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Gravity

Was that a movie?

It’s a part of life we don’t even pay any attention to, unless something happens. Gravity is a good thing. It keeps all people and things grounded. Dropping anything on my kitchen tile floor will prove it instantly, usually in a million pieces. Imagine a world (like in space) where everything just floats around. Cows floating by. If you think it’s hard enough to catch your horse now, try it with your horse floating around in the air. Bummer.

Looking at the chair in my bedroom will testify to the fact that gravity is happening in my household. Bob has now stacked up, just about all his dress pants on that chair. He tells me that none of his pants fit. He hasn’t gained weight, so I must be shrinking them. My theory is that gravity is pulling his belly fat down to his waist line. He used to carry his weight higher. Looking at my body in the mirror, a lot of things used to be higher and tighter. I have old people’s skin! Agh!!!! You just always believe that it’s never going to happen to you. The good thing about living in Florida is that most people look that way. You’re either old with saggy skin or overweight to fill it in. I’ll do the saggy skin look (I’ve been to Walmart).

So now to our horses changing bodies. And yes, they do change too.

We know that when a winter blanket comes off, sometimes we don’t end up with the same horse that went into that blanket last fall. It’s like a magic show. There’s your horse, you place the sheet over it, pull it off and it’s different. Sometimes he’s gained weight and sometimes he’s lost it. It should be that easy to lose weight for us. Pass the sheet over our bodies and Voila! no dieting. Well it wasn’t that easy for the horse either. Mine gained weight, so now we’re doing the Jenny Craig/Weight Watchers thing for horses.

Okay, let’s get back to gravity. Over time our horses body changes just like ours. My mare used to be a fifty-five gallon drum with legs, with mutton withers. I’ve been noticing more pronounced withers in the past year, but it’s now to the point where I have to start really checking things. Her saddle isn’t slipping around her body any more, it’s staying in place. I can ride with a loose girth and not find myself looking at life from between her front legs. She will be only sixteen in two weeks, but her body is changing.

So what does that mean? Her blankets and sheets still fit her like before, but her saddle doesn’t. We think. Oh but this is her saddle, it’s always been her saddle, but this has not always been her body shape. You have to pay attention to the changing shape of their backs. If they gain weight; do they need a wider tree? If they lose weight; do they need a narrow tree? Perhaps a thicker pad or a different pad will help make up the difference for now, but the back is going to keep changing so you have to keep watching.

Most people don’t even think about fitting a saddle to the horse, but it is so important. If your horse gets cranky when you ride, check your saddle fit. Look at sweat marks when you remove it. Are there dry spots? That will tell you your saddle isn’t fitting right. You can sprinkle Baby Powder on their backs, put your saddle on (without a pad) and see where the baby powder ends up on your saddle. Where it’s touching and where it isn’t.

Don’t just sit there and think – this has always been her saddle, I love this saddle, I can’t afford a new one. What you can’t afford is a horse with a sore back. If you were your horse, and you had a sore back, would you want YOU to sit on it? Would you even want a five year old child to sit on it? Their backs weren’t created to sustain the weight of a person on it. Then add movement on your part, and you have more soreness. So be kind. Check that saddle fit.

These are changing times in our lives. We have changing bodies. And so do they. (Now all you young people out there thinking that it won’t happen to you. Surprise!!!!!! That’s what I thought. It starts at 11 – 13 and goes down hill from there.)

A comfortable horsey, is a happy horsey. This in turn, makes a happy, safer horsey owner.

Fly be free (for those of you who remember Mork with the eggs). Just watch out for flying cows.

When It’s Time To Let Go

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First let me say, this is not about our horses crossing the Rainbow Bridge. We’ve done that, and know it’s the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make. This is about other decisions that a horse owner, barn owner, and trainer/teacher has to make.

