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I was never one of those horse crazy girls. My best friend, Mary, was horse crazy. She lived in the same suburban Maryland neighborhood I did, but she had a horse. I went with her to the farm where her horse was stabled, watched her clean out the stall, groom it, ride it. Nope, no interest on my part. I was just hanging out with Mary. By the time Morgan was three, she was begging for toy horses, nothing but toy horses for Christmases and birthdays. Is it born in you, this horse crazy thing in girls? She wasn’t exposed to horses, other than the toys at the store that she zeroed in on. I saw an ad about a horse camp for kids nearby. I took her, and that led to regular riding lessons. I had nothing to do with the lessons other than dropping her off and picking her up. Nope, no interest.
Now I have two horses–for Morgan.
I’m slightly leery of horses. My one previous experience riding a horse was when I went with a church youth group in California to a trail riding outing. I rode a horse, for the first–and presumably last–time. I didn’t find the experience comfortable. Horses made me nervous. They’re big. I feel uncomfortable–now–handling Patriot and Zip. I can handle sheep, cows, goats, donkeys, but not horses. Horses are big. But I have to start handling these horses. Morgan isn’t here–and won’t be here–all the time. They need to be moved from pasture to pasture, they need to be vetted, they need their hooves worked on, and who knows what else. In the end, I’m the one who runs this farm and is here all the time. I have to be able to handle the horses. Other than the one glorified merry-go-rounding ride I had on Patriot when we first visited him in Kentucky, and the one glorified merry-go-rounding on Zip last week, and oh yes, that one trail ride in California when I was a teenager, I’ve never been on a horse. And I sure can’t handle them. I can’t even put a halter on them.
Yesterday, I went to Soggy Bottom Farm, where Zip is staying for a month of board and train with Mike Trader. I’m very pleased now that I’ve been to his farm. She isn’t at a stable, like a business, she’s at a home. His house is right beside the big horse barn, and she’s not stalled non-stop. She has pasture time. I thought we’d start with me watching him train Zip, but he had other ideas. He put me on one of his horses, Sierra, right away.
Let me state straight up that this is an incredibly well-trained and gentle horse. I felt immediately safe on this horse. He showed me how to put her saddle and bridle on. I got on the horse, and he put me through my paces teaching me to make her walk, make her stop, make her turn. Making me take my hands off her while she was walking, and even making me close my eyes. And then because I was having so much fun that I wanted to go faster, he let me take her out of the ring and make her gait. Wow, that was fun. Then we took her back and he made me unsaddle her and wash her down.
Then, yes then, came Zip. We took Zip to the ring and he showed me her groundwork. He went through what he’s been working with her on for the past few days–desensitizing, yielding her hindquarters, and backing up. She’s resistant, but he’s made a lot of progress with her in just a few days. He said strong will is not a bad thing. “She’s got heart,” he said. “She’ll make a good horse.” And then he let me come into the ring and practice the groundwork exercises with her. THIS THIS THIS was even more fun, if possible, than riding Sierra because I got to learn to handle Zip, make her back up, make her get out of my face, show her she can’t crowd me. These types of exercises are what she needs–but it’s also what I need to gain the confidence to handle her.
I only have two weeks before Morgan will be back and I have to share the fun with her–which I want to, but….this is my time. On the other hand, I don’t want to bother the trainer too much or impact his time to work with Zip. Three hours later when I was leaving, I said, “I’ll come back next Thursday, if that’s okay.” He said, “I’ll start riding Zip by this weekend, taking her out on the trail. Don’t you want to come trail ride with us? You can ride Sierra.”
First lesson in the ring. Second lesson on the trail? I JUST MIGHT.
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on June 22, 2012
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My daughter is just like Morgan about horses. She is 7 and wants a horse, wants to learn all about horses (and ponies), and loves horse toys. At the feed store, on our way to grab rabbit supplies for her mini pet rabbit, we walk by the horse aisle and she loves looking at the horse stuff.
I grew up loving horses too, I even had a pony for a short time (he passed away of cancer less than a year after I got him). I also worked at a pony ride place and rode big ponies and mules. I also took care of my uncle’s horses (lived next door) and was allowed to ride one of them. (The other was his cattle ropin’ horse, he never had to tell me not to ride her, I just knew not to.)
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As a small girl I would have loved a pony, and used to ‘ride’ the arm of the sofa! I don’t know if the TV show ‘Fury’ was on in the States, but I watched it weekly and sobbed when it finished. We lived in a town so a pony was never on the cards. I’d still love one but don’t have either the time or the space – so I’m going to share Patriot and Zip through the ether with you if you don’t mind…
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Now, is there a tractor trainer out there somewhere? lol
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I’m glad you’re getting comfortable ‘on the ground’ with Zip. Being handed a ‘trained’ horse is no substitute for knowing what you have to know to get where you can read their body language and know what they’re up to. Your Mike Trader sounds like a smart fellah! I’d send him any horse of mine in a second!
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I think there’s some kind of genetic component to being fascinated with horses. This isn’t to say that you can’t decide as an adult to take up riding–and learn to love it. However, like Morgan, I too was that horse-obsessed kid. I had the Breyer models, read the Marguerite Henry books a million times, and finally got to take riding lessons and join a 4-H horse club at age 13. Now I’m giving my kids the opportunity to experience their own pony, and their responses are interesting. My daughter, who’s 5, just doesn’t have the horse obsession. The pony is nice, and she’ll ride occasionally, but I can tell that the interest just isn’t there. My son, who is 2 and 1/2, is interested in anything “horse”, asks all kinds of questions about tack and equipment and horse-handling, and would ride constantly if we let him. He’s asking me when he can ride by himself (he gets pony rides now), canter, and accompany me on trail rides. I can’t explain the difference in the two of them except to say that he has the “horse gene” and my daughter doesn’t! It’s a funny thing.
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Lynda
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have a great time! nothing better than smelling a lightly sweaty horse’s neck…
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I think so. Until the time I went to college, I was obsessed with all things horse. I never had my own horse but was fortunate enough that my mom had enough friends with horses that needed exercising for me to be able to ride almost every weekend growing up.
Then right about the time my parents bought a farm, built a horse barn and filled it with horses, I lost the “bug.” Go figure.
A well trained horse is a joy. My dad really enjoyed taking “problem” horses, working with them for several months and then selling them.
Your trainer sounds great and I agree with the other poster, if he thinks you are good to go on Seirra, hop on and enjoy!
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