E-Bob-a-Ho: Part Two

This follows on from part one.
Bob was a typical little boy.  Curious about all things, he would stick his nose everywhere, causing him and myself a lot of pain.  I still had some finishing touches around the barn and he helped me.  He matched my every step.  If I held a board up and started to nail it, he would put his nose on the nail.  I banged my thumb so many times because of this, that I lost my thumbnail.  When I would scream, he would turn, buck, throw his tail up high and run off at breakneck speed.  When he saw that I was not chasing him, he would sheepishly walk back.
     I did not know a great deal about horses when he was born and it is amazing that I or my family did not get hurt; just good horses I guess.  When he was a couple of months old, I thought that he might need to be introduced to a halter.  That was a frustrating time.  If he were standing he would run off, if he were laying down he would not let me anywhere near his head.  Don Lisenby was an old horse trader that came by every so often.  I had bought a couple of horses from him and we had become friends.  One day he was at the barn and I asked him how to halter Bob.  Without answering, he looked at the horse, took the halter and walked over to Bob.  Bob looked at Don and just stuck his head in the halter pretty as you please.  If I would have had my handgun, I would have shot both of them.
     Now that I had a little control over him, I would let him go on trail rides with us.  That was something that he really enjoyed.  He would run off from us on the trail, into the woods.  I am sure that he must have felt all grown up.  All of a sudden an owl would hoot or a coyote would yelp and he would make a bee line back to us, bulldozing his way through the privets and bramble bushes.
     Sheila rode Honey Babe, a registered Tennessee Walker.  Honey Babe was probably the perfect horse as far as temperament goes.  Nothing ever shocked her and she was always calm, except for this Saturday.  I had Major, Honey Babe and Princess tied in the trailer.  Bob was at the rear of the trailer, but not tied up.  Sheila looked at the trailer and said, "I am not going to ride Honey Babe today!"  That caused me to look and I saw Honey Babe shaking her head violently, whinnying and stomping her feet.  That was totally out of character for her.  I walked over and looked into the trailer.  Bob was sticking his head under Princess' stomach and biting Honey Babe on the hind quarters.  Major and Princess were calm and cool as cucumbers.
     Most times when a horse is approached, you can tell what kind of mood they are in by the position of their ears.  Forward they are alert and curious, midway and they could care less.  All the way back and they are pissed off.  Not so with Bob.  As mischievous as he was, when he approached the other horses, they would lay their ears all the way back to Georgia.  Being the only youngster there, he thought that laid back ears was the normal greeting.
     I enjoyed playing pranks on the horses.  Sheila had a two feet by three feet mirror that she had discarded.  That seemed like the perfect prank.  I held it up to Major's face.  Startled, his ears went back, the horse in the mirror laid his ears back and Major backed up suddenly.  As he backed up his ears went forward.  The horse in the mirror put his ears forward, at that Major moved forward toward the mirror again.  As he got closer his ears went back, as did the horse in the mirror.  That was more than Major could handle and he hauled butt out of the barn.  That was too much fun.  Did I mention that I was outside the stall?  Now I had to go scare Bob with the mirror.  Mistake number one, I was in the pasture with him.  Mistake number two, I showed him his reflection in the mirror.  He did not like what he saw, turned on a dime and kicked his hind legs at the the mirror, which I was holding.  I dropped the mirror and ducked under his back legs.  Sheila and the girls were rolling in the dirt laughing at me.  I grabbed up the broken mirror, tucked my tail and walked back to the barn.
     Princess was not immune to these pranks.  She was the classic stuck up snob.  What am I doing here with you riff-raff?, was her attitude.  I have owned her for over Twenty years and can just now put my hands on her without her flinching.  One thing about her is that she is an above average intelligent horse.  Which made my scaring her all the more fun.  I feed them twice a day. She loves to eat and knows when I am going to feed them.  This particular afternoon I got to the barn early without the horses seeing me.  I hid behind the corner of the barn and I could hear them coming.  Princess was always in the lead.  As she rounded the corner, I stepped out and yelled.  It startled her so badly that she turned too quickly and fell to the ground.  Both of us could hear the other horses laughing at her.  That embarrassed her so much that she was pissed off with me for a week.  She did not even look at me for a few days.  It was so much fun though, that every chance I got, I would do it again.