In Love... With Piper (A Good Read For Those Who are, Sometimes, Afraid)

OK, so anyone who knows me knows that I have some fear of horses. But, I LOVE Piper already! Tonight, and this really is sweet, I took Piper out of her stall without her halter and lead rope. Really! I was standing in the aisle way of our barn and I opened Piper's stall door and just called her name. Piper came to me better than my little dog does. When I said (in my ignorance) "stop", Piper stopped! Then I said "stand" and Piper stood. I took out Piper's grooming tools and groomed her. When Ted opened Allie's stall door and Piper looked like (and started to) move towards Allie's stall, I said "no" and she stopped. Then, I continued to groom her. Piper was so good about this and I was not afraid of standing next to her even though she wore no halter. When Ted again opened Allie's stall door then started messing around in the aisle way, I took Piper by her neck with my arms and turned her towards her stall. I told her "stall" and she walked in!!!!

I followed Piper, finished brushing her mane, then just stood in her stall, hugging her neck, both giving and receiving love. Ahhhh............. to be loved by a horse, a sweet horse..........

Snow Days

Just for fun, I wanted to post some snow days pics with Allie & Piper. We are scheduled to haul Allie & Piper into BB Stables on Saturday to have Kris look at Piper and for Erin's lesson on Allie. I will keep you posted........

Horses and Training

As the owner of a young 3 year old mare, I have seen many interesting training sessions and techniques while trying to find a trainer.

Our mare has sure been through the mill: from trainers who expect a 3 year old mare with just a little training to be well behaved and well started and, because she is strong willed, these trainers do not want to work with our mare, to people in our community who make assumptions as to who she is without even seeing her, to those who take money and do not watch closely over the animal, or who do watch but things happen and....... disaster results. There are many good trainers out there I am sure, and even some of the good trainers do make mistakes. It all boils down to decisions the trainers make, how they respond to any mistakes they may make, how they like or do not like your animal, how your animal responds to their specific technique of training, I believe, and based on my experience to date.

As a horse owner, I have seen some pretty heavy handed trainers. And while I understand horses are large animals and the amount of force it takes to really physically hurt a horse is tremendous, I also understand (and have seen) horses being hurt by many a small human. Face shy horses are often hit in the face be it with an opened hand, closed fist, or some other item, this can create a whole host of problems for a horse owner down the line.... Try haltering or bridling a face shy horse, it can be quite challenging!
Or, in our case, a horse who is sensitive to having her ears touched (she has very hairy ears!!) because of a very bad experience she once had.
I want good communication, involvement with the training, and respect from the trainer to me, my family, and respect given to, as well as demand from, my horse.

I have Mag in with Nichole who is just over the WA border in Idaho for some light ground work and to build back towards being ridden after her long lay off due to her injury. I feel good about this and will update on this blog.