Has your horse changed since you first got him?

I thought this would be an interesting thing to think about. A lot of times, horses are sold from one lifestyle into another. For example, they were a lesson horse but they became someone's one-on-one trail companion. That's a pretty big change from a horse's standpoint. Lesson horses in particular (depending on how much they're ridden) don't really get close to anybody because so many riders come and go. And a lot of them are ridden so much that you never get to know their personalities because they're so tired and bored all the time (and probably sick of people by the end of the day). I took lessons at a barn years ago where the horses were saddled all day, and ridden at least three times a day by rank beginners. I would be tired and bored, too, if I was a horse.

When I first brought Victor home, he was passive and stand-offish. He would accept my companionship, but he would never seek it. He was also extremely selfish and lazy. It took months for him to warm up to me. I don't think he had one-on-one attention before, although I'm not sure. It was like he put up a six foot wall of crap between us like he thought I was going to up and leave sooner or later. But once he figured out that I was there to stay, he really changed. He used to dislike men a lot (no idea why), and now he doesn't. And he doesn't run from me in the pasture like he used to. He even comes to me all by himself sometimes. He doesn't pout after workouts anymore, either. Thank God. I used to feel like a total asshole when he did that. Even though he was just being a wimp.

When I was out of town for a week, I came back and both horses came right up to me. I was touched. =D I knew Norman would, but I wasn't sure about Victor. (Hah, you missed me Victor, I know you did.) He's still the eccentric, independent, British aristocrat he's always been, but in a nicer way.

So tell me- have any of you guys had similar experiences with your horses? Did your horse have a different lifestyle before you bought him? And how has it changed him, if he's changed at all?

Are you getting tired of me snarking on Cynthia?

I hope not, because her stupidity never ends. As long as she's at the barn, I will NEVER run out of fodder.

Last week when I was out of town, Cynthia bought some hay that my mom found out was moldy. My mom confronts her, and Cynthia goes, "Where's the mold? Show me the mold."

o_O She acts like she knows so much and she can't tell when hay is bad? Even if you can't see the mold, you can always smell it. My mom doesn't even know much about horses, and she found it right away.

I really feel bad for the poor newbies who take lessons from her. I don't know if I mentioned this, but I let her ride Norman once just for kicks. He completely ignored her and she bounced around like a fatass sack of feed when she asked him to trot. And Norman has a fantastic sitting trot. I almost keeled over laughing.

I really wish I had a video of one of her lessons. You would all be pissing yourselves. It's that bad.

I just ignore her now. She knows I don't like her. It's aggravating because my trainer and I were there long before she was, and suddenly she and Mitch come in and invade "our place". They chased my trainer away and annoy the living daylights out of me on a regular basis. It's frustrating, infuriating, and oddly hilarious all at the same time. She just doesn't realize how much of a moron she is. My friends and I have tried to help her. Plenty of people have given her advice, but God forbid that Cynthia is ever wrong about anything. She hates being wrong.

Hehe...

Some new pictures

Just thought I'd share. The little goobers stopped running around as soon as I broke out the camera. Go figure. They just had baths and look pretty nonetheless. :) Click for larger view.

Scrap Award!

When you receive The Honest Scrap award you must stick to some rules:
Recognize your award presenter and link back to their blog in your post.
List 10 honest things about yourself that others might not now.
Present this award to 10 admirable bloggers and link to their blogs.
Leave a comment on your recipients' blogs to let them know to visit your post to retrieve their award.

10 honest scraps about me that you may not know:

1. I'm 17. I don't think I mentioned my age before. No idea why.

2. I've never broken a bone.

3. The year I was born was the 300th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, and I was born one day after Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, and Sarah Wildes were hanged.

4. The first horse I ever rode was a Clydesdale.

5. I want a sugar glider someday.

6. I detest fake tans. Not just because of the way they look, but because it's bad for your skin.

7. I currently have purple streaks in my hair.

8. My favorite colors are green and purple.

9. I'm an artist. I do photography, graphite drawings, and sculpting.

10. I love horror films. The Crow is one of my favorites.

Thanks a bunch to Cathryn!

