One of the best parts of owning a horse is seeing not only the growth in yourself as a rider but also the relationship you develop with your horse. I have touched on this many times as I have written about my experiences with Dakota, and I have found that experiences on the ground when not riding help develop this relationship greatly.
When I first began my ownership of Dakota, she couldn't stand spray bottles. Spray bottles are a staple in the tack trunk- whether it be fly spray or coat conditioner. Horses have to be able to accept you spraying them with weird things they are supposed to be afraid of. Dakota would pull her head up as much as possible to get off of the cross ties. She couldn't stand being hosed down after riding, especially around her neck. Her ability to stand still for grooming maxed out at about 5 minutes. After all, her experience was with young children whose attention span for grooming was about the same. I couldn't help but think of one of my students who couldn't write his name at the beginning of the school year and would throw the pencil and yell "I just can't do it!" (Who now writes his name perfectly by the way!)
I started slowly with her. She doesn't have the best feet, and her coat often gets extremely dry during the winter season. I would try and pick her hooves...she would lean her body weight INTO me instead of transferring the weight like she is supposed to. She was saying, "ha in your dreams I will lift this hoof for you!" 5 minutes became 10 minute increments. 10 minutes soon turned into 20, and then 30 minutes. The more time I spent grooming her, the more she began to trust me. She knew I was just trying to take care of her, and as she understood this she began to learn the routine. However, this doesn't mean she wouldn't test me....because she absolutely would. It often reminded me of working with my preschoolers. They learned the rules in the beginning and it took time, and after they gave in a little bit they pushed the limits to see how far they could get. If she tried to wiggle her butt one direction, I would push her back the other way. If she wouldn't lift a hoof, I would keep applying pressure and reassure her with my voice that I was only trying to help. Often you read about horse grooming and many horse people believe in firmness as a way of training, but with a sweet mare that wants to work with you sometimes that tactic simply doesn't work. I found that being firm but loving was the way to gradually increase her ability to stand still for me to groom her. She used to hate being brushed. Now, she has her sweet spots she pushes towards the brush to make sure I don't miss. Ok, she still farts in my face when I pick her back right hoof but I can deal with that. I can now take the hose to the top of her mane and she doesn't love it but she doesn't pull away. She knows I'm not going to spray her in the face, I'm not going to attack her with a hose. She used to pull away when I would kiss her in the face...now she leans in for kisses. She used to stare at me when I would step into her stall. She now bows for mints, ready to do her back exercises. And at the end of it all, she knows she can SHARE an apple with me!
Many people thinking working with horses is all about being on tack and training through riding. People think of riders as riders, and don't understand that horse owners not only ride but we also take care of the animal in many, many ways.
I recently had a young rider ask me, "What is your least favorite part about owning a horse?" My answer was simply, "Paying the bill!"
No comments:
Post a Comment