Hocus Pocus

Unfortunately, I never made it out to the barn today because I had a couple of appointments and decided to take the day to work on one of my two major papers I need to finish (and start) by the end of the term.  But I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone last night who just barely got a horse this past month, and we were discussing all the things we wanted to work on.  She made me laugh because she kept telling me about what bothered her with her horse, and of course they were quite simple things: her horse doesn't have a hard stop, she canters faster than she wants her to, etc.  I'm not downplaying any of these things, but the contrast in the conversation was pretty hilarious.

Walker is smart.  Like really smart.  And he has developed a hundred ways to get out of work.  Every day with him I have to try and out-think him since out-muscling him will rarely work.  Perhaps a more experienced rider could overcome him easier, but to be fair, he has even managed to rear my trainer off once or twice.  He is a challenge, but luckily, he is not malicious (except when he reared my trainer off, but knowing her, she probably pushed him to it).  When he bucks, it is usually to send a message not throw you to the ground, and the one time I actually did fall off him, it was abundantly clear that he felt bad - he even waited right beside me until I got up. So I decided to compile a couple lists to focus on the hilarity instead of the things that drive me crazy.  You can't always focus on the negative!

Ways my horse is too smart and too curious for his own good:

• he likes to put obstacles in our path to make it extremely difficult for me to get my way (as in, he will veer towards things - stepping blocks, cavelettis, people - because he knows that I will not force him to break a leg or kill someone in order to canter)
• when we do patterns, it takes him about twice through before he has the pattern under wraps (this means that in lessons, when he wants to behave, I can pretty much go through an entire pattern, no matter how complicated, on auto-pilot)
• he has figured out that if he pretends like he is going to canter to the direction I want him to and bends in that direction, he can throw me off guard and switch leads at the last minute to canter in the direction he wants to (this usually results in a mild form of whiplash)
• he has also figured out that if he canters on the wrong lead, he will stump me (if he wasn't cantering, I would just make him canter, but this way, I am forced to stop him and ask again - which means that for a few seconds, he doesn't have to canter)
• he will also canter unbelievably small circles to avoid covering long distances (this way, he is doing what I want by cantering a circle, but he he can stay close to the gate - this also sometimes results in whiplash since I'm not asking for it)
• he knows that if he's getting treats, it's at the end of our ride, and so he's pretty much bouncing in his stall waiting for me to give him something when we're done (even if I don't give him a treat in weeks - he still knows)
• he knows how to take his bucket off the (closed) hook in his stall and throw it around so that the humans will have to refill it
• he is mischievous because he knows where the humans like to put things (he will knock over EVERY SINGLE bucket in his path in case someone left some grain that he could have, and he also likes to look under coats, through my brushes, and in my boots - just in case)
• he is playful and chews and grabs at everything (he once grabbed my barn owner's rider level instruction book and shook it around like a dog; he also likes to throw my brushes and boots around, and anything else that I might remotely need)
• you cannot leave the stall unattended if it is not latched (he will try to escape every time, and although I don't think he would make a break for it; he just enjoys the challenge)

Checking to see if the coast is clear so that he can try to escape his stall

Things that are great about him:

• he is a doll in the crossties (I can walk underneath his head instead of going around, and he always waits patiently for me even if I leave him all alone while I go to the bathroom or tack room)
• he is great about getting his feet done either by the farrier or by me (when I go to pick his feet, he will pick them up for me if I tap on his leg, no matter what order I decide to do his feet and he will even let me rest his leg on my knee if I have to work really hard at getting pebbles out)
• he LOVES other horses and so you can pretty much turn him out with anyone (and they love him too; he is a lady's man)
• he is forgiving (I may not always be gentle or the best rider out there, but he gives me a chance to re-prove myself every time we ride)
• he always takes the bit (we have an agreement: when I take his halter off, he gets to yawn, which he does like clockwork, and then he opens his mouth for the bit)
• he doesn't bite or do anything overly malicious (I don't count ramming me into fences because I once knew a malicious horse, and there's a big difference between a horse trying to show you whose boss and a horse trying to kill you)
• he likes to rest his head on my shoulders when I'm brushing him (he's cute like that)
• he isn't spooky at all; he's more curious than anything else (he doesn't freak out at clippers or dogs or random equipment in the ring)
• and he's cute of course!

I'm surprised that Walker hasn't figured this out yet

Because I was stuck inside for most of the day, I decided to organize some of the mess in my apartment.  I cleaned Walker's bits and changed the bit from his old bridle to his new bridle.  This picture may not look like its very organized, but believe me when I say it's much better than it was!  Now I just need a place for his old bridle, and perhaps hooks to hand my riding jackets/sweaters on...

this is in my bedroom by the way - I think my next apartment will need a storage room...

I forgot to mention that on Halloween night, I watched my favorite Halloween movie: Hocus Pocus.  It's kind of ironic that this is my favorite Halloween movie because Walker's registered name is actually Walking Hocus Pocus.  Now I guess the movie has an extra special meaning!