Following the thread of
horse behavior and spooking has been interesting. I have had my share of spooks,
jumps, shies, spin and bolts and bucks. Loony Lance has been my biggest
challenge. Not only am I beginning to think he has no Arab in him, (he is
suppose to be an Arab/Andalusian) I am also thinking he will never grow up. (I
don't wanna grow up, I'm a Spooks 'R' Us horse!)
I know half the problem has been me. He scares
the crap out of me. He weighs over 1,000 pounds and is as athletic as any
gymnast. He is built like a tank and has the power to back it up. I know that if
he really wanted to toss me like a salad, he could have done so many times.
The other half is all him. His initial fears were
horses coming up behind him, and horses leaving him out on the trail or at the
vet check. He didn't need to bring a buddy, he made friends where ever we went.
But it was a problem for camping and the vet check. The boy had 4 months with a
very well respected trainer as a two year old. We never raced a ride, only
tried to live through them. I rode him for two years, then took a year off and
tried again. The whole camping and endurance atmosphere is just too much for
him. He turned eight last month. I will have to say one of our best rides was
Leatherwood. Even though we were last, he had to concentrate on where his feet
were at all times and he didn't have time to be scared. We had some deer fly
right over our heads and he didn't even flinch.
I have been told that some Andalusians take
longer to mature, even longer than an Arab. The boy has good ground manners, is
rideable (is that a word?) on a trail ride, easy to handle otherwise. But the
endurance atmosphere is something some horses have a hard time dealing with. I
am not sure Loony Lance ever will.
Or, it could just be me.
Every horse is different. My dough boy acted like
he was 15 years old when he was only two. Now that he is twelve, he acts dead. I
am pretty sure my girl will kill anything that pisses her off so she ain't
afeared of nothing! Dinero is curious, yet confidant because his mother is the
witch and she will kill anything that scares him! I think some of it is
just as much a part of their personality as it is experience and formal
education, or lack of.
Or, it could just be me. And listen, I know the
banana spiders are out there, I know what the web looks like and I know how to
spot them. I also know I could hang myself in their webs they are so strong and
that the spider could cover my face. And yet, I still do the spider scream and
dance if I even THINK there is one on me. I am prepared, but that doesn't make
me any less scared! That is why I let trainer Wendy go first.
