Buddy fully and completely lost it Friday night. Having somewhat rustic horse facilities here I keep my tack in the house. I have binder twine wrapped around the deck supports which is where I tie my horses when I'm readying them to ride. Buddy is familiar with this system having been the recipient of my attentions in the past.
I started out with brushing him, noticing his bridle path was looking at little rough around the edges I grabbed the clippers, untied him and began operation hair cut. This is not Buddy's first clip job but he still had to be a wiener about it. When he was such a jerk I should have looked at it as an omen of what was to come.
Starting the saddling process, I have the pad on, saddle on. Or mostly... I have the front cinch snugged up but not tight and move to the back (again this is normal routine for this horse), snug up the back cinch when he puts his head down, makes a god awful groaning sound, pulls back snapping the binder twine and is off. Head between his legs, making those rodeo horse sounds, he honks through the shelter belt, up and down the fence line, settles into a trot only to buck his way back up the fence, sees a tree (he's surrounded by them) and starts to buck again.
Now, I must admit to being slightly befuddled. You see, he didn't even act like this the first time I saddled him - ever! And no I don't really change anything as I believe in starting them how their life is going to be like. Cautiously I set out to catch him. Once near him I used my foot to scoop up the lead rope as he was still quite bug eyed. Leading him back to the house I tie him back up, grab the bridle and finish getting him tacked up.
Out in the corral, I tie the reins to the saddle to see what he'll do. And he just walks around. Sigh - seriously! Remembering something about playing soccer with your horse I grab an exercise ball that's too small for me and start kicking it around him. This did not incite any new bucking frenzies. Being slightly chicken and slightly intelligent I made the decision to not get on him. (As I'm not supposed to be riding anyway.)
What bothers me the most about his fit is the absolute randomness of it. I have no idea what caused him to loose his mind like that. And I don't like it. Thoughts?
Posts
2 comments:
LMAO- great post. Umm...suggestions... he's a horse? lol No jk... Sometimes I like to relate it to how we are as people (though I know that is a slippery slope) in that we have moods and sometimes we just get to acting a little goofy. Do you ever just get really hyper for no good reason at all and jump around the house and act like an idiot (dont leave me hanging on this one, k?) Well I think that is true for horses and dogs too. My Hawkydog, ever so often, will be outside and all of the sudden go all crazy and goofy and run and bark and roll on the groud and go let loose in general. So could be the spring air, spring grass, maybe someone gave him the wrong grain, or he found a clover patch and had a sugar high. Or maybe someone gave him a kick in his girth line or a nip on his back that you cant see (bruised) and when you did up the girth it suprised him.
Also, I think sometimes horses go off to la la land, they tend to have a one track mind about some things so it could be that he was absorbed in something else you didnt notice when you were doing up the girth and so when he came back to what you were doing the girth came as a suprise and he just did what a 100 flight animal does.
The reaction stikes me as one of suprise that triggered flight and "get the lion off my belly" instinct.
OR he was just being an idiot.
I think these little bursts of unexplained and unpredictable behavior are good for us because they remind us just how fast a horse can react and how quickly things can go wrong. I bet you were a little more on your toes after that demonstration.
Yep - nothing like the unpredictable to remind us of just how privileged we are that they are so tolerant of our foibles.
Post a Comment