The day has arrived when I am no longer a horse owner. It's been about a minute now, but I have decided to give up owning horses since I will move to Scotland on a more permanent basis. I can't really see myself paying board for an animal I don't ride, and I don't (at this time) own my own property to keep a horse on, so the prudent, mature, responsible, and overtly logical thing to do was to in fact sell the horse. My last horse was a Missouri Fox Trotter mare named Ava. She was, as many of my animals have been, a rescue from a kill pen here in the state of Oklahoma.
My daughter and I have rescued horses (and dogs, cats, pigs, goats, guineas and more) for all of her life, and that timeline bleeds into my own mother's life as well, we are and have always been rescuers. It makes sense, and it helps the world at large even if it's just a small act of love. Ava was sold to an amazing little girl who at the age of 11, had saved up enough money to not only buy a horse, but to pay for transport, which is an enormous feat for a youngster! I was so very proud to say my last horse (for now) was going to the best home. It's always good when that happens. Ava was too thin when I rescued her, and she came to me with a baby mule Jenny on her side - - the mule was healthy enough, but it was obvious that the mare had given her all to keep the baby going.
Believe me when I say that owning horses is nothing like owning other animals. With dogs and cats you may be able to get away without feeding them on a regular basis, you can literally leave town and expect a friend or family member to drop by and take care of them, but things don't usually work out that way when you own a horse. For starters, horses really don't care if you're sick, have to work later than usual, or if you have no way to come out to feed them - - they want to be fed. Those idiots who allow their animals to graze all day on grass and think that's good enough are in my opinion, not good horse people. In fact, there are so many not-good horse people in the world that I typically say the best thing about horse people is their dogs, and I mean that. Horse people are the biggest losers on the planet in some cases, and I'm not afraid to say it - - why am I not afraid to say it? I've lived with them, fought with them, observed them, argued with them, called the sheriff on them, and yeah, they don't scare me, I rode a mare. If you're not a horse person you may not understand that last one, but it's true.
Horses are rather blunt creatures. When they are introduced to each other there is a short time period when they start and go through their natural pecking order immediately. The boss mare steps up, all other horses step to the side to allow her leeway, and the new horse(s) is either accepted or chased off. The new horse, and it doesn't matter what his or her status was before stepping into this pasture, will by nature either accept their new submissive position or face a brutal battle trying to one-up the established Boss Mare. It is what it is, and that's the #1 reason I usually chose to ride a gelding. Geldings cuddle, they want your attention, they seek your affection, and they want to please you. A mare, boss or not, usually has her agenda, and if you don't fit into her schedule that day you may not be riding. It is what it is, which is again, the reason I usually chose to ride a gelding.
Stallions are another story altogether, and don't even get me started, you can either establish your dominance in the beginning with the animal, or be controlled by him. If you know me, you know I carry a crop whip for a reason. If I am in the pasture with a stallion I carry a crop - - most stallions lack a few brain cells and need to be reminded to stand down. Again, another reason I usually chose to ride a gelding - - no crop needed. I can use that hand to hold my coffee.
Selling Ava made sense too; it was the one thing I needed to do before making the final decision to make the move to Scotland. Placing her in a good home was paramount, and deciding only to help rescue but not take another animal home with me is and was harder than I thought it would be. I rode almost every single day; even when I was heavier. I think I thought riding would help me to lose weight, but it didn't. I was just a casual rider, and I realized last summer that I was still riding as if I was thinner and at some point reality as well as physics set in and I was finding myself thudding the ground a few more times that I really wanted to.
I began losing weight, and didn't ride nearly as much as I had before due to the fact that my body was lying to my brain and I couldn't (or wouldn't) chance being injured to the point that I couldn't sit up and write the book I had to get written, published, promoted, and distributed. This self-publishing gig is tough - - but it doesn't scare me, you guessed it, I rode a mare. If you can say that, you can do just about anything - - she's a chestnut mare too, and again, if you're not a horse person that may not make a lick of sense.
Going horseless is not an easy thing to do for someone who is as horsey as I am. I think about them, work with them, pay out money for them, drag myself and my daughter all over the state to pick one up before it's shipped to slaughter, and if we're not doing that we're at the barn feeding, watering, bathing, training, working, and otherwise just being with other people's horses. I could say I understand how an addict feels when they're pulled off the stuff to dry out except I've not really pulled myself out of the barn completely - - I go now just to smell the place; if you aren't a horse person the smell of horse sweat and wet manure may not be the scent you'd prefer in a Yankee candle; but it for me. I would by a dozen of their largest sized candles and keep them burning year round if they made them -- so instead, since I don't have the option of the candle, I have my saddle in my living room sitting on a dirty saddle pad or two; and it seems to help - - some. That, and I have the crop whip to remind me that there may be some day it could come in handy - - I'll take it with me to Scotland. We'll see who or what I find to use it on there. (They have horses there too, right?)
No comments:
Post a Comment