Freedom’s returned to his natural state – a herd animal. Between the weather and his lameness he had several weeks where I wasn’t able to ride him and he’s been living out in the herd with his four mares. Yes, he’s the only gelding right now and he definitely likes it.
When I don’t ride him much he starts to forget where he stands in the human horse hierarchy. In the herd, he’s the alpha — he bosses those mares around and for the most part, they put up with him. But when he starts giving me the evil eye or pins his ears, I know it’s time to re-assert myself!
While he was lame, I tried to give him a massage whenever I came to the barn. I could tell that he was sore — I’m sure that resting his left hind and walking on it a bit funny strained other muscles. Although I always got some good releases, he made me work for it. He was twitchy, swishing his tail, snaking his head at me and putting on his scary face. It always makes him mad when it doesn’t work.
Normally if he’s like this, a good long ride brings back his good humor. Without it, I had to resort to some short, directed marching with the chain over his nose. Like most track horses, Freedom respects that chain. I rarely have to use it because his behavior magically improves. We worked on marching forward, halting, backing and walking on. I made him stay right with me and pay attention. He started to remember that I’m not another mare.
Re-establishing teamwork is important because it translates directly to riding. Getting back into the routine after the time off takes a few days. He’s generally spooky and hesitant whereas if I’ve been riding him regularly he trusts that if I want him to go somewhere it’s a good idea.
We had one short hack a few weeks ago where he was completely distracted by a dog toy left in the trail — it was obviously terrifying to him and he wouldn’t go near it. He snorted, whirled around and tried to retreat. I got him to stand his ground and inch forward to the point where he touched it with his nose. It must have belonged to one scary dog who had left his cooties on it because far from reassuring him, it made him worse. Eventually I had to get off and toss it off the trail before he would continue.
Times like these I wonder where my brave hunt horse has gone. With luck, he’ll re-emerge in the next few weeks!
Perfect! I loved this… just … what? Six weeks and he’ll be the great hunt horse he was last season! Thanks for sharing… it made me smile!
Hi, love your blog, but was a bit taken aback by the way you started this post. I’m wondering what you mean by “gone a bit native”? This phrase seems very uniformed as to what it means to be “native.” Did you know that most tribal cultures, i.e, those that historically rely on hunting/gathering are actually matriarchal with the women who own everything and have the right to kick the man out of the house if they mess up? I realize this is a very off-the-cuff comment, but please understand everything that goes with the meaning of “native.” To be so flippant with it completely ignores a fully alive, beautiful, and rich culture that has been trodden upon for way too long, especially in the states.
-Best, Chelsea
Hi Chelsea,
By no means did I wish to offend with that statement! I meant that Freedom had gone back to being a herd horse, rather than riding horse (indigenous to his own species). I’ll try to think of a better word that does not have those connotations.
Liz