Saturday, February 28, 2009

35 mile an hour gusts = Freaked out horses

I've been gone for a week to Washington and got back with an ache for some serious horse time.


Which will have to wait since someone left the windows open and there is a wind blowing around here that could sandblast the plaque right off your teeth.

But I'd been gone a WEEK! So, even though our trees at home looked like they were doing the hula, I decided to head out to the stables.

The place I board at is up for sale. It's a great deal, 70 acres, mobile home, barns, arena and round pen, if anyone's looking), and they were having an open house / barn sale. I didn't pick anything up this time, because I'm pretty tacked up.

I went out to get Canyon and he acted like he had no idea who I was. So we spent some time in the near tornado conditions doing a few circles in the field. He behaved remarkably well for a horse that was ready to climb out of his skin.

Then I took him over for a brushing, trying to find a spot that was sheltered from the wind. Which ended up being impossible. It was like walking around in a blender. No matter where I stood, hair was flying around (he is shedding like a persian cat), trees were shaking, and metal sheets were screeching in the wind.

Needless to say, this was not the calming experience I had in mind.

Canyon was ... well, "wary" would be putting it mildly. At one point he was standing still but his neck was so tense you could have bounced quarters off of him. I finally came to my senses. This is no time to tie up a horse. One more weird wind noise and he was going to flip out. So, after a few more relaxing brushes (well, I was relaxed anyway), it was back to the pasture.

That's where I got my reward. The wind died down for a good 15 minutes and we had a few nickers and actual bonding time. We hung out and wandered around a little before the wind kicked back up.

March will be a better month. I'll have tons more time, tons more horse time, and hopefully, much better weather conditions. A woman can hope.




Back home, I came across this on a horse email list:

How Enlightened Are You? A Test

If you can live without caffeine or nicotine
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains
If you can resist complaining
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you any time
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment
If you can ignore friends' limited educations and never correct them
If you can treat the rich and poor alike
If you can face the world without lies or deceit
If you can conquer tension without medical help
If you can relax without liquor
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs
If you can have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, gender,
sexual preference, or politics —

— If you can then you have almost reached the same level of spiritual
development as your horse.



Hmm. Apparently I don't have a horse... That would explain a great deal.

1 comment:

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

I just saw that saying on a plaque in my vet's office the other day, only it was talking about dogs.