Horse Senses

"He knows when you're happy
He knows when you're comfortable
He knows when you're confident
And he always knows when you have carrots."
~Author Unknown

This is a great quote I found online at http://www.quotegarden.com/horses.html. This website just lists many different quotes about several different topics. I especially liked this quote because its so true! Horses are so sensitive to human emotions. They can tell when you are excited or depressed, or in a hurry or if you have the slows. I find their keen senses so fascinating. Its interesting to see how my horse will respond to my different moods. I know when I'm in a big hurry, he tends to start freaking out, and he very resistant to anything I try to get him to do.

There was this one time, when I was in Chicago for a riding clinic. I had a lesson at 1:30 and everything was running late, due to rain. So, I had to trailer Sly to the indoor arena just down the road for our lesson, but I was freaking out because I had to trailer with a friend, and Sly was not happy about it. He kept kicking at the trailer sides, and I was so afraid he'd break something in my friends trailer! Once we got there, I had to saddle up AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! It was crazy! I had about ten minutes to be perfect for a good first impression with the instructor. Sly totally sensed that I was in a hurry, which only caused him to get really nervous. So when I tried to put on the bridle he threw his head up as high as he could! (We normally have problems getting the bridle on, since he was abused from one of his first owners. This makes it really hard to touch his ears, thus putting on the bridle is a very hard task.) He tossed his head and made quite a fuss. My mom was trying to help me, along with another woman. But this only made matters worse. We were all tense and freaking out, so Sly was resisting everything we tried. Finally, my mom just let me do it by myself, slow and calmly, and I was at last able to get it on.

This story just goes to show how much horses, and even animals in general, are so sensitive to our emotions. We have to be careful to not be over excited or extremely mad. Being neutral and calm is the way to go. :)