Today's ride was thoroughly rotten. I started the day losing my temper and whacking Mag in the nose.
Halfway to our meetup point with Ani, these two loose dogs ran up to us, both of them barking, and did not respect our space at all - they came right up and touched both me and the horse with their noses, and ran around his legs in circles. I had my whip out as a barricade and kept shouting (in English) NO and the owner was calling them and calling them but they ignored her. Then she said my all-time favorite phrase, uttered by all dog people, "They won't do anything." I have to wonder what "nothing" is in their minds. Because today my horse and I were assaulted. She said, "It's not our horse!" to the dogs (is she stupid - dogs don't get horses mixed up) and explained, "They love horses!" I stood there in speechless horror trying to stand between the dogs and my horse, but there were two of them, and it was like they were egging each other on. When I stare down/face dogs, normally they back off at the last moment and won't actually make physical contact - not this time. This lady was so pathetic, she said, "I just live right up there!" as if the location of her house makes her dogs' behavior OK? Then in a weird attempt at friendliness she said, "Aren't the trails too icy?" Um, well...*shakes head*
I was pissed and told Ani about it; she was right around the corner and just barely missed it.
This was my second snow ride with Ani and I don't think I will do it again. Her sweet old mare Mira just hates snow and ice, and since she had her Renegades on, the poor thing had no grip. The mud was frozen solid under the snow. It wasn't what I'd call treacherous, but it was probably close. I should say, it wasn't treacherous if your horse is 100% calm and steady.
I actually wore my helmet while grooming Mag, because our paddock was solid ice.
Mira kept slipping and it was upsetting Ani - she said we should only ride on salted roads today. That's fine, I thought. (Stupid!)
I was riding Mag and he kept using Mira's butt as a buffer against nose-diving or something, not caring to pay attention to his feet.
Then we saw some hikers and I didn't notice at first, but they had a dog with them. When Mag started spazzing out I yelled at him to quit it and looked back and indeed there was a Wolfhound, who seemed to be covered in snow. Mag would not calm down, he didn't like that they were behind/above us.
Suddenly the hikers were trying to communicate to us, something about the dog, and Ani whipped around in the saddle and said, "Under no circumstances are you to let that dog loose!" (it sounded much better in German). And they listened to her - they kept their dog close and we were able to ride out of there safely. I think Ani was frustrated with her horse slipping and knew a dog running up might make things worse. She also was listening to me shouting WALK MAG repeatedly, so perhaps it was for my benefit.
I felt bad for Ani that her horse was slipping so much, she'd had done better without hoof boots. Mira kept trying to avoid "rocks" but it was just frozen mud, and in her attempts to get off center, she'd end up on slopes that made her slide. Mag had calmed down by this point and was having a much, much easier time of it. Also, we'd already traversed that trail on our way.
When we came to a frozen fish pond, I dismounted and said "Wait!" and reached into my pocket for the rocks I'd collected on my way - I wanted to throw the stones on the ice. I love the sound it makes. But doh, my little stone broke right through the ice! Oh well.
When we hit my street our slipping issues were over (salty salty concrete) and as we passed my house I asked her to pause while I dumped my saddle off - I was not going to ride on Hohestrasse, where we were headed. I haven't even led Mag on Hohestrasse for 2 months, but with Mira, I was ready to give it a try.
Just like last time in the snow with Mira, she was pissed about having to be out in it, and anytime Mag and I paused, she refused to wait for us. I've already had conversations with Ani about the importance of our horses standing still when we ask, but instead of working on it, Ani was pretty much a passenger today, and not happy about it.
We came to a construction crew taking down trees right on Hohestrasse, and I assumed they'd be nice and not actually put the trees in the grinder as we approached. No, they kept on working, even though they saw us. Even as we passed by their incredibly loud tree-digester, they kept sawing and filling. Good old Mira couldn't take it - she took off at a trot by the machinery, leaving me with a very upset Mag, afraid to pass it. I took it slow but it wasn't enough - he was trotting sideways in front of me, perpendicular to my body. Then he refused to let the machines be behind him, so he literally walked down the street backwards directly in front of me. I had him still, but just barely, and I was furious that they didn't stop work for 30 seconds to let us pass. Most people around here are considerate - so I'm spoiled.