While I was sitting and chatting with one of my boarders the other day, she was telling me about another horse of hers. Now I have her older gentleman, a retired Quarter Horse. She has a Welsh/TB cross and a Warmblood at a show barn about an hour from here, nearer where she lives. The Warmblood is five and was brought over from Europe. He just shut down, won’t do any sort of ring work, plants his feet and won’t move. She’s had him with several trainers, and is now with another one about another hour further away. She’s had him checked for pain and nothing was found. This trainer was recommended by her current trainer to straighten this horse out. She called the breeder/owner in Europe and she told her, just beat him. Hello! That’s what has brought this horse to where he is. My boarder has not had this horse very long, and has paid quite a lot of money for him. He won’t even walk through the ring to go out trail riding. After acquiring a barrel horse who felt the same way about going through a gate, and an open jumper who felt the same way about circles, I know what she’s up against.

My suggestion was turn him out for a year, and start him over. He might come around, but most probably he won’t. They do this with Thoroughbreds, off the track, all the time. He most likely needs a different job. He’s a good size horse and truly loves to jump, just not in a ring. I told her that he needs to be sold as a hunt horse or cross country horse. If he loves to jump and run in a field, find him a home that wants to do the same thing. He needs to be hacked out on the trails with other horses. Gallop across fields and over jumps with other horses. He needs to be a horse again. She said that she didn’t have a year or more. She needs this horse for her 16 year old daughter now. Well then you have to let him go. They’re investing so much time and money into this horse, that may or may not work out, it’s time to bite the bullet and move on. Then you have the process of finding another horse for her older daughter all over again.

It’s kind of like an old car. You loved that car, (you named it Brad, you two have been through everything together – only kidding) it served you well. You’ve been buying new tires, fixing the transmission, and a few other parts here and there, but you have to recognize when it’s time to let it go. It becomes a money pit that’s just going to continue to go down hill.

Now I don’t consider any horse a money pit. Sometimes they just need a new job description. If they’re not happy, and you’re not happy, nothing will ever be right.

My lessons and their parents, become like family. But when it’s time for them to change instructors, it’s so hard for me to let them move on. I love these children. I love to see them progress, but I also know what is best for them.

The other thing that is hard for me is to watch one of my horses move out. They may be owned by others, but they are all my babies. I have one that is being adopted by someone else. He hasn’t been here that long, but he is quite a character. I’ve contemplated just adopting him myself, just to keep him here, but it wouldn’t be fair to him. He loves people, loves attention, and he needs a person of his own again. The woman who owns him now, took him because her friend had to make the choice of paying his expenses or her grandmothers, who was going into assisted living. She was helping her friend out of a spot. Now she’s found someone who will take him and love him. I can’t be selfish, I must think of what is best for him. Yes he loves being retired and running around the hill with his best buddy, but he also comes to the fence anytime he sees a person. He will leave his friend in a heart beat for some human attention. So he must go to (hopefully) his forever home.

There are other painful goodbyes beside death. In the end they are all in the best interest of the animal, and the success of both the animal and the person.

You’ll miss them, but be happy for them. Know that you are doing the right thing. The right thing is always a “Good Thing.”

Just When We Think We Know Everything

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Isn’t it amazing. We’ve been in horses for years and we think we’ve seen it all.

SURPRISE!!! We haven’t

I remember when I was a kid (back in the Stone Age), my friends had a grandfather that had been in the ice business. He used his horses for work. He was so knowledgeable. He had remedies for everything that could happen to a horse. He had a recipe for a white blistering liniment that was fabulous. It worked wonders on my horses hock. But when you asked him what was in it, you weren’t going to get an answer. I know it had eggs, and it smelled like creosote. No one uses white liniment any more that I know of. If they foundered, you stood them in mud. If they were down in the morning you gave them a bottle of whiskey or brandy. If they got up, they went to work. If they didn’t, you went and bought another one. If they coliced, mineral oil and you walked them forever. Sore on the skin? Vasoline and Sulfur powder. Discharge from the nose (usually Shipping Sickness) Vicks and Bigeloil. Lame with swelling – run a cold hose, and Bigeloil. Life was so simple then. No vets, just homemade meds. Unfortunately, he died and all those wonderful recipes went with him.

