Instead, I was thinking about a comment that was made at the barn a few weeks ago. Joan was washing one of her horses, and the hose needed to go around Peanut. I was moving the hose, and at one point I guess I bent down and picked up the section directly behind one of his back legs. Joan commented about how my head was right behind his cannon, and he could have killed me.
I was taken aback for a second, and mumbled, "I trust him." One of the other people there said: "I trust my horse too, but I would never do anything like that!"
My thought was: "you have no idea."
I... do trust Peanut, but at the same time I know that those are famous last words. I've had him for over 4.5 years now, and I have done/still do the following idiocy:
- Repeatedly crawled under his belly. I've done this as part of clicker work and also, well, to show people what not to do with horses. He has never moved. Sometimes he's just looked at me with curiosity, but that's all.
- Hug his butt. As in, I stand directly behind him, hug that fat ass, and lean my head on his croup.
- Been in close quarters all around his feet, especially when photographing them.
- Sat down in the presence of him at liberty.
- Lay down with him at liberty.
- While on the ground, I've piled treats on my stomach and had him eat them off of me.
- Feed him treats without a flat hand (oh noes!)
- Allow him to lick me.
- Encouraged him to lick my cheek.
And I'm sure much more that I can't think of right now. Do people think I'm a stupid newbie with horses when I do these things? Sure. Do they worry about my safety? Probably. Would I do any of it with another horse (other than the licking)? Hell no. At least not until I really got to know them. I would/have done a lot of it with Gene.
Is it stupid? Probably. Is a horse an unpredictable prey animal? Sure. Am I going to stop? Not bloody likely.
2 comments:
guilty!!! I think back to all the times Lee would tell me, "There's the Daniel way, and the every other horse way..."
So, I've done quite a few things with Daniel that I'd never do with any other horse I've ever me.
I'm learning to trim now! Y'think I'd trust just any horse to be patient with me while I fumble around with his feet?? :-)
When I first got Red I was warned, "be really careful behind him because he WILL kick you." And kick me he did on our first night together though the "behind" was a good span of 12 feet while mucking the paddock. Three years later I hug him from behind while giving him tail massages and scuttle underneath him while trimming his hoofs. We have relationship and trust. I do these things with mindfulness, aware of his mood and his attention.
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