Yes, my horse is a terror.
I took him on a trail ride and in the process he:
Would not stand still at the tie block.
Fidgeted and pranced for saddling.
Bucked and ran in circles around me tossing his head when I was leading him to the trailer. My neighbor was watching with wide eyes like he thought he was going to explode. (Sam gets excited about trail rides.)
Stamped and stomped in the trailer.
Immediately started to trot when we got to the trails, and then broke into a canter.
Kept going into a trot or canter without being asked.
These are all things I would not allow in my projects for 30 seconds, but my own horse does them.
My mom thinks it's because he's spoiled (he is) and because I don't want to discipline him since I got him in bad shape when I was 14. She's wrong there.
I don't work on these issues because to me, they aren't issues.
Nobody else rides my horse or has ridden him for, oh, a good 5 years. Nobody else really handles him- although he is perfectly capable of standing tied and leading like a gentleman and don't let him tell you otherwise.
Nobody else will ever own him because he will never be for sale- I put it in my will and informed others that if I died suddenly, my possessions are to be sold to pay for his upkeep and if no one is available to keep him, he is to be put down rather than sold. He's not a young horse nor is he a calm horse- although he's as docile as a lamb around children.
He gives these little crow hop things that feel ridiculous and would unseat absolutely nobody and I just laugh at them. They feel hilarious. He goes, more or less, what speed he wants to and slows when he wants/needs to.
I don't have a problem with this because our preferred speed of travel is a canter and since he's as out of shape as I am, and nearly as old, he knows his limits. I let him slow down because he wouldn't if he didn't need to. When he starts to go he does is slowly- his way of asking if it's cool to go now- and if it's not I say no and we don't. Personally I'm fine with travelling fast all the time but hey, he's the one doing most of the work.
You'd think I have to ride him with a deal grip on the reins but the truth is, they're definitely a U shape when we're trail riding.
It didn't used to be. He used to have way more issues, and those we did fix. We fixed the bolting, not loading, rearing, trying to turn back on the ride and some others. Those I did not want to live with. These I don't mind.
The real reason I don't correct all these 'bad habits' is because riding Sam isn't work, riding Sam is fun. It's relaxing and enjoyable and it always cheers me up and makes me laugh. Riding Sam feels different, it feels easier and "right". Probably because I've been riding him for ten years.
Riding the other horses is unquestionably work. Even trail riding isn't very fun. It's work.
I love my brat because he's entirely separate from my projects; there is no 'what are we going to work on today' in my mind when I get on Sam. It's just being there and letting everything go. That's borrowing freedom.
And for all the nonsense that Sam pulls, he actually loves being ridden. He dislikes anytime I ride other horses- not as much anymore, now he's just accepted it, but there's a distinct (and guilt inducing) change in his expression and carriage after we ride. He holds his head higher, his ears are perked and I swear to god, he struts. Even if he was tired. He thinks he's hot stuff.
I just laugh.
Before you ask, yes I had a helmet. I hooked it to my saddle when we stopped for a rest break by the lake. It's why my hair's so crazy. (Shut up, that's totally the reason. It's not because I need a haircut and haven't had one since London.)
It is a little bit 'Do as I say, not as I do' but then again, who really cares?
yeah, can relate. I still have my daughter's 28 year old Tennesee Walker. Got up on him a few weeks back and he took off like a bullet. People all stared and I said, yup.. that's what he does. Been doing that forever and it's not going to change. We love him anyway. He out walks every horse and his running walk still makes everyone else canter to keep up.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I will say having a pile of old horses.. THEY DO NOT CHANGE. My 32 year old galloper Still wants to gallop across the fields...I have to rein him in and say NO buddy, you are too old, your body will pay for it tonight. :(
So, don't keep a horse with a behavior you don't like and think they will just grow out of it when they are old. None of mine have. I even have a bucker (the yippee yahoo I get to canter buck) that still does that at 27.
Yep. While Sam has slowed down (his endurance if not his speed) he is still absolutely not a beginner horse. He'd dump anyone who tried. I'm pretty fine with it. But yeah, like yours I have to hold him in when it's time for a rest or he needs a cool down.
ReplyDeleteI used to have an OTTB when I showed over fences. He was the sweetest horse, but he never was any good at standing still when I mounted. Then once I was on he snorted and pranced like a war horse. And he always charged up hills on trail rides. After a while I didn't even bother trying to change him. I kept him for the rest of his life. However, the horse I have now absolutely stands still, and doesn't take a step until I tell him to.
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