In the last 50 years I’ve seen so much more than I ever needed to see, but they were all learning experiences.

Sitting in the doctor’s office I was reading my new copy of Equus. Always learn something new there. It was about “How Horses Read Human Emotions.” I find things like this totally fascinating. As you know if you’ve been reading my posts, I love studying the horse. How they perceive things, and how they process information.

We all know that horses can pick up on our emotions from our energy and body language, but now they have found that they can pick up on our facial expressions. The horses, in the study, ranged in age from 4 to 28. What amazed me most was that they tend to look “from their left visual field which enters the right brain hemisphere, which contains areas specialized for processing threatening events.” Now it will be interesting to see what eye they are looking through when they study something. Especially scary.

So no matter how much you think you know, just accept the fact that there is always so much more to learn. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

The next time you go into feed your horse “SMILE!!!” they’ll wonder what you are up to.

“Here’s looking at you kid.”

(Love that line, from Casa Blanca. Humphrey Bogart said it to Ingrid Bergman. Now those were actors, and movies.)

Wise, Cautious, or Paranoid?

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This can apply to almost anything in our lives, but I’m going to direct it at horses.

As we get older, we are supposed to become wiser, but sometimes I wonder if we are getting wiser, more cautious, or just plain paranoid.

When I was younger, getting hurt never crossed my mind. Now I think twice when I do almost anything dangerous. What we consider dangerous also changes. I am more aware, when I’m working around the horses, of situations that could turn ugly at any moment. They are the same situations I have dealt with all my life, but somehow they now pop up with red flags.

Now I thought that it was just something I was going through, until I saw my girlfriend post the same thought on Facebook. She was commenting on how she started bringing her girls out to hunt when they were four years old, but that her heart is in her throat about doing that with her one granddaughter. We never gave it a second thought, until now. I started my granddaughter riding on my husband spirited Appendix when she was four. Of course all these children were being ponied by us, but still I look back and think “What was I thinking?”

When I gave lessons back then, I knew that kids bounce and they would be fine. Now I give it a lot of thought before I do anything. Maybe it is the whole new way of thinking that lawsuits are the way to go. In the “Old Days”, you fell off, or did something stupid, it was your fault, no one elses. What ever happened to being responsible for your own actions?

It’s the same way now when I go to ride. I question, where is this horses mind today? If I break something, who will take care of all these animals? With my husbands bad back, he can’t. With my osteoporosis there is the possibility, especially since it is in my spine. But it’s funny, once I get on, all this just disappears from my mind. I’m so comfortable on my horses that I’m fifteen again, and nothing can stop me. That’s a good thing. If you ride with fear, it will happen.

So the question is – Is it wisdom, caution, or being paranoid. Where is the line between these thoughts? When do you cross from one to the other? How do you figure which one it is? I know with some people it starts earlier in life than mine did. I think I started to reevaluate situations a few years ago when I got double-barreled, went flying through the air, landed on the salt block, and broke several ribs (13 acres and I land on the salt block). I just picked myself up, finished feeding and made it in time for church that Sunday morning. I pretty much knew I had one broken rib, but when I saw my doctor a few weeks later, he said there were three. I guess it doesn’t matter how many are broken, you just can’t laugh, sneeze, cough, or move quickly for a few weeks. As a rule I don’t think much about injuries. It’s a part of the horse business. Broke an ankle years ago. Didn’t know it was broken, just put a horses leg wrap on it and kept going. Many years after that, when I went for an x-ray for a concussion, they x-rayed my leg because I had a slight limp when I walked into the doctor’s office. (I thought it was cramping from sitting in the waiting room.) It turned out my head was fine, but my leg was broken. But they made the comment “Oh you broke your ankle a while back.” My reaction was “Really? It was broken? How about that.” So I’m not one to run to the doctor with every lump, bump, bruise, or obviously, a broken bone.

