The Human Equine Bond

I went away on vacation for the first time in about 2 years.  When I returned home one of the first things I did was visit the horses.  

People say that horses don't have feelings--that they don't care about their humans. 

I have never bought in to that argument.  Yes, they are somewhat food driven creatures but then so are dogs.

I decided to sit in the grass, turning three of them loose where they could graze and I could just enjoy some quiet time with them. Cleo and I are very bonded as I have known her since birth and I was the person who helped her recover from her broken neck.  It was interesting to see that even though I had just put her on green grass, instead of venturing off and eating like crazy she grazed in a 6-foot circle around me, occasionally coming in close and touching me with her face and legs. 

Even little Story would come in and touch me for a moment and then venture away.

It warmed my heart to know that they were happy to be in my company.

On the weekend, I brought my beautiful gelding Sonny to a Western Dressage Clinic.  He would get anxious and look for me every time I went out of his sight.  If I walked away, he would follow me with his eyes.  Two people that I had never met before commented that he was noticeably calmer when I was near.  What a feeling to know that my horses trust me and consider me their safety.

Last night, I wanted to sit and enjoy some peace with the broodmares and observe a mare who is ready to foal.  I sat down in a huge pile of hay.  As soon as I sat down, one foal laid down to my left and the other little guy who is usually standoffish laid down to my right.  He even allowed me to massage his legs as he closed his eyes and had a nap.  His dam came over and started eating hay right up against my back, leaning her face against me almost the whole time.  It was such a peaceful and beautiful moment. It was even more special because at one time, the broodmares were extremely skittish and wanted very little to do with humans.  I spent countless hours working with them to get to this point and to see them actually seeking out my company, well, it has made everything so much more worthwhile. It is also interesting that they only choose to do this when I am on my own with them.  It is likely that I put out different energy when I am around people.

There is nothing that grounds me as much as these magical moments.  To gain the trust of such magnificent creatures is an honour and a blessing.

I Fell In Love The Other Day...

Something wonderful happened on this past Sunday.  I gave my heart to someone...

She is just over 14HH, a petite and smart little tri-colour grulla paint named Story.  She joined my horse family as a 2 year old in May of 2012...a project horse.

Friends bid against the meat buyer at the auction to bring this little one home.  She had been in their radar at a previous auction but went to another home that time.

She was brought back to the auction a few months later and this time they decided to bid on her especially in light of who they were bidding against.  She seemed quiet and easy to handle and so would be an easy project...or maybe not.

A few days after they brought her home, she decided that being caught was no longer an option. Due to circumstances, they were unable to keep her and put her up for sale with a very honest and well worded ad. My girlfriend saw the ad on Kijiji and forwarded it to me with a note saying, "This is a perfect project for you."  Oh boy!

I needed another horse like I needed another hole in my head but she was a pretty little thing and the whole challenge of getting through to her appealed to my persistent and stubborn nature. So I sent an email to the seller and received a response from the new owner, who it turns out was a wonderful lady that I knew.  She had a number of people interested in her so she said if none of the prospects panned out she would let me know.  

Well, it turns out that fate decided that she was supposed to come into my world, so with a couple of partners, we bought her and she was delivered to us.  For the first day or so, she was quiet and nice to handle and then she decided that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of us.

Almost two months passed and I had absolutely no success.  She was shut down.  She wasn't interested in people or other horses.  I realized that the poor little one had been shuffled around so many times in her short life that she didn't want to bond to anyone because in her experience thus far she would be separated from them anyhow.  I had a standardbred with similar issues and she ended up being one of the best horses that I have ever owned but it took lots of time and patience.

I knew she wasn't abused and somebody had actually done some great ground work with her so she was a bit different than anyone that I had ever dealt with before.  I realized that she was going to need lots and lots of time to build trust.  I spent hours and hours in her pen hanging out and talking to her, making her feet move and still she wouldn't turn and face me no matter what I did.  She turned her rump to me and acted like she wanted to jump out of the pen.  Never once did she kick out at me or even try to.  