Mira by now was way, way ahead of us. She was still trotting, which is her bolting, I suppose.
Then I got pissed at Ani because she made no effort to wait for us - and Mag was out of control. Of course - if his reliable buddy freaks out, he's gonna freak out too. What Ani couldn't know is that if I'd actually lost hold of Mag, he would have galloped to Mira, and in the space of that distance, she would have heard him coming, and she would have ran off too, with Ani on board, full tilt in the middle of the street, in traffic (we had to use the street to pass cuz the machines were on the sidewalk). So, good that I didn't lose Mag at that moment.
But she still would not wait for us. Long after we'd passed them, she was 40-60 meters in front of us. Mira just wanted to go home, she hates the snow.
When I finally caught them, I said, "What happened" and her voice rose several octaves, so I knew she was upset. She said, "Mira got scared!" I wanted to tell her about horsey etiquette, that you don't leave the young, green horse behind in the middle of a terrifying obstacle. But I think Ani had little control, so I said nothing. (But now that I think about it - she could have just jumped off Mira if she was out of control, by then she was just walking.)
We started on our way again, nearly done with that street, when Mag started jogging behind me, something was scaring him. What now? I turned around and he was freaking about this semi coming up behind him. It wasn't even going that fast - we were past the 100 zone, we were in a 50 zone, where I normally feel safe. Not today. He fruck out and spun around me, leaving big stripes in the snow. He ran into the street a little, making the semi dodge him. I thought by this point that semi driver could have hit his brakes, but apparently he was enjoying the show. The neighbors were at their windows staring the entire time. By the time I got Mag stopped and positioned him behind me again, Mira and Ani were way in the distance. Again. *sigh*
I was almost in tears when Ani finally dismounted and forced Mira to wait for us. I said, "I don't know what to do - I feel like I cannot bring him here anymore, because suddenly he has problems with big trucks."
We walked in silence the rest of the way and I had to turn around and go back on Hohestrasse....alone.
I literally said out loud to Mag, "Screw it - nothing else can go wrong today - let's not avoid this street, let's do it."
Of course if the chipper was still chipping I was going to take a side street and hook onto a trail. Thankfully the guys were all standing around talking, and I might have glared at them as we passed directly by their machines. One tractor was running, pumping exhaust right in our face as we passed, and Mag did not like it, but he held it together.
The good thing was, this work crew had put up 30kph signs, so no one was going 100 today. We made it all the way to our bus stop where I sat down, miserable but Mag was being adorable, putting my shoe in his mouth, trying nibble my knee, my arm, I pointed him to the wooden bench I was sitting on and he chomped on that happily, totally relaxed.
Of course no more big rigs or busses went by, even though I wanted more time there to practice.
This excavator was uprooting trees over a hedge, and Mag was fine with that.
When we got home I let Mag out naked to roll in the snow, but the frozen mud is so lumpy it's not fun for him. Also, if he were to run around our pasture right now, he would break a leg, so it's good he's not doing that. Good for his legs, not good for his mind.
Then I had to leave immediately to walk to town to go to my doctor, get my prescription, and walk to the pharmacy to fill it, and then walk to the grocery store and fill my back pack with food, cuz we have no food and my husband is working late today. My legs almost couldn't get me home - I could feel every joint from hip to toes, I was amazed when I made it home. I looked at my watch - 1:30 PM. I'd started my walk with Mag this morning at 9:00. I rode him maybe 15 minutes of that time.
Remember how I'd dumped my saddle in my house during our ride? I put it on a chair, and when I took off the girth/pad, it started to fall, and I reached out and somehow the chair it was on tipped and caught me on my shin and the whole thing hit the wall, leaving black streaks from the leather. The leather looks rubbed, but fine. My leg is in pain, it's gonna be blue tomorrow. My wall, I'm not sure what to do about the wall.