Wise, cautious, or paranoid – it’s up to you to determine what’s behind it, and what you are going to do about it.

So I really don’t have the answer. I think it’s an individual thing. I think it’s something that you have to figure out for yourself. But what I do know is that it’s something you have to decide if you want to deal with it, or let it take over your mind, and your life.

It’s just that simple.

It’s Not About Being The Captain

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I just watched on the news this morning (the other day) about a woman’s Basketball team that has won four consecutive years. These girls have won every year of their college life. They don’t know what losing is all about. Congratulations to them all. I do stress all. If the captain played the whole game by herself, they would have never won.

If you are the big wheel or gear in any mechanical machine, you couldn’t do anything without all the other wheels, gears, or belts. You’d just sit there and spin.

It’s the same way in the horse industry. Everyone, no matter how big or small, plays an important role. Whether it be in teaching, training, or management, leave one element out and you’re in trouble.

In this months Riding Instructors Magazine Gincy Self Bucklin wrote about how you really are not a “Beginner Teacher”, but a “Foundation Riding Instructor.” This is so true, but very rarely seen that way. Everyone worships the Show Trainers. The big names in the industry. If they are good, they should be recognized for their abilities to progress riders through the levels. They know their stuff, know how to present it to the rider in a way they understand, and reach the levels of excellence hoped for.

Most upper level trainers love what they do, and that’s what they want to do. Well it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Then there are those, like myself, who never wanted to be that type of instructor. Funny, I never even thought about it until I tested with ARIA in 1998. I’d already been teaching for many years, but decided, since I was moving, and no one knew who I was, I’d certify and have some very respected credentials behind me. When my video didn’t get the Level III rating (Beginner to Advanced), because my students weren’t that advanced, I started thinking. I really don’t enjoy teaching advanced riders. I bring them to that level, but then I would send them off to someone who could finish them off. I started to reevaluate my priorities. I loved taking children, and adults, who had never ridden before, and teach them the basics and the love for horses that I have. And to this day, I still do that. But I thought that was just me, and I wasn’t really that important, although ARIA says that I am. I certified Level II Beginner to Intermediate.

So now this woman writes an article explaining that she felt the same way. “She’s talked to, and heard about many upper level trainers who admit that they have no idea how to teach beginners!” She explains that what we teach are foundational skills. We all know you can’t build anything without a good, solid, foundation.

I never really cared what other people thought about my level of teaching. I enjoyed it, I felt that my students were greatly benefiting from my teaching, and that’s all that mattered to me. Oh, and also, they were having fun doing it. I really could care less if my name ever makes the big time. It just gives me great pleasure in watching my students ride beautifully to the best of their ability. If they go on and make a name for themselves, wonderful, if they don’t, but enjoy what they are doing, I’m just as happy.

So it really doesn’t matter if you are the person that mucks stalls, or a Medal Maclay teacher. Everyone in this business keeps the system, well oiled, and working smoothly. Never put down your part in this wonderful world of horses. Your roll, no matter how big or small is very important to someone.

We’re all in this together, from Horse Rescue to Olympic Rider, we benefit the horse, and industry, in one way or the other. But we all work together for good.

What Do You Think About?

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I was cleaning stalls today and my mind just wanders. Actually my mind wanders all the time. Not going there.

I might have mentioned (because I was really cranked) that I got a call from my insurance company several months ago. They told me that I would be much healthier if I exercised a half an hour a day. Ten minutes of stretching, ten minutes of walking, and ten minutes of gardening. Hello! That’s a vacation!!!!! They really don’t know their customers. Just because you get a Senior Drink at Taco Bell doesn’t mean you sit on your porch and rock all day. I’d like one of them to come and spend a day with me, I’ll show them exercise. Ten minutes of stretching. How about unloading a half a ton of grain. Gardening? How about shoveling some fertilizer into a wheel barrel (multiple times) and then depositing it somewhere out in the pasture. And of course walking. Let them try to catch a horse in a ten acre pasture on a hill, who really doesn’t want to go riding, then we can discuss walking. (Oops, Soap Box Time.) I do rehash things that bother me while I’m mucking.

