Attitude

So I bought this horse.

But before I go any farther, I should warn you that if you are reading this blog with the idea that you will learn  amazing things about horses and riding and training, this is not the blog for you.

I used to ride when I was younger, but even then, I mostly rode in the summer for a couple months, a lesson here and there, and the odd horse camp.  I was by no means an "equestrian".  That being said, it was always a dream of mine to own a horse, so when I went away to university, I decided that it was time to get back into the game (or rather, the saddle).

Thus began my frantic journey towards owning a horse.  I tried for a couple summers to re-establish myself in the horse world, but as it turned out, I had a lot of bad luck and I really didn't start riding again on a regular basis until the summer before my second year in law school.  I am now entering my third year of law school, and although I went into riding with the level-headed intention of getting through my second degree and the articling that inevitably accompanies that before journeying into the time-consuming and intensive world of horse ownership, I got impatient and bought a horse instead. :)

I have had Walker since March, 2012 after only starting my riding lessons again for approximately 6 months, give or take a week.  I was fortunate enough to have the owner of the barn where I ride help me find him, and she carefully took my ambitious ideas and turned them into a sound, safe horse I could grow with.

I will admit that for someone who rode sporadically for years, I have had my fair share of horse catastrophes, so to say I was slightly nervous when presented with my new 6 year-old (going on 7) gelding is an understatement.  But my instructors and my barn owner were very patient.  They test-drove him for me and slowly began to work on my confidence.  They assured me again and again, and I witnessed again and again, that Walker was a good horse, well-trained, and did I mention safe.

But horses have quirks just like people do, and as it turns out, Walker has a lot of them.  It didn't take long for him to figure out that I was not my instructor nor his previous owner nor anyone remotely capable of making him listen to me.  In that way, Walker is a lot like a 7 year old child, sweet and loving, but prepared to do whatever he must to get out of a hard day's work.

Within about a few months, my barn owner sat me down and kindly explained to me that Walker was a great horse.  He was a fantastic horse who was worth more that I had paid for him, could blow competitors out of the water at shows, and was very intelligent.  But she also explained that he had attitude.  And more specifically he had too much attitude, at least for a rider of my ability.

Up until this moment, I was quite timid around Walker.  We were barely loping yet, although I had been loping on horses before Walker, and I was nervous in situations where he seemed remotely excited.  I was used to Western Pleasure horses, and Walker, although trained professionally in that discipline, seemed more interested at the time of taking in his surroundings at a much faster pace.

So my barn owner said that she would help me find another horse, free of charge (just like the first time), and that we would easily sell him.  She thought that maybe we`d find a horse better suited to my particular (in)abilities.

But I am competitive by nature, and I don`t like being told that I can`t do something.  So I decided to keep the horse.

Walker has a lot of attitude.
But I have attitude too. :)