Satori Center

Horses lend us the wings we lack.

~ Pam Brown

I have done a session for Ms. Tammy and have had a chance to ride her three times since then. 

The first day she seemed ok - about the same.

The second day I played with a different approach and she seemed to do well with it.

Today, there was a killer bunny in the bushes.

Oi weh.

To give her (and me) some credit, the feet stayed on the ground the whole time, they continued to move in the correct gait (ish) and she came back to me.

There was a crescendo of "OMG I'M GOING TO DIE!" that started with a slight startle, went to a bigger startle on the next circle, got even bigger the third time and was accompanied by an inversion - which is also the battle cry for "GET THE MONSTER OFF MY BACK!"  at which point I'll bet my neighbors heard some fairly salty language and she got booted forward into a 'moving but firm hand.'  She tried to invert a step later, so I followed with another boot and the whip and maybe thankfully we were far enough away from the killer bunny it didn't warrant more fighting.  Although, she did take on of those big 'I-give-in' type breaths.  Not that I believe those from her anymore.  Sometimes I think that's just her regrouping.

So you're maybe thinking, "really?  she continued to move in the correct gait (ish)?"  Actually, yes.  We had a little side step there, like a stumble, but then we went on.  And the circle went sort of oval-ish in one of the corners - the one with the killer bunny, of course, because if you act stupid in that corner longer there's more chance it actually will kill you.  

And I had to behave quite the schizophrenic as I remained calm, flowing, fluid, loose rein, (etc etc) until I needed to 'be there' as the container holding the bomb in place for those few steps.

But after the big blow-up came the decrescendo.  Faster would've been better, of course, but less and less stupid is always better at any speed.

Only like seven circles later and then she gave a huge breath release and we were able to walk on a loose rein again even in the corner with the killer bunny.

Is Your Horse a Rock Star? Understanding Your Horse's Personality
by Dessa Hockley

Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
by Brian Tracy

So - on the upside - she continued to walk when she was supposed to and trot when she was supposed to.  She wanted to be a nut but responded well when I challenged her and told her to back off.  We eventually rode through it all until she was calm again.  Someone looking at this horse would be thinking, "hmm.... a non-event.  a successful outcome."  (I have had people offer to get on her - !!!)

On the downside - o, lord - yet again!  it's hard for me to not know, to un-remember, what is in there.  Someone who's never met this horse might not have any problem with the killer bunnies, because they don't know there are killer bunnies.  OR they might be dead in half a second of misplaced trust as this horse escalates from startle to spook to all out WWIII at the speed of lightning.

It occurs to me that these DEAF horses are heart breakers.  You look at them and they move well and they seem sane.  You get on them and they float like a butterfly.  Days or weeks can go by (OK, I'm being optimistic) without incident and you think, 'YEAH!  We've made it!  We've turned the corner!  We're on our way!'  And then, the wires cross and all the sudden this horse is going apesh*t under you.

Which is not so cool.

Yeah - I second Dessa Hockley, leave these horses to the folks who have glue on their seats and laugh at the antics these horses can get up to.

8/27/14

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