Did you ever think about how many times you brushed a horse in your life time? How many stalls you have cleaned? How many water buckets you have filled? How many times you’ve actually ridden your horse? How many different horses you have ridden? How many times you have fallen off? There are many statistics out there, but I never saw these listed. If you board, many of these don’t apply, but I’m sure you can relate to some of them, and be thankful that you don’t have to do the rest.

There’s a Tee Shirt/Sweat Shirt that sums it up nicely. In large bold letters it says : I RODE – ALL DAY. Now between I Rode and All Day it says: I RODE (Well actually, I fed, turned out, mucked stalls, swept the aisle, filled waters, fixed the fence, brushed horses, cleaned tack, then realized it had taken) ALL DAY.

It’s funny, we focus on time that we spend doing other things and how long they take, but we never count the hours spent with our horses. They are just a bonus in our day. Of course the day still goes somewhere, but when we finish with the barn chores, we feel a good tired. A peace that you can’t explain. You walk away from the barn with clean, newly bedded stalls, buckets washed out, and aisle way swept. You smell really bad, but the barn smells of fresh bedding and hay.

Just thinking – Life is good.

Seriously?!!!!!!!

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After spending Christmas Day at Urgent Care with my husband, and New Years Day at the Emergency Vet, when my Jack Russell vomited on Saturday morning, after eating an abundant supply of grass on Thursday, and coughing all night, I went immediately to my regular vets office. No Easter Sunday ER Vet for me. She has a history of pancreatitis so I didn’t want to take a chance. Rain (JR’s name) had entirely too much Christmas cheer that week. She spent three days in the hospital after New Years day.

Well the good news was everything was normal, more or less. I was told not to worry, she was given a shot for the nausea (that’s what the coughing was all about), and I was told to just go back to our normal life. Later that day I spoke with my neighbor, and she had been at her vet, with her little dog, that morning too. Odd? Her vet told her that it was from all the pollen that the dogs are ingesting which is on the grass that they are eating. My vets office called Monday morning to check on Rain. I mentioned to them what my neighbor had said about the pollen and she was in total agreement. They have seen more dogs this week with pollen related sickness than ever before. I guess small dogs are closer to the ground and inhale or ingest more of it, but all dogs are being affected by it.

I’ve noticed horses, that have never rubbed or scratched before, rubbing up against trees, and those that have allergies, are going crazy.

I know the rest of the country is still in a late winter, early spring mode, but here in Florida we are in full blown Spring. Everything is in bloom and there is a yellow layer of pollen on everything. They are blaming everything on the El Nino pattern. Could be, I’m not a meteorologist. I just know my allergies are going nuts, and now the animals are having problems.

So keep this in the back of your mind, because your turn is coming. Happy Spring! More or less.

WARNING!

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WARNING: We see this everywhere, to the point of not even paying attention to it anymore.

We see it on labels, pill bottles, cleaning products, TV programs, even bedding. Did you ever wonder why they put those labels on pillows? “Do Not Remove This Tag! It’s The Law. Why? What happens if you do? Do the pillow police come crashing through your door to arrest you? Cigarettes I understand. We know they cause cancer, but pillows? Although who knows what they put in anything anymore.

You get so overwhelmed with cautions that you just tune them out. The drug companies tell you how great this new pill is, and how it will cure your ailment right off the bat. Then comes the disclaimer. Yes, your original problem will be gone, but you’re going to die of the side-effects. The list of side-effects take up most of the commercials time.

So I was watching a TV program Monday night, and before they cut back to the program (Swamp People) after each commercial they run the disclaimer that the visuals may upset some people. Well they may, and it’s nice that they warn you. I don’t like to see any animal killed, but gators aren’t at the top of my list. Not after I’ve seen them kill hounds that I’ve worked with for years, or my friends Jack Russell.

So it made me stop and think. What if horses came with disclaimers, what would it look like?

