My Horse Cash

Cash, Cash, Cash, where to begin. Let me start of by saying I love Cash
he is probably the best horse I have ever owned. If I could clone one of my horses and have a set of five of them to haul to rodeos I would clone Cash. He is laid back and almost lazy. When I first got him I wasn’t really excited about him because I didn’t think he would have enough speed and heart to be a pickup horse; I was wrong. I am not even sure what made me try him in the first place because I would have swore he would be too slow and lazy. But I did. He took to it like a duck to water, he never goes any faster than he needs too but he always goes as fast as he needs to. He loves to please. Once he figures out what you want him to do he will give it everything he has.


Cash and I have a great relationship. I sometimes show him some favoritism over the other horses. When I come to get him he always comes right up to me just to say HI. Believe it or not this horse loves me, which is more than I can say for some of my other horses.


He never gets too excited and has this kinda curious, mischievous personality. A month or two ago we were working the Trinity Valley Exhibition PRCA rodeo in Liberty TX.
Cash and I were hugged up next to the fence during the calf roping and pushing the calves out of the arena after the committee men would untie them after the judges counts of the required 6 seconds that the calf must stay tied. Anyway Cash is used to eating unusual treats as Jenna, my 6 year old, feeds him gummy bears, animals crackers, grilled cheese sandwiches etc.


If you have ever been to the rodeo arena in Trinity Texas you know how narrow the arena is, it was for this reason that I had him parallel to the fence pushed up tight to take up as little real estate as possible. You may also know that the important people get to sit in box seats right up close and personal to all the action. This layout and my horses position meant Cash’s head was about 12 inches from some fancy pants local businessman’s lap in which he held a paper plate full of nachos with that runny bright yellow nacho cheese you buy in the 20 lb tin can at Sam’s. As I was watching the roper run down the line Cash was trying to make his plans to steal the nachos. After a few seconds of horse planning he made his move. He knew he would get in trouble so he was going to rely on stealthy speed to quickly turn his head sideways and stick his head through the bars and grabs the fancy pants business man’s nachos and retract his head though the fence with a mouth full of nachos before anyone could stop him…His plan worked perfectly. He executed and was successful. What his horse planning didn’t allow for was the temperature of the runny yellow Sam’s cheese. It was hot. Have you ever wondered what a horse would do with a mouth full of hot nachos? I will tell you. He opened his lips and held the nachos with his front teeth and stated sling his head up and down. Have you ever wondered what hot bright yellow runny Sam’s cheese will do when a horse has a mouth full and sling his head up and down 12 inches from a fancy pants business man? You guessed it. It went every where!
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Anna and Cash

I love him, he loves me…so what’s the problem you ask. Despite our mutual love and adoration of each other, he is the most annoying horse I have ever owned. Cash has a mind of his own. He goes where he wants, when he wants with no regard for fences or boundaries.


If you tie him to a trailer he will untie himself with his lips. If you put him in a trap he will open the gate and walk out. If you put him in a pasture he will jump the fence.


He’s not crazy or wild, he’s not trying to escape work or find a new home. He just wants to be somewhere other than where I put him. During the summer when we are rodeoing every week he stays in a two acre trap with the four other pickup horses. When we have a long break between rodeo’s (like right now) the pickup horses get turned out to the pasture.


While Cash is a very intelligent horse he doesn’t see the big picture. When he stays where I put him he gets treated like a king, he gets the best hay and I top his feed off with a cup of rice bran every morning and evening. Rolling pasture and a running spring fed creek down at the bottom of a deep ravine for fresh water. There are some protein tubs, mineral blocks and slat blocks, and a sandy place for him to roll under the shade trees. I picked this place out to build a horse pen because I know it was the best place for him.


The problem comes in later. When his feed tub is empty and I’m not around he leaves. He gets out of his pasture and walks off, he doesn’t go far but he does get out none the less. Not off the ranch just out of his pasture.


When he gets out he is in a place I never meant for him to be, there are rusty tractor implements, stacks of old cattle panels, moldy cow hay that will make a horse sick, old lumber with nails stick out, etc. All kinds of dangers.

Me and Cash and Chad Horaist at the Special Needs Rodeo in Marshall TX

The funny thing is, is that Cash is really good at getting out of his pasture but can’t hardly ever get back in, even when he wants to. So when he gets out he misses his morning feed because the other horses eat his share before he can find his way back in. I usually put him back and sometimes he stays long enough to get his evening feed, sometimes he doesn’t. If he gets out during the day he misses his evening feed to.


Like I said he doesn’t see the big picture. If he could see beyond his own little world, he would know that if he just trusted me he would be safer, healthier, and in a better condition to fulfill his purpose.


A horse like Cash is an athlete, trained and conditioned for a specific purpose. The protein tubs help rebuild his muscles and heal microscopic tears in his muscles that grow back to increase his muscle size and strength, the minerals in the mineral blocks help his body process the food he takes in, the extra rice bran on his feed provide him with fat and sugars that give him the burst of speed and energy to do his job. His feed tub is at the top of the hill and his water source is at the bottom of a deep ravine climbing up and down the hill between his food and water works his muscles and keeps him in good cardiovascular condition.


When he leaves his pen he leaves all of these things that I have planned for him to help him be the best he can be at what he does. He doesn’t understand, he knows if he get out he can go stand around a round bale and not have to graze, he can drink out of the tank and not have to go up and down the hills, he can rub his head on that old rusty set of discs. He may think his life is better but it hurts his performance and lowers his potential. Almost every time gets new cuts and scratches, and gets into things he shouldn’t.


Him getting out drives me nuts but he is MY horse and I love him.  I wonder if this is how God feels about me sometime? Think about it...