In a torrential rainstorm, I put her hay in her shelter and stood inside hoping her hunger would be stronger than her aversion to me. Wrong!  She absolutely refused to come in to eat.  I spent hours out there, soaked to the skin and covered in manure, hoping just hoping that she would finally cave in but she didn't.  I finally gave up and went in for the evening, discouraged and frustrated but not ready to give up on her.  

Two days after that episode, one of the boarders at the barn phoned me to say that she was sick and throwing herself down in the mud and rolling repeatedly.  My gut was doing flip flops - it sounded like colic to me so I started phoning vets.  I was in down town Calgary and couldn't get there quickly so relied on the help of my daughter and some fantastic friends who really stepped up and banded together to help her.  A vet came out and tried the standard tubing and mineral oil treatment and she wasn't responding, so another friend trailered her to a nearby vet clinic.  

At first assessment they felt that she would be a surgical case to the tune of $5-25,000.  I told them surgery was not an option and that we would be letting her go if that was the case. I am not a believer in colic surgery as I haven't heard of many success stories. It seemed like such a tragic waste to lose this little horse.  It just didn't seem right.  Her life was just beginning and why did she come to us if she was just going to pack it in?  I told them to try tubing her and medicating her again and do everything they could in that respect.

I rushed to the clinic to see her and when I got there, she was calmly walking around in the stall looking all bright and happy.  The staff were working on cleaning some of the mud off of her and they told me when she came in, they didn't realize that she was a paint. Even the insides of her ears were full of mud.  Needless to say, she stayed overnight at the clinic and we picked her up and brought her home the next day.  

I spent 4 hours cleaning her up and kept her in the barn for about a week.  I spent lots of time  doing groundwork and grooming her and realized that she was probably the smartest and most sensitive horse that I have ever owned.

In the following days the challenges continued.  Although I could catch her quite easily, she would turn tail and run, dragging me along behind her.  I had to put two lead ropes on her and my friends kindly assisted me in bringing her in so she couldn't drag me around.  It took lots of time and patience but I knew where she was coming from.  Eventually she settled down and became a nice, compliant little horse.

The following year I didn't do a whole lot with her as I decided that I wasn't going to start her myself and because she was so small I wanted her to have some time to just hang out with the herd and grow. I wanted her to go to a trainer who could recognize and bring out the potential that I knew was in her.  She would still play the catching game with me at times but would eventually give in.  The lightest of signals on the ground such as the flick of a finger could get her to change direction.  She would stand and face me, eyes wide and ears going back and forth so much that I began to call her "Radar".  

I found a fantastic horse trainer who had been successful in starting some very difficult rescue horses that I knew and I felt that he would be perfect for Story.  

We sent her off as a long three year old and he put approximately 12 rides on her.  I was worried about how sending her away was going to affect her trust issues.  I went and rode with him after she had been with him for around a month and was amazed to see my little horse loping out in the open, calm as could be under saddle.   He told me he had only put about 12 rides on her at that point and I was so pleased to see her progress. 

She had developed some nasty cinch sores so the trainer suggested that I take her home to heal and bring her back in a few months to resume her training.  When I went to visit her, I noticed that she didn't want anything to do with me.  I loaded her in the trailer and brought her home, tied her up in the barn and said, "See, I told you I wasn't going to abandon you."

I groomed her and treated her wounds and then played with her in the indoor arena.  Next thing I knew, she came up behind me and was gently touching my shoulder with her lips. That was absolutely the first time she had ever made any sort of affectionate move toward me.  I was thrilled but still somehow held back a part of my heart from her.

We sent her back to finish her training and she was gone for February and March.  Because of the bitterly cold weather, I didn't go and see her until it was time to pick her up.  I went out there and again, she was completely standoffish with me for which I felt bad as I knew I had left her for a long time.  The trainer handed her reins to me and I started talking to her.  She finally stretched her nose out to touch my hand and greeted me.  I think she realized that I wasn't abandoning her.  I rode her and wow!  She is light, soft, and oh so catty!  She has tremendous potential and I am absolutely thrilled with the job he did with her.