And now to find ten blogs to give the award to... I don't know who's gotten one already, so forgive me if I'm repeating any.

Holy Horse!

When The Painted Horse Comes

Tacky Tack Of The Day

A Good Horse

Bad Ways To Sell Your Horse

Shame in the Horse Show Ring

Behind the Bit

Fugly Horse of the Day

Equine Ink

A Horse and a Half

Lovely.

We now have three new horses at the barn. Who are not quarantined.

And all three of them have bots. Isn't that peachy? I would love to know why they aren't quarantined, first of all. They've only been here since the 15th. And if the owners haven't been keeping up on deworming, who knows what other parasites they brought with them? Good grief. Have they ever heard of boticide? Make friends with it. It really isn't a complicated concept.

*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*


On a lighter note, I'm totally excited because I rode Norman bareback for the first time ever! He was a doll, as per usual. And he's comfy. It's like sitting on a couch. I have a couple new pics of him when he's actually clean. His mane and tail are extremely high maintenance, yet I cringe at the thought of cutting it. Him and his sexy blond locks. lol

I also had a great lesson on Victor. He was so good. He never hesitated at a pole or jump once. Yes, we jumped! Woohoo! It was amazing. It took me like three tries to get into two-point and I forgot to release a couple times (poor Vic was a trooper) and he still went over perfectly. I couldn't believe how well he behaved. Needless to say, he got spoiled rotten afterward. XD

Goofy things people have said/done at the barn.

We've all probably known more than a few nutty horse people or non-horse people that say the darnedest things.

I was at a trail riding place in Wisconsin and the guide was talking about Quarter Horses. One kid goes, "What's the difference between a Quarter Horse and a full horse?"

Another instance was when I took Vic to a trail riding place with the BO and one of her horses. She's tacking up her horse and she asks me to get the martingale out of the trailer. No prob.
Well, I scour that tack room, and there is no martingale to speak of. But there is a breast collar. So I'm like, Good lord, she thinks a martingale is a breast collar. She's also put splint boots on backwards and on the wrong legs. And she's put a curb chain on a western curb bit. And she uses a pelham with only the curb rein.

And here's a conversation between my BO and a dressage trainer that was interested in buying a saddle from her:

Trainer: "What kind of saddle is it?" (kind of suspects that BO doesn't know what she's talking about)

BO: "It's a dressage saddle."

Trainer: "What color is it?"

BO: "Brown."

ROFL XDDD

And don't we all love it when little kids ask how you tell the difference between a boy horse and a girl horse? You can just tell the older ones, but how do you explain it appropriately to a four year old? lol

The thing about the horse world is, if you don't know what you're talking about, everyone is gonna know it and you'll stick out like a sore thumb. Which isn't that bad if you acknowledge the fact, but it's a different story if you try to act like you know it all. If you have that attitude, you'll lose any and all respect so fast you're head will spin. It's a lot better to openly admit it if you don't know something. *cough*Cynthia*cough*

So, how about you guys?

Meh... fireworks.

The bane of every horse person's existence.

If people know that they live near horses (or livestock in general) why can't they be curteous and not crack off fireworks for three days straight? Norman was beside himself last night. He ran away from me three times when I was leading him to the barn, and he ran all the way to the tree farm next door. That was real fun. I've never seen him like that before. He seemed to think the world was ending.

Victor actually didn't mind too much. I thought he was gonna be the one freaking out.

Now, I can kind of understand firing off a couple of Roman candles on the 4th of July, but why the days before and after? It's obnoxious and potentially dangerous for us horse people. Enough is enough. Go to some deserted country road and blow of firecrackers to your heart's content. But keep it away from the horses.

The old grey mare in back of us was about to have a heart attack. Fireworks were going off right by her pasture, and I could see the smoke that looked like it was coming from the people's driveway. Could they be stupid enough to do fireworks with their horse practically in the back yard? Well, they were stupid enough to put their yearling filly in a wire fence with six inch gaps, so yes. I really feel bad for their horse. I especially worry about the older horses.

What happened to the good ol' days when kids were happy with sparklers?