WARNING: Horses may be hazardous to your—–
Health? If you fall off a lot
Wallet? None of us can deny that
Time? It’s time that we enjoy, just don’t get much else done
Relationships? If the person isn’t involved with horses, it could
Conversation? If the person isn’t interested in hearing about your horse, it could
Life style? No explanation needed
Landscape? Again, no explanation needed

Well that’s dealing with how they change your life, but what about if a horse came with a real disclaimer. I think most of us would make different decisions when purchasing.

This horse bucks
Eats your barn, fence, trees
Eats your car – I had one that loved to remove the paint and lenses from the horse trailer, hub caps, mirrors
Kicks
Bites
Does not like circles, arenas, horse trailers, cross ties, being tied
Runs the fence line
Takes down fences, doors
Is an escape artist
Hates men, woman, children, dogs, other horses

The list could go on forever, you just add what you have experienced to it.

They are wonderful, amazing animals. We love them in spite of their oddities. They make us who we are, and we make excuses for who they are.

I wanted to do a light, happy post this week, but it still comes with my original Warning. Spring is coming, I know it is. Even though I sit here in Florida with frost covering my beautiful green (yesterday) pastures (white and frosty today).

Your horses have been sitting idle for months, the thought of nice weather is popping in and out of your head. Warning: Take it slow. Both for you, and your horse. Too much, too soon, can cause problems with their body parts. He may be game for a long gallop, but are his tendons, ligaments, and muscles. You may just have to lay him up for months again with lameness. Now that the weather is breaking, do you really want to do that?

Remember, he’s an athlete, condition him as such. There will be plenty of beautiful weather to get out there and do what you both love doing the most. Conditioning can be half the fun if you keep your ultimate goal in mind.

You’ve got to think of this as a pre-game warm up. As my friend Stu used to say – “Inch by inch, any job’s a cinch.”

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

Speak Up

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When I worked for a large corporation in Manhattan I was asked to take notes at a Board Meeting. I was 20 years old and certainly not prepared to do this job. The Secretary of the VP who usually did this was out sick. I bounce between being a timid person, and a person of confidence. The confidence surfaces when I’m totally knowledgeable about my subject. I was definitely not confident about this. So I had to talk myself into being great. Somewhere along the line, the other secretary told me that the executives were just regular people and they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like us. As I told my girlfriends daughter that time when she was going into the ring for a dressage test, just picture the judge naked and you’ll feel equal or more important than them, their just regular people doing a job. So I put myself into that meeting as an equal, and did just fine. Got to do it many times after that with no problem.

I’ve learned a lot since then. I’m a more confident individual. Years later some friends and I went to the Mayor of the City of New York to fight a horse licensing bill, and there was no hesitation speaking up for what we believed. Mayor Koch was pleasant and listened to the points each one of us made. The most important thing is that we won. So if someone tells you that you can’t fight City Hall, they are absolutely wrong. We fought the City Hall of one of the most important cities in this country and won.

I use my neighbors horse for a lesson I have on Saturday mornings. He’s quiet, gentle, and just a sweet thing. When I walked over to get him, he was definitely in distress. Brown gunk pouring out of both nostrils and coughing up the same. Looked like choke, but when my filly had the same fluid from the nose thing, it was a twist and we put her down. We couldn’t get her off the ground to get her into a trailer to surgery. His owners were not at home, so I called my other neighbor to come stay with him while I went to call my lesson and cancel. She was going to call the owner and the vet. By the time I got back, the husband returned and he called his wife and tried to get their vet. It took sometime, but we finally touched base with the vet on call. He was on his way to another call an hour away. This was at 11:00 a.m., so 12 cc of Banamine, and five hours later, the vet showed up. My neighbor and I stayed until the Banamine took effect and then I walked home and watched him from my window and she from hers. The wife came home shortly after I got back to my house. I walked back and filled her in on all my findings. Fresh manure in his stall, no temperature, pale gums, wouldn’t drink, very little gut sounds, his whole body was sore to the touch, laying down, and lethargic. She told me she’d call me when the vet got there.

