Royal. Regal. Majestic.
Those are the words that come to mind when I look at this photo of Bailey that I took back in the late fall, when we first moved to Ferme Ste Rose. I think it has to be one of my favorite pictures. He is bucking the whole not-very-photogenic thing in this one (pun intended).
We haven’t been working as much as I’d planned, for a variety of reasons. Snowstorms, extreme cold, icey conditions, apathy, time constraints, and pure laziness. But I rode today in a light snow storm. It was a gift. In fact, my horse gave me several gifts today. An amazingly soft, quiet, powerful canter depart from the walk. One that I didn’t even realize I’d asked for. One minute, we were walking and I was thinking canter. I must of thought too loudly, because he gave it. It was amazing!
I could also feel today that he really wanted to let loose, have a good gallop around, and he kept asking me. My horse was asking me if it was okay!! And I had to say no, we shouldn’t, I just don’t trust the footing, we could slip. And he would say, please?? I’ll be so careful. Just a little? I’ll be good. So I caved, and let him loose, just a little, and he was good, and he came back when I asked, and he was careful. But just the fact that he asked me first was wonderful!
Near the end of our ride, my toes were getting cold, so I dropped my stirrups for a while. We trotted around, and he slowed his trot for me, and lightened up. I swear he was trying to be nice to me.
I read an article recently, something along the lines of ” the horse has the right to say no”, or some silly thing, along the lines of Parelli, and some of the ‘Natural Horsemanship’ crap. Not saying it’s all crap, but a lot of is touchy-feely-my-horse-will-love-me-if-I’m-nice. It was quite a silly article, but it did make me pause and think a little bit. How much of what I ask of my horse, is actually fair? Do I expect too much from him sometimes? Do I ask him things that he is unsure, or unclear of, and then over-react when he hasn’t performed? Do I allow for his silly days, or his bad days, the same way he allows for mine? As horse people, we talk about being the ‘Alpha Mare’ to our horse, ‘Ask, tell, demand’, and yet at the same time, we expect a partnership with them. We are always walking a fine line between humanizing our horses, and even sometimes treating them as our children (yes, I am my horse’s mom!), and remembering that they are animals; big, athletic, fast and biddable, but still animals. And animals of prey, at that.
A fine line.
Do I love my horse? Yes. I fell in love with him when I saw him as a gangly two year old, with a huge lump on his face, and that same look in his eyes that North had. I bought him with the intention of keeping him forever, until the day he dies. He is my heart horse.
Do I think my horse loves me? No. Of course not. He is a horse. I think he enjoys spending time with me because I give him mints, and food, and really good scratches where I know he is particularly itchy. I think he might even read my moods sometimes, and respond in particular ways because of that, (and a lot of that is probably my body language). He can be sweet, sassy, bossy, petulant, forgiving, but in the end, he is still a horse. Yet, there is something about this particular horse that tugs at my heart.
