If you were a horse, what breed would you be? What horsey traits might you posess?
I would be a mustang, or a Quarter Pony, maybe. I would be a bay or a chestnut with conservative white markings. I would be low in the pecking order. I would be afraid to leave the arena, and I would look for things to spook at. I would be tentative and worry a lot and anticipate, but I would always try, and I would have a good mind and a good heart underneath it all.
Sofie is doing okay. She's definitely still in a flare-up. I think she will need another week or two off. She seemed happy to see me again and has indulged my desire for hugs. We have had fun going on "trail walks", except for yesterday when she decided she did not want to go down the trail, and turned around on me numerous times, forcing me to spin her around until she didn't want to do that anymore. We did make it down the trail, though, only to have issues in the yard when I decided to jog her away from the barn. She got ahead of me, started turning back to the barn, decided it hurt, and kicked at me. I was mad, and upset, and I yelled at her and beat on her neck and made her back up quite a bit to let her know that was not acceptable. I tolerate a lot from her, and I always give her the benefit of the doubt, but after that, I felt really discouraged and questioned whether I was right to do so, or if I was just an idiot for putting up with her for so long. She didn't come close to connecting with me (she could have easily done so if she had wanted to) and I will continue to give her the benefit of the doubt, because I believe that horses don't lie, and hock x-rays definitely do not. It's just very discouraging sometimes. I care so much, and I do all I can for her, and sometimes I can hardly do anything with her, it seems. But I am in this for the long haul.
I have lots of posts in mind for this downtime. If I ever have enough time to make them materialize, you will see them.
Oh, Sofie! At least you have an honest horse??? I do hope she starts to feel better. You are handling her issues wonderfully and you ARE doing a lot for her (and yeah, if Greta kicked at me she'd get a slap on her butt to remember, but I'd feel bad haha). Even if she hurt she should know better than to act out like that, as much I hate to say that. I mean, you SHOULD listen and take into consideration WHY she kicked, but it's definitely something to discourage, because I've experience with a mare in the past (a LOOONG time ago, like two years ago haha) that if you let them get away with that, even though it's for a good reason, they learn that if they don't want to do something, they can act out. Might as well nip it in the bud. But believe me, you'll feel really bad haha.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you're sticking with this horse even though you "can hardly do anything with her" is so good to see, and I Sofie should appreciate it haha. You may not be able to teach her what you wanted to teach her, but believe me you will learn a lot from this and you can teach them a lot, even if it's not under saddle like you hoped to. My first three horses (one at a time consecutively, not all at once, and they were all foster mares, so I didn't "own", I just got them ready for adoption) could not be ridden at all, but they each had their own problems that needed to be solved. Only one could go on to be ridden, but the ground work and manners I taught her helped greatly (or so her adopter told me... she might have just been trying to make me feel good haha).
So what I'm saying is stick it out and find a sunny side to everything. There's always way to surface, you just gotta really look for it sometimes, maybe even break out the pick ax. But you got look at the positive things, even if it's only a small sampling. Because it all add up.
On a different note:
Um... I don't know what breed I'd be. I would love to be a Swedish Warmblood or a Baroque breed or a Gypsy Vanner haha, but I don't know if that'd be ME. I do know that I'd be willing and unafraid, but if somebody asked me to do something that I questioned, I'd definitely let them know, and they'd probably have to really convince me to get me to do it. So I would be opinionated and honest to a certain degree. I would not be an easy one to bond with, because I can pick up on any bad things really quickly and I'd like to test people, but once I get know and like somebody, then they'd have me through and through. They'd have to know what they're doing. Because I only take educated answers ;)
Oh, Sofie! At least you have an honest horse??? I do hope she starts to feel better. You are handling her issues wonderfully and you ARE doing a lot for her (and yeah, if Greta kicked at me she'd get a slap on her butt to remember, but I'd feel bad haha). Even if she hurt she should know better than to act out like that, as much I hate to say that. I mean, you SHOULD listen and take into consideration WHY she kicked, but it's definitely something to discourage, because I've experience with a mare in the past (a LOOONG time ago, like two years ago haha) that if you let them get away with that, even though it's for a good reason, they learn that if they don't want to do something, they can act out. Might as well nip it in the bud. But believe me, you'll feel really bad haha.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you're sticking with this horse even though you "can hardly do anything with her" is so good to see, and I Sofie should appreciate it haha. You may not be able to teach her what you wanted to teach her, but believe me you will learn a lot from this and you can teach them a lot, even if it's not under saddle like you hoped to. My first three horses (one at a time consecutively, not all at once, and they were all foster mares, so I didn't "own", I just got them ready for adoption) could not be ridden at all, but they each had their own problems that needed to be solved. Only one could go on to be ridden, but the ground work and manners I taught her helped greatly (or so her adopter told me... she might have just been trying to make me feel good haha).
So what I'm saying is stick it out and find a sunny side to everything. There's always way to surface, you just gotta really look for it sometimes, maybe even break out the pick ax. But you got look at the positive things, even if it's only a small sampling. Because it all add up.
On a different note:
Um... I don't know what breed I'd be. I would love to be a Swedish Warmblood or a Baroque breed or a Gypsy Vanner haha, but I don't know if that'd be ME. I do know that I'd be willing and unafraid, but if somebody asked me to do something that I questioned, I'd definitely let them know, and they'd probably have to really convince me to get me to do it. So I would be opinionated and honest to a certain degree. I would not be an easy one to bond with, because I can pick up on any bad things really quickly and I'd like to test people, but once I get know and like somebody, then they'd have me through and through. They'd have to know what they're doing. Because I only take educated answers ;)
Oh, Sofie! At least you have an honest horse??? I do hope she starts to feel better. You are handling her issues wonderfully and you ARE doing a lot for her (and yeah, if Greta kicked at me she'd get a slap on her butt to remember, but I'd feel bad haha). Even if she hurt she should know better than to act out like that, as much I hate to say that. I mean, you SHOULD listen and take into consideration WHY she kicked, but it's definitely something to discourage, because I've experience with a mare in the past (a LOOONG time ago, like two years ago haha) that if you let them get away with that, even though it's for a good reason, they learn that if they don't want to do something, they can act out. Might as well nip it in the bud. But believe me, you'll feel really bad haha.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you're sticking with this horse even though you "can hardly do anything with her" is so good to see, and I Sofie should appreciate it haha. You may not be able to teach her what you wanted to teach her, but believe me you will learn a lot from this and you can teach them a lot, even if it's not under saddle like you hoped to. My first three horses (one at a time consecutively, not all at once, and they were all foster mares, so I didn't "own", I just got them ready for adoption) could not be ridden at all, but they each had their own problems that needed to be solved. Only one could go on to be ridden, but the ground work and manners I taught her helped greatly (or so her adopter told me... she might have just been trying to make me feel good haha).
So what I'm saying is stick it out and find a sunny side to everything. There's always way to surface, you just gotta really look for it sometimes, maybe even break out the pick ax. But you got look at the positive things, even if it's only a small sampling. Because it all add up.