summer_jackel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summer_jackel) wrote2007-07-15 09:53 pm
summer_jackel) wrote2007-07-15 09:53 pm
Horses. They are Silly.
They really are.
So, Bey is me pony. Has been since her birth 16 years ago. Now, Bey, as most horses with a lot of arab in them, is what we like to think of as an...independent soul. A little quirky, even. Working with Bey is not obedient-horse, person-in-charge. She'd very much like it the opposite, in fact, but she and I have an understanding. Like, I can ride her, but she will interpret instructions like the creative soul she is. I love Bey, but there are moments that I wonder if the give-and-take of wills between us is something she does just because she enjoys a good debate for its own sake. (yeah, the lawyer's hoss, right?)
Bey has several, um, cute little foibles. She loathes being wormed, or maybe she just likes seeing just how far she can fling the wormer. Farriers are to be toyed with. Water and trees can be terrifying if she's in the mood to be creative and the same exact things at the same time of day will be ignored if she's not. Clippers? Hah, yeahright. You wish.
Being washed with a hose is one of those things that I have been working on with Bey all of her life. It's usually on her no-way-in-hell list. Another odd little quirk, though, is that she's...a rather slatternly little wench, it seems. Or perhaps she just Fell In Love, for I've never seen the like to date. But my mom had this Lippizanner gelding for awhile, and Bey completely fawned all over him. Stars in her eyes, drool on her chin, raging heats from hell. So I rode this horse a couple of times, and of course he was perfectly behaved when I hosed him down after. Bey watched all this avidly with an expression I can only interpret as Take Me Now.
When I tried washing Bey the Homicidal Doompony subsequently, she...let me. While staring at her Lippizzaner Hunka Burnin Love. Keep in mind, she's observed many many horses being bathed many times, including her lifetime herdmate and lead mare, Tami. Has she taken this as a cue for "bathing is OK?" Nothing doing.
We don't have the gelding anymore, alas, but I rode Bey today (She was in a mellow mood, it was nice) and since it was warm, I tried hosing her after. I could see the little gears turn in her head as she steeled herself to do battle. And then something clicked and she went all silly and blissy.
Yeah, horse, I'm doing this to you *because it feels good*. It feels *really* good. Think about it guys, say you've been exercising hard on a hot day with a saddle strapped to your sweaty back, wouldn't you like a shower afterwards too??? Most horses love the after-ride hose thing. Many of 'em like to get hosed, whenever, however, for whatever reason or none at all.
Bey, I've been trying to explain this to you for *years*. The whole bath thing is supposed to be a *reward*! Horse, you've been stubborning yourself out of one of the nicer bits of domestication! Dummy.
Geez, I should borrow some sexy and very well-behaved gelding every time I need Bey to do something. Wish I'd have wormed him in front of her while he was here...
The Beybeast! Dosen't she just look sweet and innocent...?!?!?! Don't buy it, she's about to take the saddle and run off with it, using it as a chew toy, grinning at me. (I saved the saddle before she actually did this, though).
And here's a (bad) pic of my cute-as-anything appy/arab stud colt Dancer from a couple of weeks ago. At 2 1/2 he's at that amazing stage where the babyness is going away, you can really see the horse he's going to be, and his growth can almost be seen daily. He is a wonderful, thoughtful and...mellow!!! creature. He is the anti-Bey in many ways. For instance, neither wormers, farriers nor baths are seen as any kind of issue. Still working on the clipper thing, though. Also, spots. Very different ones from Bey's. No, they will never have children, even if Bey Falls In Love again, even though I think pintoloosas are kinda neat looking, because it Just Isn't Done.
So, Bey is me pony. Has been since her birth 16 years ago. Now, Bey, as most horses with a lot of arab in them, is what we like to think of as an...independent soul. A little quirky, even. Working with Bey is not obedient-horse, person-in-charge. She'd very much like it the opposite, in fact, but she and I have an understanding. Like, I can ride her, but she will interpret instructions like the creative soul she is. I love Bey, but there are moments that I wonder if the give-and-take of wills between us is something she does just because she enjoys a good debate for its own sake. (yeah, the lawyer's hoss, right?)
Bey has several, um, cute little foibles. She loathes being wormed, or maybe she just likes seeing just how far she can fling the wormer. Farriers are to be toyed with. Water and trees can be terrifying if she's in the mood to be creative and the same exact things at the same time of day will be ignored if she's not. Clippers? Hah, yeahright. You wish.
Being washed with a hose is one of those things that I have been working on with Bey all of her life. It's usually on her no-way-in-hell list. Another odd little quirk, though, is that she's...a rather slatternly little wench, it seems. Or perhaps she just Fell In Love, for I've never seen the like to date. But my mom had this Lippizanner gelding for awhile, and Bey completely fawned all over him. Stars in her eyes, drool on her chin, raging heats from hell. So I rode this horse a couple of times, and of course he was perfectly behaved when I hosed him down after. Bey watched all this avidly with an expression I can only interpret as Take Me Now.
When I tried washing Bey the Homicidal Doompony subsequently, she...let me. While staring at her Lippizzaner Hunka Burnin Love. Keep in mind, she's observed many many horses being bathed many times, including her lifetime herdmate and lead mare, Tami. Has she taken this as a cue for "bathing is OK?" Nothing doing.
We don't have the gelding anymore, alas, but I rode Bey today (She was in a mellow mood, it was nice) and since it was warm, I tried hosing her after. I could see the little gears turn in her head as she steeled herself to do battle. And then something clicked and she went all silly and blissy.
Yeah, horse, I'm doing this to you *because it feels good*. It feels *really* good. Think about it guys, say you've been exercising hard on a hot day with a saddle strapped to your sweaty back, wouldn't you like a shower afterwards too??? Most horses love the after-ride hose thing. Many of 'em like to get hosed, whenever, however, for whatever reason or none at all.
Bey, I've been trying to explain this to you for *years*. The whole bath thing is supposed to be a *reward*! Horse, you've been stubborning yourself out of one of the nicer bits of domestication! Dummy.
Geez, I should borrow some sexy and very well-behaved gelding every time I need Bey to do something. Wish I'd have wormed him in front of her while he was here...
The Beybeast! Dosen't she just look sweet and innocent...?!?!?! Don't buy it, she's about to take the saddle and run off with it, using it as a chew toy, grinning at me. (I saved the saddle before she actually did this, though).
And here's a (bad) pic of my cute-as-anything appy/arab stud colt Dancer from a couple of weeks ago. At 2 1/2 he's at that amazing stage where the babyness is going away, you can really see the horse he's going to be, and his growth can almost be seen daily. He is a wonderful, thoughtful and...mellow!!! creature. He is the anti-Bey in many ways. For instance, neither wormers, farriers nor baths are seen as any kind of issue. Still working on the clipper thing, though. Also, spots. Very different ones from Bey's. No, they will never have children, even if Bey Falls In Love again, even though I think pintoloosas are kinda neat looking, because it Just Isn't Done.
no subject
Bey likes a good brushin'...really, most of them do. Sometimes she pretends she's just tolerating it, though. The extra-soft brush about the face and ears is something she particularly likes.
no subject