He brought her home two days later and I have been riding her almost every day.  She is an amazing little horse!

For the first time since we bought her, she whinnies when she sees me.  When I do ground work with her, she does this funny little crab walk to position herself behind my right shoulder and gently touches me with her lips.  I don't normally let horses get this much in my space but she is not being pushy and it is like she is looking to me for reassurance.

She has finally given me her heart and I have given her mine.  I adore this little horse and all of those hours spent trying to gain her trust have been more than worth it.  She just needed time and someone to believe in her.  

Everybody deserves to have someone who loves and believes in them.  Someone who won't write them off.

Respecting Your Horse

Just like people, horses are different from one another.  They have different ways of learning and they are physically and mentally suited to different disciplines.  Just because you think your horse is a western pleasure prospect doesn't mean that he is.  He may have that nice slow jog down pat but when it comes right down to it, he wants to do cattle work.

It's funny how we try to mould our horses to do things that they are not meant to do.  I did that once with disastrous results.  As a result of my actions it took over a year to pull things back together with that particular horse.  

His name is Jacob and there was doubt as to whether I was going to keep him.  I wanted him to do some low level western shows.  I was nervous and so was he.  He fed off of my mood and managed to buck me off for the first time in his life at the show grounds.  He wanted nothing to do with me and wanted to get as far away as possible.  Only I didn't see it that way.  I was upset with him and just felt he was being a jerk.  

It really unnerved me as at one point I had absolutely no control over him and we almost had a crazy wreck.  A friend of mine finally got on his back and he was just fine for her. He was completely feeding off of my mood.

The problem continued.  He wanted absolutely nothing to do with me and I could no longer catch him out in the pasture.  Shortly after the show he injured his shoulder and wasn't sound for about a year.  I believe it to be a blessing because I just had to spend time rehabbing him.  I couldn't sell him because he wasn't sound and we just had to work it all out.

I realized that he was a horse with a higher head carriage, and is fairly high strung.  He likes speed.  I was trying so hard to make him into something that he wasn't in order to satisfy my requirements and didn't even give him a minute's consideration.

I started riding him again but with a whole different attitude.  I tried him on some gymkhana patterns in our own arena and joined the local riding club.

On a whim, I decided to bring Jacob to a gymkhana just for exposure and wasn't even sure if I was going to ride him.  We got there and he was incredibly calm so I decided to pay the entry fee and see where it went.  He was fantastic!  I found his niche.

He gets all excited and happy when I run barrels or poles.  He isn't a superstar, but he is a happy horse.  He wants to be brought in now and our relationship is the best it's ever been.  

A hard lesson but a very important one.

Hanging With the Boys

Last night I brought two of my geldings in to hang out with me.

Most of the time, I tend to impose goals for the time that I spend with each horse and in some ways lose the most basic connection with them.

Because I have 5 horses and look after approximately 18 more, I am fairly tight for time when it comes to my own and as a result they get the short end of the stick.

It was wonderful to be alone with them, quietly reconnecting and really taking my time in their grooming and enjoying the moment instead of rushing through so I can saddle them up. 

I could see that Sonny recognized the less purposeful energy in me and actually put his head down, allowing me to give his face and poll a good brushing--something that he usually resists.  His eyes were half shut and he was really enjoying the attention.  

Jacob was nice and relaxed, enjoying the moment and not being his usual flighty self. 

I turned them in the arena for a roll and as soon as Sonny got to his feet he took off kicking and bucking, trying to entice Jacob to play.  They raced each other around the arena, doing lap after lap only stopping when they were totally winded and sweaty.  

I love watching them at liberty--especially the geldings because they are playful creatures. Mares tend to herd the crew, keeping certain horses away from their buddies.  They are far more serious about life than their male counterparts.

Once playtime was over they came over to hang out with me.  Sonny was very engaged and so we did a little liberty dance.

He was matching my foot steps as I walked around the arena with him at my side.  Slowly circling, moving forward and backing one step at a time. 

