Your welcome Susan.
and right on Richard, great turn of words, yep, man is the beast.
Richard is right, a horse will hurt ya quick, Henry [the horse in my avatar that I am riding] ran right over me just this past Thursday, seems I had him cornered and he wasn't having it. I've been riding him since, well this coming Tuesday will be two weeks. They said he couldn't be ridden, guess they were wrong. They were going to put him down, they won't now, because they gave him to Me as mine, and with me he is free to be as he is. we've had a time with him, he was found starved in a stall, abandonesd by his owners who walked away from a farm foreclosure, and he's been badly physically abused. At every turn we have to de-sensitize him from something, be it a rasp that files his hooves, be it a water hose that washes him down, be it any fast movements on and around him. I've got him down to a startle, and I just gently tell him...it's ok Henry. I rode him today, walked up put a hackamore bridle [bitless] on him, blanket and saddle, just as easy as pie. so we're coming along faster than we had hoped. we haven't forced one step, he up and volunteered every step of the way, and we took what we got, no more no less. I am the only one who has ridden him, he likes me alright, even if i am a human/beast.
but Susan, they are such a spiritual creature. that Tuesday that Henry let me ride him, was because about an hour before that he was feeling some bad stuff, I was hugging him around the neck and feeling my bad stuff, and then I cried. I cried for him and for me, and suddenly he lay into me with his neck into my chest, my heart was pounding, and we together we sighed these big healing breaths, and for the first time he gave me his face, and I run my left hand down his face from his ears down to his nose, just so softly, he turned into me and i layed a big ole kiss right on him. after that moment, we was buds. My friend Bill went and got the bridle, I slipped it on so slowly, then we tryed a blanket, was good. then after a little bit I getly placed a saddle on him, uncinched for a while. then I slowly cinched it up, tightend about three times, then I stepped up in the stirrup, put my weight on it a few times. then I lay over the saddle for a while, and then finally i mounted him, sitting in the saddle, just sat there all relaxed, no pressure. then i slowly dismounted, led him out to the round pen. walked/led him around a bit, then got on him and rode. we was flying around that pen at full lope, and my god the anguish of sighing coming out of him [and tears were running down my face too], and then he smoothed out and i put him through his paces, different turning moves and what not. he knows a lot of stuff, somewhere in his early life someone taught him some good stuff. Henry is 7 years old. so we got a baseline so to speak, have to fill in the gaps.
that's enough, sorry to fill up your thread Susan. Just been a lot of healing these past few days. wanted to share with yuns. really though, my wife is Henry's best friend thus far, she feeds him lots of carrots. lol
But this is testament to the spirit of the horse, and i guess to a few humans who have thought enough of Henry to work with him.
Tim
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