Well he arrived. Then he made the mistake of telling us that the horse looked fine when he pulled up. Seriously!????????? He’s standing there looking like death warmed over. My Irish side snapped to attention and I said “Really? Have you ever seen this horse before? Do you know this horse? He is NOT fine.” (I know I’m supposed to speak the truth in love, and I wasn’t coming across that way.) The owner chimed in and said this was definitely not how the horse normally was, and he wasn’t acting normal when she went to feed him that morning. Okay, my defenses were up. You don’t spend five hours with a sick horse to have a vet pull up and tell you he looks fine from his truck, without examining him. So he went about tubing him for choke, pumped a bucket of water into his stomach, and appeared to be done. Then he pronounced that it was just choke. My comment was “I’m not buying into that.” I had a horse with choke and after it cleared, he was back to normal. I got the “if looks could kill” look, but back to the truck he went. He came back and checked his heart, lungs, and stomach sounds. Did a rectal, checked his gums and took his temperature. Then he pumped a gallon of mineral oil into his stomach. Next comment from him was “Well he didn’t have much gut sounds.” Ya think? – That’s it? – You’re done? So I said “How about after care? So then he told the owner no grain or hay for two days. (I could have told her that, but I wanted her to hear it from him. I also wanted him to do what he was getting paid for.) I told him that the horse was pastured with two cows and there was a big roll of hay out there. So he told her to keep him confined. (I think that was also a question that he should have asked since rolls of hay are common in our area.)

This is the second time I’ve run into the lack of after care information. Just recently I had this problem with the office staff at the vet clinic I take my dogs too. I had to ask them. Now I know what after-care usually needs to be done, but there are so many people, who would be so relieved that their pet was going to be okay, that they wouldn’t even think to ask, and without proper after-care, it could put the dog right back where he started. Actually, I’ve had questions pop into my head as I was pulling out of the clinic drive. I have just picked up my cell phone, or turned, went back, and ask my questions.

Just because someone has a degree in something, or appears to be knowledgeable about something, if it doesn’t feel right to you, stop and ask questions. Challenge them to make sure they covered everything. If you still don’t buy into it, check further with other people and in other places. Don’t just believe everything you hear. Not with your animals, or the people in your lives. I’ve done this to doctors too, and on prescriptions. Sometimes it’s a matter of life or death. If they are right, good for them. You’ve just confirmed that this person knows what they are talking about. If not, you’ve kept things from getting worse.

If this horse didn’t improve, after the original diagnosis, we would have had to wait another five hours or more to get the vet back. As with my mare, maybe it would have been too late for this horse too. The day my filly coliced I was an hour and fifteen minutes away. Everyone was at a horse show. There was not vet on Staten Island that took care of horses, my vet had to come from New Jersey, an hour away. It was Saturday, and when the kids found her, they called my vet, and he didn’t want to come out. When they called me and told me that she had fluids coming out of her nose, I called my vet and told him he’d better be there when I arrived. He was, but it was too late.

I’ve probably written about something like this before, but it’s worth repeating if I did.

This will always haunt me. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t be afraid to question a diagnosis. They just put their pants on one leg at a time. They do make mistakes. But at whose cost.

What’s Your Learning Style?

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Many have asked if I would mind if they reprinted or quote me. I’m good with that. What is the point of trying to teach if you keep the information under your pillow.

A line from the movie “Hello Dolly” said “Money is like manure, it doesn’t do any good unless you spread it around.” I’m not sure if that is word for word, but you get the idea. Same thing with knowledge.

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Do you learn by reading, watching, hearing, or hands on doing?

I’ve been working with an 8 year old for months now, and was having a hard time getting through to her. There are different learning styles, but no matter what door I try to go through, I was not reaching her. I’ve tried demonstrating, and she just looks around at the surroundings. I describe what I’m looking for her to do, and she nods and smiles, but it goes no where. I try having her do the motion, but she still struggles. What I have found is that anything I tell her to memorize she excels at. She learned all the body parts of a horse, all the color and markings of a horse in one week. She obviously learns by reading. However, I have never really seen anyone learn how to ride a horse by reading a book. You have to get out there and physically do it.