I love the feeling of connecting with their energy--their sole focus on my body language and movement.  It is so powerful, almost magical.  Getting back in touch with it last night really grounded me.  My only obstacle was time.  I would have been content to spend a few more hours with them as they would with me.

Who needs a therapist?

Playtime!

Sonny and his buddy Mike had gone on a long trail ride and when we unsaddled them, we turned them out into the arena to roll.   It was like they had a discussion beforehand and went straight into some pretty intense play. (my apologies for the poor quality video)

And we thought we had tired them out!

Geldings can be so funny sometimes.

Listen To Your Horse - You Might Actually Learn Something

I think this says it all.

A Great Horse

I have the magnificent Sonny.  He is a 16HH grey appendix gelding.  

He has this incredible presence to him.  A very regal boy.  Not perfect conformationally but he is the type of horse that attracts attention when he is around.  

He is moody, prickly and quirky. Honestly I think that is what I love most about him. Some days he very clearly decides that he doesn't want his face touched.  If I try a new piece of tack on him, it becomes an ordeal.  He will fuss and carry on and I either have to power through it or remove the offending piece of equipment.  Last time it was bell boots.

Instead of getting all upset about it, I just embrace who he is.  I love him in all of his ways and when the chips are down, he always comes through for me.

He is the most incredible ride.  He floats at the gallop and the raw power that I feel beneath me is unreal.

I worked with him for a few years before I decided that I needed him in my life.  He was one of those gangly, homely, difficult young horses.  Nobody really understood him.  Some thought he was brain damaged from a nasty bout of the strangles as a yearling.   I tried to get other people to work with him but he was such an explosive and odd young horse, that he scared everyone.  I took him on because he was supposed to be sold by his owner but I knew he wasn't a horse that I would feel comfortable selling to anyone in the state he was in so he became one of my projects.

He would randomly stand and kick the barn wall behind him just for the sake of kicking it. You couldn't tie him in the arena because there was something about the white walls that he hated.  His ears would go all sideways and then he would start brooding and thinking and he would do whatever it took to get free.  Throwing himself over backwards was one of his favorite tactics.  

I spent a lot of time scratching my head with him.  I couldn't treat him like other horses because he wouldn't get over things.  Instead he would brood and stew over anything that bothered him.  He absolutely refused to lunge to the right.  He was explosive under saddle.  You could just feel that he was ready to blow at any given moment.  

I handled his biggest issues by not handling them.  We would focus on the good and get that working better.  I spent loads of time observing him.  What I did notice was brilliant. 

I put him in the arena with a halter and rope and let him loose.  I do that with the younger horses to get them used to ropes and giving to their own pressure.  He wasn't happy about the rope that was chasing him.  There went the sideways ears and he was doing his best to run away but it just kept following him.  Then he went over to a jump standard that was off to the one side and somehow managed to get the rope wound in it.  Still more sideways ears but instead of rushing to his rescue, I decided to observe him and wait for the explosive battle.  Instead, he calmly thought things through and managed to extricate himself and the rope by ever so carefully picking his way around the obstacle. I was thrilled to see that when something stressful happened he had a way of thinking things through and not losing his mind.  

He ended up getting himself cast in a stall one time.  He was literally leaning back against the corner of the stall and looked like a funny person slouching in the corner.  I asked a friend for help and I was scared because of his history, however he seemed to know that he was in a predicament and he was extremely cooperative as he got him untangled.  Not one kick.  Again, when the heat was on, he totally had his act together.

What I have also observed is how his worst issues have melted away just as I had hoped they would.  People tried to give me advice with him but I just decided to listen to my gut with this boy.  

He is turning 10 this year and most of the time he is a very nice, quiet and compliant gelding.  He is still prickly and moody and cold backed at times but I just accept him for who he is and actually have some respect for his non-conformist personality.  He is my main mountain riding horse and I have taken him to shows.  He has come such a long way but it has been a very long journey.  I will say this: he has been worth every moment.  

He is also very smart and playful.  He is affectionate and possessive.  He is noble and masculine.  Graceful and regal.  I am very blessed to have him in my life.