Small horses can be big pains

awall9891 — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:55:00 GMT

One of the ladies I work with has a few horses and she said she had one in particular that needed riding. I told her that I would be happy to help, being that I haven't been on a horse in about six months and miss riding dearly. She said the horse didn't buck or anything, she just hadn't been rode in a while. I'm used to dealing with problem horses, because that's what kind of horse I was working with before I left New Bern, N.C. back in August. Plus it was just a little halflinger about 14 hands high. How much trouble could she be? Well the first time I tried to saddle her up I knew I was in for my money, because while she was is the cross-ties, something spooked her, (I still don't know what) and she reared a little bit. I got her calmed down and saddled and bridled and took her to the round pen to begin working with her. I went to get in the saddle and apparently the girth was to long because the saddle slid 90 degrees to the side of the horse. I decided to just remove the saddle and ride her bareback because I was running short on time. The first time I tried to get on her I could tell she was really skiddish, so I eased onto her back, got about half-way on and she took off, this time I landed on my feet. The second time I tried I went a little slower but the same thing happened. This time I ended up on my butt. The third time's the charm. I went even slower this time, using steps I eased one leg over, calming and reassuring her the whole time. I stood with one for on the step the other leg halfway over the horse for about 1 minute, I had a small audience and I'm sure I looked pretty goofy, but she was slowly getting used to somebody on her back again. I was finally able to ease my way onto her back without her taking off. I got her to stand still for a few minutes before getting her to walk. The whole time I could feel her muscles tensing up and she was acting very skiddish (still nothing apparent to be scared of). I walked her for about fifteen minutes before I had to leave. I returned the next day, and this time I switched out girths, and used a different saddle and managed to get everything fitting right. I worked with her in the roundpen for about thirty minutes walking and changing directions. After a good walking warm-up, I trotted her a few minutes. Then walked a few more minutes and then took around a few more minuted at a jog. By this time she was pretty wore out, so I took her around at a walk to cool her down. During the entire thirty minutes working with her, her muscles never relaxed. It was like she was spooking at something that wasn't there. I could get her to do what I wanted, but she did it with a timid and scared attitude. After a few minutes of walking around the roundpen, I decidied I would take her down a familiar trail as a sort of reward for doing good for me in the roundpen. I walked her to the head of the trail and attempted to get on her back. I got about half-way up with my right leg just swinging over her back, and she spooked, again at nothing I could figure out. My foot got caught in the stirrup and she pulled my left leg just right to pull my groin muscle (ow!) and when I came down I busted my right knee. After I finally caught her (she had gone back up to the barn) I walked her to the back of the barn where she was a little more cofortable and mounted her there. I managed to walk her down the path and back without many problems, but she kept wanting to take off running, and she was acting very skiddish, I still couldn't figure out why. I'm still working with this horse and am going to try to see if I can't desensitize her. This just goes to show you that you should never underestimate any horse or their abilities, (especially their ability to hurt you.) This is very important to rember when introducing children and new to people to horseback riding or horses in general. Even miniatures can be very painful when the step on your foot. If anyone has any advice or any similar stories write me back.