To observe
Observing Minnow 2005
We all do it. In today’s society everyone wants everything done right away, we all have goals, and things we need to get done. Working with our horses is no exception. We need our horse to master that square halt for the dressage test, we need him to jump the scary ditch, and on and on. Everyone is guilty of it, including myself, its human nature to have a “plan” and something to work towards, its what gets us up in the morning.
Horses are different though, what gets them up in the morning is #1 food – and the need to “accomplish” something is very far down their list. So what I’m getting at is why do we always “need” something from our horses? Have you ever sat and observed your horse? Just showed up at the barn with no plan and simply sat in the field and watched your horse. Most people haven’t, however most of us have observed our dogs. Yes I have plans for my dogs, I like them to obey, go to the bathroom outside (etc.), but I also enjoy just sitting on the couch with my dachshund and watching tv. In that time I spend with him I’m not asking him for anything and he’s not asking me for anything, we are simply just being together. Maybe we don’t do it with horses because we see dogs as more human simply because they live in our homes with us (although I can’t lie that it hasn’t crossed my mind to have Minnow living in my home with me).
I didn’t realize the importance of not “wanting” something from my horse until I took Minnow to college with me in 2005. I
was lucky enough to be able to board him at a friend’s family farm, so the majority of the time I had the place all to myself. And the days I got to go out to the barn (which was pretty much everyday) was such a treat for me. Spending the day in class was exhausting, so when I got to see Minnow at the end of the day it was the most wonderful feeling. Many days I would just collect all of my books and Minnow, head out to a big grassy field and while he stuffed his face I laid on the ground by his side and studied. It was during these times that I began to notice a change in Minnow. For a pony who lived in a dirt paddock with hardly any grass (and whom I already knew had a total love for food) he spent a lot of his time during these “outings” sniffing my books, nuzzling my hair, kissing my face.
This made me realize something, to Minnow I had always been this “being” that showed up and demanded things from him . Now suddenly I didn’t want anything – and I was giving him something he wanted – food! I began spending more and more time just enjoying and observing Minnow – on rainy days I would park myself in his stall on a pile of hay. As these sessions continued Minnow began to become much more interested with me. He was the first one to the gate when I came to feed, and he began looking to me for guidance…as if to ask “what would you like me to do now?”.
Since our “college” days I continue to practice observing my horses – I try not to always ask things of them. I not only sit in their stalls and pastures with them, but I take them on walks (where our sole purpose is to find the greenest patch of grass) and we take trips to the lake where I let them swim. Because I take the time to observe my horses when I come to feed (my ponies currently live outside with a big shed) they come barreling down the hill to their assigned buckets at first sight of me. They stand patiently for their food and when finished they don’t run off, instead they mingle around the shed waiting to be brushed – brushing your horse can even be seen as “needing something” – do you ever brush your horse when you don’t intend to ride or do anything with him? I even tack my horses up in the shed, unhaltered and untied. And the amazing part is not once do I have the need to chase my ponies around the field, not even when I break out the muzzles! Yes the pony muzzles, those dreaded things! They don’t know its for their own good (to avoid the horrible consequence of too much grass called founder) but they willingly put their faces into the muzzles without me having to hide it from them, or chase them around the pasture. We all know that familiar scene of the person who stalks their horse out in the field with the halter behind their back trying to convince themselves and their horse that “I just want to pet you”.
So next time you go out to the barn try observing your horse, you might just learn something about them.
-KD
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I spend most of my time with my horse like this. I just observe him and love on him. This was an important step to get him to trust people as he’s been mistreated in the past.