowboy hat I have ever seen, two very entertaining grandsons, and a lopsided grin. He talked as though he had a permanent western accent, and he obviously thought that I must not know much.

First of all, a horse who is well broke to hobble will not fight the hobbles, therefore they will not have hobble burns. Second, the marks were on his back legs as well. So, I go around, picking the gelding's feet up, and discreetly having a good feel at these marks that I see. They were, without a doubt, scratches. A common skin disorder/disease in horses. My horse had it once, it just means you have to clean out their stall a little more often and treat the wounds.

" This horse has scratches," I tell Cody, loud enough that I know the gentleman can hear me. He pretended that he didn't, but he sure treated us like we knew a little more after that.

The man led the horse into the ring with this itty bitty little kid on him. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. We bid up pretty high on him, but the damn meat buyer bid us out. I was so mad. That meat buyer bought like 50 horses that day, why couldn't he leave one that was obviously a little kids favourite, and well broke, to go to a good home? I left outraged, Cody was telling me to calm down, laughing that it was a good thing I didn't know who the meat buyer was.

I agreed. I'm sure he's bigger than me.