And now I'm done: )
Not mad at Mag, but not sure how to handle trying to ride him in Winter. He's full of steam, and cannot blow it off.
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6 comments:
It sounds all very frustrating. I think you handled Mag properly and I suspect that he behaved once your attitude changed to 'we're doing this'. As for the dogs, well I have no tolerance anymore and I would have smacked them with the crop. And when that lady got upset I would explain and a sharp tap with a crop is much better then a hoof to the head.
Sorry about the horrible day. Not turning off the wood chipper reminded me that the other day my neighbors were leading a strange horse past my Mule, and the horse looked concerned, so I shut off the engine. One woman grumbled to the other, "She doesn't need to do that. This horse fears nothing."
I've had that happen in the past, where I stopped doing something that might be scary to a horse, and the rider insisted it was not necessary and basically criticized me for being polite. I think it would be better for all horse owners to just say thank you, because making others feel that it is okay to make a lot of noise and jump around horses just causes accidents for someone else with a greener horse somewhere down the line. When people are constantly told that being polite is wrong, then they tend to just keep on doing whatever it is that might disturb others, regardless of the consequences. So, I wish all horse owners would encourage people to do things like shut off loud engines or hold still or slow down or whatever when a horse is around, even if their horse is "dead broke". But sometimes I think it's an ego thing. Horse owners like to brag about how fearless their horses are and show off for everyone. I guess I ruined that lady's chance to show off when I shut off my engine. Who knows? I just know that I would never complain if someone did something polite in order to not scare my horse, because even if I know my horse wouldn't be bothered by whatever was going on, somebody else's horse might, so why not encourage human decency by thanking them?
Teresa, you understand dogs better than I do - but I could never be brave enough to hit a dog, unless it was biting. What I wish I'd had the courage to say is, "I have a hole in my arm from a dog, would you like to see?"
NM, I miss you already. Don't go! When you say, encourage decency, I always do smile and wave at the cars who slow down, and mouth the word Danke so they see I mean it. I am still appalled that so many people fly by horses on the street. Today on my walk to the doctor, my neighbor flew by me so close if I'd taken a mis-step, he'd have hit me. He's old though, so maybe he didn't know how close he was. Like you, probably, when I drive by horses on the street, I go so slow they are usually waving me by, almost irritated at how slow I'm going: )
I think you're never going to get completely away from rude dogs and clueless owners. I often speak (sweetly) to the dog, "Hello Doggie! Where is your Person, and where is your leash? My horse kicks the crap of of doggies (a lie), so I hope you are quick on your feet, doggie!"
This has the duel purpose of relaxing me (because I'm not bottling frustration, which the Dragon interprets as a cue to kick out!) and also giving the clueless owner some information: your dog may be good with horses, but my horse may not be good with dogs.
Denny Emerson has been writing a lot lately about the value of riding/training as opposed to conditioning. He's got some young TB's now, so he spends a lot of time letting them stare at weird stuff. He figures that it's time he'd rather spend while the horses are young, letting them learn to cope with their fears, instead of bullying them past scary stuff, which means he'll have to bully them past crap for the rest of eternity. Denny Emerson is wise.
Aarene, "Where is your leash?" exactly. I just can't fake sweetness when I'm angry. Good that I often have outspoken Germans with me. S1 is like you, she doesn't take that crap silently.
Denny caused a stir, apparently, by criticizing the way eventing is done nowadays. I was just snooping around and found that today. I'd like to read about his methods that you mentioned, if possible. His site has many articles.
Try stalking Tamerack Hill Farm on Facebook. Denny posts there every few days, sometimes criticizing stuff (which he's able to do, because he has been there, done that, and is still riding young TB's at age 70+!) sometimes commenting on current events, sometimes sharing stories of the olden days (often with photos). And lately, updates on the slow-mo training of his young horses.
I don't always agree with him, but I always find his thoughts worth reading and considering.
Faking sweetness: I've always been a better liar than you. :-)
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