Pickups and Horses

(My first time at this)

Over a few years now, I have given some thought to the similar characteristics of pickup trucks and horses. (Thinking that is sometimes enhanced by a Guinness Extra Stout or two.)

As a ranch kid, I have been around horses since I was small, and adopted my first pickup truck-a used 74 Ford F100 (Reg cab, stick, V8, Ranger Pkg.) when I was 17. I sold the truck after a couple of years-teenagers don't think permanence. Horses have come and gone, but now I have 3 pickup trucks of my own, and drive a pickup that I don't own in my job (with horses.)

Note how similar pickups and horses are in physical character. Both quadrupeds. Have
to be re-shoe'd every so often. Both carry the load in the same place on their backs. We talk tailgate, so I guess the tail end is in the same place. And the exhaust on both comes out the back end as well. I find pickups usually stay where you leave em and don't wander, but both can be stubborn.

I have only run Fords, but owners of other
breeds may note similarities or distinctives.
I have 2 older trucks, a 22 and a 23 year old,
along with a 9 year old. They are spoiled trucks, but spoiled trucks aren't as bad as a
spoiled horse. Like the horses, my trucks
aren't gonna work unless they are asked to-they would as soon just hang out in the garage. The two old guys, an F150 and an
F250, are mellow and won't blow up over any little thing. But the younger one, an F150
Crew is kinda frisky. Tries jostling the old
ones-like a young horse will until the elders get tired of it and give 'em a nip or two.

Now you may think I'm going off the deep end here, but I find Ford's are quite social just like horses. While fine on their own, they are nonetheless curious what other trucks are up to, and there is a kind of rivalry as to who is the stallion in a group. When I am at a hotel, I will park my company F350 Super Duty next to another one if possible. I can imagine their discussion. Mine says he
pulls a Four Star 3H Slant with LQ. And the
other one says, "Hey I pull a 4H Bloomer with
slide-out." If you have spent a long day in the saddle of an F350, you know they ride rougher than your half-ton Lariat. After spending the night with a buddy, my truck has a better disposition for starting the day.

They've got me in this colt-starting situation with the company trucks. I get a new one and I train 'em and get 'em broken in, and they sell 'em, and I gotta start all over when the truck just started knowin where to go on their own. Trucks eat a lot on the road, but at least you don't hafta haul hay. Where the horses have a regular vet at home, my work trucks get checked up wherever needed, from Great Falls to Colorado Springs to West
Valley City, or wherever comes due. My two
older trucks are stick, and most horses are
manual as well...you start 'em out in low and move on up to overdrive if you have ground to cover. Downshift when you need power.

I take care of both the same...the horses get all cooled down and groomed up before they go in, and the trucks gotta be washed and groomed before they hit the hay. Well, out here in the western states we tend to run both, but maybe not so much elsewhere. If you have some input on other breeds, or maybe some handling tips of your own.....