Sunday, September 19, 2010

Cast in this unlikely role, ill-equipped to act

Pie and I had a crazy bad ride this morning. The day was sunny and calm. Perfect conditions. Pie was so loving and sweet during grooming and tacking. He usually lets me know if he is antsy during this time, but this morning he was sleepy and quiet. Because of our fencing project, I hadn't ridden him since my mom and I rode on Tuesday. This is the longest the horses have ever gone between rides except for my trip to Florida last winter. I expected Pie to be nervous at first, but he wasn't at all. We circled around the maple trees in the front yard and out around the farmhouse. Next, we headed up toward my uncle's barn and near the turnpike. He was a perfect angel, softly blowing and relaxing as we went. As we headed out across the hayfield, a neighbor at the corner of our property was coming out to dump a wheelbarrow. Pie looked at him and the neighbor started talking to us. Pie walked toward him calmly and we met in the field and talked for a few minutes. Pie was so sweet and quiet. Next, we headed back up a hill away from the neighbor and Pie must have been watching him, but no reaction. When we got about 200 yards away, though, all hell broke loose. Pie wheeled around and started snorting and pulled all his energy inward until it felt like I had a tightly coiled spring or firecracker right under me. His head was completely in my lap and his hindquarters were under the saddle. It didn't feel like his feet were on the ground, but we were not moving. YET. I can't explain how awful I felt waiting for a movement from him. He snorted violently. His heart was beating loudly up through my body and I was talking to him and trying to softly urge him forward out of this tight position. I could feel his desire to take off towards the barn. I mentally made a note that I would turn him in a tight circle to stop him if that happened. He kept watching for the neighbor to emerge from the woods with the wheelbarrow. When that happened, Pie snorted and turned a tight circle. Hey, that is my move, I thought. He dropped his head while chomping his teeth and sort of rocked back and forth in a half-rear. He was very distressed. It was terrible. I could not get a forward movement so I dismounted to try to walk him forward toward the barstool away from the barn and the neighbor. Unfortunately, as we crested the hill we discovered that our dear barstool friends had erected a new wooden jungle-gym/swing-set in the entire yard. Pie could not take it! He snorted so loudly I was sure the whole neighborhood would come out to look for a dragon. He was very difficult to walk. I am so much better on a horse than off and I was kicking myself for dismounting. I somehow got him back to the pastures, but I don't think his feet were on the ground at all. I remounted and walked him around inside the ring and all over our old pastures. He walked, but he never came back to me. He was worried and nervous. I mentally wrestled with the question of how much is too much and watched the time on my wristwatch. Pie is seldom trying to be silly when he gets like this. The shot of adrenaline that was pulsing through his body, caused by real fear, was still acting and our walking was slow and steady, but not calm. He still was grinding his teeth nervously without any rein pressure at all. He performed large circles and serpentines perfectly, but arched and upward rather than forward. If someone were watching who was unaware of how a relaxed horse should look, they might think he was trained in advanced dressage. I kept my hand on the buckle and just held onto his mane, yet his head was arched and his teeth were grinding. After twenty minutes of walking like this on my "carousel horse" I dismounted and untacked him and brushed him. He uncharacteristically threw his head up and down in the cross-ties the whole time. How big and wild-eyed he was at this point. Defeated, I took him back out to the pasture for turnout. He wasn't even interested in grazing. I had planned to introduce him to the new pastures by walking around inside of them at the end of our ride, but that didn't happen.
I wonder what I did wrong today. I think I was focused, even when I was talking to the neighbor. Sometimes I just think that I am too much of a human to understand what he sees when he is scared and our bond is too new to trust me completely yet. He has thousands of years of history coursing through his veins telling him to flee and I am this little fly on his back, or worse, standing beside him, telling him that it really is ok. He doesn't even hear me. I feel certain he will hear me one day though, so I will keep trying!

9 comments:

  1. How can you blame yourself - you didn't do anything wrong and managed the whole incident very well. No one got hurt or even came close. Good for you. I wonder what made him so scared though?

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  2. Thanks Carol for the vote of confidence! He must have been scared about the wheelbarrow after he was away from it. I don't exactly blame myself, but I do try to only ask for rides that are inside Pie's comfort zone. I just wonder if I asked a little too much of him today since we hadn't ridden in a week.

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  3. These things happen - not to worry. He does have basic confidence in you - he didn't bolt or even try to. It sounds like he was just overwhelmed and couldn't cope - a combination of too much energy and too much stimulation. Just keep breathing and riding and it'll come right.

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  4. You didn't do anything wrong. Horses see all sorts of monsters we couldn't even imagine. They all have their bad days.

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  5. Oh Juliette! What a scary few moments that must have been for you and for Pie! I once read a comment from a horse trainer who said that every time we get on a horse, it is a different horse. I like to think of then when I have had an off-putting time with Lilly, like when she is freaking out all the time. You really never do know what they can see. And they are prey animals too, we can't forget that. You also never know what role the weather plays--it's been so cool lately, that that can get them going too. perhaps it was a string of strange things that Pie wasn't in the mood for. Maybe he was Pie PMSing. I don't even mean that as a joke..because I think animals (including men!) have cycles too that they go through. Sometimes we just feel more vulnerable. I also think that after Pie settled down, he was digesting the ride and probably felt badly about it. Poor Pie! Poor Juliette! I wish every rode could be stellar.

    Hey, I just read that your mom is back in the saddle! YAY!!!!!!!!!

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  6. Exhale..those days are tough. I know that coiled non moving monster beneath you that takes over your dear horse, and the waiting for any movement while trying to keep the big bolt spook from happening! ugh.
    Some days are just rough, I dont know if they smell something we can't and it sets them off, or if they just have off days in general as we do too. I know some days, I feel more anxious and other days I feel calm. No reason why. I think you gave Pie what he needed, consistent riding/hand walking, everything he knows instead of trying to 'correct' a fear.

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  7. Wow. The scary goblins really got into his mind and took over. I'm sorry he gave you such a fright. You handled it well. Sounds like the human-wheelbarrow thing at a certain distance and angle must have spooked him bad, then seeing the giant jungle gym monster was just to much for that little equine brain.

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  8. Wow- what a ride. I'm glad you both got home safe and sound, even if he still needed more time to unwind from his fears. My guess is that he was just having an unusually bad day and both of the new monsters (wheelbarrow in unfamiliar place and new playing machine in yard) were just too much for him, on that day. Poor Pie. But you did great handling it.

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  9. You are very brave and consistent with your horses too, but these days do happen! Pie sounds a lot like my TB Reggie, who has what I consider to be equine panic attacks. He can go from a calm 0 to a frantic 100 in minutes. Sounds like you did the right thing. I know exactly how that "without forward" up and down bouncy ride feels. They are so coiled and tight.
    You are so great with your horses and with Thoroughbreds like you said there is so much with them just being equine/prey animals and then the breeding for speed and increasing their flight response element that has been done with the breed. Glad to hear that in the next post you had a wonderful ride!!!

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