Riding is a physical sport, no matter how you cut it. You can’t learn how to ski by reading a book either. You can learn the basics, but when you hit that slope you better be physically able to apply what you have read. Especially if you hit a patch of ice. Tried skiing, but I like a little more control of a situation. Took out a lot of people on my way down that hill. Trees are not forgiving either. And I Hate Being Cold!

I’m not really athletic. No hand eye coordination. I never felt left out if I was the last person to get picked for a team sport when I was a kid. I understood and was just happy to be picked at all. I was really good at yelling “Car!” We always played in the streets.

Yes I struggled to learn to ride. Not too bad. I need to see something done to imitate it. When I paint something I need a picture to copy. I can match it almost perfectly. When I learn a new dance I have to break it down to the steps first, then the upper body motions.

The one difference with riding is that I had the passion. I wanted it so bad that nothing would stop me.

This child seemed as though she did not really have the passion. Yes she wants to get on and just tool around. She would be happy to go to a pony track and just go three times around for (in my day) a quarter. Have no idea what they charge now.

So with my frustration I spoke to her mother. I explained that the child still had no control of her horse, or lower body stability. These are the things that are going to keep you on and a live. She has been doing this for three months, and still walks into the barn and with no purpose in mind. She knows that when she comes in she is to put her horse on the cross ties and clean him, then get him tacked up. She stood there like she had never been in a barn before. Her mother explained that her daughter had just been tested and that she is now in the gifted program. So with that we were both baffled.

We spoke for sometime. Just going through every aspect of the lesson and learning process. Where was the missing piece to the puzzle? Then it happened; a light bulb moment. The young mother had been pregnant since the daughter had been taking lessons. A month after starting the lessons the mother had the baby and had not been bringing her daughter, the grandmother had. The mother realized that just maybe it was the lack of involvement on her part, that might be causing the problem. She knows her daughter better than I do, so I let her handle it on her end. I told her to speak with her daughter, but first make sure that this is something that the child really wanted to do, before she gave her the options.

This past Saturday a whole new child appeared. Her mother brought her and the other three girls to the lesson. One older who watched the two year old, and the mother carried the two month old with her. The child I am teaching walked into the barn, got her horse out of the stall, and put him on the cross ties before I even made it back in the barn (I was herding the two year old out of the stinging nettle). She was busy cleaning her horse and was 100% with the program. She rode better than I had ever seen her ride before. What I had been saying all along really did reach her.

I know a lot of times when I’m working with the preschoolers at church, even though they are not looking at you and are involved with something else, they do hear what you are saying and will repeat it back to their parents after church. Such was the case with this young girl. Everything was registering, but was not making itself apparent.

The mother told me that she felt it was her preoccupation with the new baby, that was affecting her daughter more than the she realized. She thanked me for bring this all to her attention, and spending almost an hour on the phone with her, trying to figure everything out. It not only helped me as an instructor, but her as a parent. Not to mention the young girl. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong, and why I wasn’t reaching her. The mother just assumed everything was alright at home.

Teaching riding isn’t about only making a good horsewoman, it’s about making an adult who you really would like to be around in the future.

My other students are now either ending their high school years or are starting college. I love them all and keep in touch with them even as they move away. They are all beautiful, intelligent young ladies, who are kind, caring, wonderful human beings. I hope in some small way that I had a part in molding them into whom they have become. It’s nice when they call, just to say Hi! and tell me that they love me.

It’s not always about what you are doing wrong. Sometimes it’s outside circumstances that are blocking the learning process. But take the time to really evaluate what is going on, and don’t hesitate to speak with the parents, or an outsider who is familiar with the situation..

As for knowledge – Pass it on. Or as they say now-a-days, pay it forward.