Since this was posted elsewhere, I decided to use it to start a journal. No idea where it will go, but it's nice to have a place to write.
A few months ago my daughters went to a rescue farm with the girl scouts. They both liked horses before the visit, but afterwards they LOVED them, especially my oldest, who is 11.
I have always enjoyed spending time with animals, so my girls interest in these rescued horses and their begging go back to the farm was all it took for me to sign up.
So we started going to the farm and I began to learn the basics of what needs doing and a little about how to handle a horse on the ground. Nothing fancy and nothing special, just haltering, leading, feeding, and a little grooming. I discovered that I am really scared of these big animals. They are so big and seemingly unpredictable. Right away, I had to learn to suppress my fear and project confidence.
After the first couple of visits, I began to spend all of my free time learning everything I could about how to work with horses on the ground. I especially liked Pat Parelli's Natural Horsemanship techniques. His YouTube videos are great. Watching them helped me learn a lot about what different behaviors meant. My wife got tired of hearing about all of the things I was learning about horses.
“Patio Game”
Patio is a feisty 3 year old off the track thoroughbred stallion who has been on stall rest since I met him due to a leg injury that ended his racing career. No one gets close to him for long. He kicks and bites and his behavior is on the aggressive side, probably because he is bored out of his mind. For some reason, I decided that I wanted to try to help Patio if I could.
Last Friday I decided to pay Patio a visit. I just went to the barn and sat with him for a while. I sat down just out of his reach and talked to him for a while. I played a few little games with him, getting him to reach for treats and move his feet a little. During this visit, he let me get into his neck and whithers and let me touch him for the first time without trying to bite me. Man I was scared! But I kept my cool and gave him time to relax.
Saturday I brought the girls back to the farm for morning chores and some grooming. After feeding everyone I went back to talk to Patio. We played our little treat game and this time he let me put both my hands on him and I gave him a good scratch. He started licking his lips and dropped his head.
As this is happening the lead walked by. She asked me what horse that was and I told her it was Patio. Her jaw dropped. She said she couldn't believe what was happening. I couldn't either. With just an hour or so of work, I had gotten pretty close to Patio. He did bite me once, but it was different, he was nibbling on me…playing. As she walked by the lead said, "that's how you fall in love with a horse!" I don't know about falling in love, but I was deeply affected by what happened that day. I couldn't believe that he was trusting me.
"Alivie"
Alivie is a 6 year old thoroughbred mare who hurt her knee on the track. She has been at the rescue for years and is a gentle horse. We had to get her and some of the other horses out of the barn for spring cleaning and I ended up leading her for a while. I tried to put my research to good use and give her something to do, so I got the longest leader I could find and worked on just being confident with her. She melted immediately and did whatever I asked her to do. It was wonderful.
"Diesel"
Diesel is a 10 year old paint gelding with a somewhat timid disposition. He was a little spooked a little by all of the noise in the barn. A young lady was trying to lead him around without much success. He was pushing her around some and getting in her space. She was getting uncomfortable. Since Alivie was being so good for me, I asked her if she wanted to trade and she agreed. Within minutes I had Diesel doing things this young lady could not believe. He had gone from pushy to docile in a few minutes. I spent the next hour or so with Diesel, walking around the arena, grooming him and playing with him. He was like putty in my hands.
Now I find myself completely obsessed with horses. It's all I can think about. I have watched hundreds of You Tube videos in the evenings. I fall asleep thinking about what I am going to do with the horses at the farm this weekend. My first Google search of the morning is something about horses. I just can't get enough.
Here's the thing; I'm a 42 year old guy with no prior experience with horses. Everyone who comes to the farm to help with the horses is a horse crazy little girl or a dad of a horse crazy little girl. I stick out like a sore thumb. So much so that it is a little embarrassing. Every week I pray my girls will be good so we can go back to the farm. I think I want to go more than they do.
A few months ago my daughters went to a rescue farm with the girl scouts. They both liked horses before the visit, but afterwards they LOVED them, especially my oldest, who is 11.
I have always enjoyed spending time with animals, so my girls interest in these rescued horses and their begging go back to the farm was all it took for me to sign up.
So we started going to the farm and I began to learn the basics of what needs doing and a little about how to handle a horse on the ground. Nothing fancy and nothing special, just haltering, leading, feeding, and a little grooming. I discovered that I am really scared of these big animals. They are so big and seemingly unpredictable. Right away, I had to learn to suppress my fear and project confidence.
After the first couple of visits, I began to spend all of my free time learning everything I could about how to work with horses on the ground. I especially liked Pat Parelli's Natural Horsemanship techniques. His YouTube videos are great. Watching them helped me learn a lot about what different behaviors meant. My wife got tired of hearing about all of the things I was learning about horses.
“Patio Game”
Patio is a feisty 3 year old off the track thoroughbred stallion who has been on stall rest since I met him due to a leg injury that ended his racing career. No one gets close to him for long. He kicks and bites and his behavior is on the aggressive side, probably because he is bored out of his mind. For some reason, I decided that I wanted to try to help Patio if I could.
Last Friday I decided to pay Patio a visit. I just went to the barn and sat with him for a while. I sat down just out of his reach and talked to him for a while. I played a few little games with him, getting him to reach for treats and move his feet a little. During this visit, he let me get into his neck and whithers and let me touch him for the first time without trying to bite me. Man I was scared! But I kept my cool and gave him time to relax.
Saturday I brought the girls back to the farm for morning chores and some grooming. After feeding everyone I went back to talk to Patio. We played our little treat game and this time he let me put both my hands on him and I gave him a good scratch. He started licking his lips and dropped his head.
As this is happening the lead walked by. She asked me what horse that was and I told her it was Patio. Her jaw dropped. She said she couldn't believe what was happening. I couldn't either. With just an hour or so of work, I had gotten pretty close to Patio. He did bite me once, but it was different, he was nibbling on me…playing. As she walked by the lead said, "that's how you fall in love with a horse!" I don't know about falling in love, but I was deeply affected by what happened that day. I couldn't believe that he was trusting me.
"Alivie"
Alivie is a 6 year old thoroughbred mare who hurt her knee on the track. She has been at the rescue for years and is a gentle horse. We had to get her and some of the other horses out of the barn for spring cleaning and I ended up leading her for a while. I tried to put my research to good use and give her something to do, so I got the longest leader I could find and worked on just being confident with her. She melted immediately and did whatever I asked her to do. It was wonderful.
"Diesel"
Diesel is a 10 year old paint gelding with a somewhat timid disposition. He was a little spooked a little by all of the noise in the barn. A young lady was trying to lead him around without much success. He was pushing her around some and getting in her space. She was getting uncomfortable. Since Alivie was being so good for me, I asked her if she wanted to trade and she agreed. Within minutes I had Diesel doing things this young lady could not believe. He had gone from pushy to docile in a few minutes. I spent the next hour or so with Diesel, walking around the arena, grooming him and playing with him. He was like putty in my hands.
Now I find myself completely obsessed with horses. It's all I can think about. I have watched hundreds of You Tube videos in the evenings. I fall asleep thinking about what I am going to do with the horses at the farm this weekend. My first Google search of the morning is something about horses. I just can't get enough.
Here's the thing; I'm a 42 year old guy with no prior experience with horses. Everyone who comes to the farm to help with the horses is a horse crazy little girl or a dad of a horse crazy little girl. I stick out like a sore thumb. So much so that it is a little embarrassing. Every week I pray my girls will be good so we can go back to the farm. I think I want to go more than they do.