Taking your OWN advice seriously...

Ever since I've had my two horses, Bo and Spirit, I have emphasized the importance of "safety first" when around them, to my family members, who are in contact with them daily. This means my husband, and #2 son, who is still currently living at home.

I've had my geldings for five years. I worked at a riding facility, as an assistant, for almost three years, helping kids learn to ride safely. You'd think I'd be the one to heed my own warnings.

Sometimes, I guess, we think we're not in the same category as our non-horsey family members. We get a little careless.

The other evening I didn't listen to the little voice in my head. Not so much words as a feeling. Isn't that what the little voice is?

I decided to let my two guys out into the front field. It was evening, and time to let them go out to that field for about an hour. It's actually not a big field, but to them, I think it means a different view with a few more sprouts of grass than what the boring back field provides

Spirit, always the eager one, always trying to please, was right at my heels, but politely a few feet behind me. I thought it a little odd he was walking alone. I looked back and saw Bo still standing by the water tank watching us. He thought he was going to go out the gate by the water tank, which is the way to the fresh growing grass near the front of our house. My husband and I do put them out there off and on, but not every evening. Bo was biding his time, evidently thinking Spirit and I were going the wrong way. He had other plans. Bo is always right. Never wrong. One of those types!

So, it apparently dawns on Bo that Spirit and I are continuing to walk toward the front field gate instead of walking back toward him, so he hurries to catch up.

Now, I am not afraid of being between two horses. My guys have always been polite. I usually walk between them, their heads at my shoulders, on our way to the front field gate in the mornings. No lead ropes, no halters, just quietly walking with me. They quietly stand at the gate as I open it. I tell them to wait, they do. Then they quietly walk out into the field.

This time, I didn't take into consideration, didn't even think about it, well, should have listened to my inner voice, that it wasn't a good idea. The feeling was there. I should have made sure Bo was on the right, just like in the mornings. It may seem silly, but he gets a little edgy if he doesn't get his way. Bo is a bossy one though he doesn't get away with the attitude with me, he does with Spirit. I spend alot of time calling him off his reprimands, as in nips, of the little guy when they are in the corral and stall area. Bo stops when I yell at him to "Quit". Spirit usually just tries to avoid him anyway. Bo is a jealous type. I've heard it said horses don't get jealous, well, I think they do and he proves it to me often.

I really am not clear about the series of events. I've tried to piece it together but it was one of those two second episodes that when it's over you're left thinking "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?". I'm usually more polite in my language, but that's exactly how I felt.

Somehow, Spirit got between me and the gate, I think he was trying to get away from Bo, who was walking up behind. Then, somehow Bo got in front of me and Spirit, turned his big butt and tried to kick Spirit. Bo's hoof clipped my left hip. Man, did that HURT!!!! I've been kicked in the arm before, by a small horse at the stable I used to work at, but I must say, this was really painful. It was a fuller kick by a much bigger animal.

I had a grooming brush in my hand because I'd been grooming them both in the stall area, and hadn't laid it down. I instantly threw the grooming brush at Bo's big butt. Yes, he has a big butt! He ran away, Spirit following. Of course, I had yelled a few words I honestly don't usually use so the outburst must have made my anger clear to both of them. Probably my body language too. I was hurting and I was mad.

Well, the pain in my hip concerned me that something may have been cracked, like my hip bone. Good thing I have lots of hip padding! I think it would have been much worse if I were a smaller person. I do have middle age, extra padding that's sometimes good for something!

No one was home at the time. Just me. I kept walking around. Tears filling my eyes. I was afraid to sit down. Afraid I wouldn't be able to get back up. My left leg was feeling weak, like it might give out. I was a little frightened. I calmed myself down. Told myself to just keep walking around a little while. As long as I could walk, I told myself, I really wasn't hurt that badly. Finally, after about thirty minutes, I decided I'd better go in the house, get some water, take a couple of ibuprofen and just sit down.

I survived. I have a very large, ugly red and blue bruise on my left hip today. I'm sure it'll be an uglier black and blue in a couple of days. The area is sore. I can feel it when I walk, a little painful. I realize, it could have been worse.

I have reprimanded myself for being so careless. It had been such a simple task, but that's usually when we are caught off guard in the first place. I usually watch for the signs. That evening, I don't know where my mind was, but I wasn't being careful. I knew it as soon as the events unfolded, or rather after the fact. I've always tried to keep safety first. It's more than important, it's essential.

So, for anyone who has encountered a lapse of being in the present when dealing with their horses, I'd like to know how you handled it. What was your lapse of "safety first"? How did it manifest itself? What did you learn from the episode?

I always thought I didn't take things like safety for granted, but all of us can sometimes get careless, especially when it concerns ourselves. Maybe we're being reminded when we are getting too careless. Unfortunately, sometimes the results are much worse. Be safe, not sorry.

Detective Work

I'm a straight forward kind of person. I want the facts, straight up. I want to be able to know what's going on, not have to figure things out. Maybe that's called lazy, but at any rate, when you have animals, and especially horses, you'd better be ready to be a detective when it comes to illness or injury.

A week ago, Monday, things were rolling along as they usually do. Fed the horses in the morning. I always eyeball them making sure no one got into anything during the night. Both looked fine. Spirit seemed like himself. I remember a couple of hours later I glanced out the back door, noticed the horses out on the hill near some trees. Everything OK, again.

Around 12:30pm I went out to open the gate to the front field. Both horses were standing in the stall area. Bo standing near the water tank. Spirit partially in the stall with shavings blanketing the left side of this body and mane. I took that in as being a little odd, but then dismissed the thought. Walked straight for the front field gate and both followed though they were hanging back more than usual. Most days, Bo is right up front ready to go through first.

Still not noticing anything amiss, I opened the gate and Bo walked quietly out to the field. Spirit stood right where he was and it was then I noticed he was shaking. His whole body trembling!

Now, I must admit, I sort of went into panic mode. I'd dealt with various injuries and illnesses with the horses in my care at the ranch, from colic, to a slashed leg artery, to hoof abscesses among a few. But, when my own horse was standing there shaking and trembling I became weak in the knees!

Thoughts running through my head "What if he collapses right here? Where will we bury him? Crap! What's my next move? Crap!"

The poor guy tried to walk out into the field to eat some grass. I quickly ran back to building to get his halter and lead rope. I knew I needed to get him back to the stall, at least to see if his vitals were irregular. Then there was the mud he'd have to wade through. My mind simply said CRAP! Although I'm pretty sure I used the other form of the word. "What if he collapsed in the mud? Oh gosh that would be awful." Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I waded in mud up over my boots, and sloshing mud water on my clothes, I gently coaxed him back to the stall. In the mean time I had to close Bo out in the field because if he came in, well, he tends to bully Spirit out of what he deems, his corner.

I get Spirit into the stall. I break out the first aid kit where the thermometer is stored. I check his gums. Capillary refill seems OK. Doesn't look like shock yet. I take his temp. It was up to 102. I try to check his pulse, unfortunately, I am very lacking in that talent and curse myself for not being able to find that darn artery under his jaw. Check respirations, fairly normal, not rapid and not slow. He does not seem in distress except for the shaking. I'm thinking about which vet would be easiest to contact, but, I don't want to jump to that conclusion too quickly.

My next move was to get an old blanket to throw over him for a little while in case it may be some kind of toxic shock. I feel all over his body, his legs, shoulders, ribs, don't see anything out of the ordinary. He's still shaking.

At this point I'm frustrated. I go into the house to find my two horse vet books. I still can find nothing that really fits. Maybe it's wait and see. I spent the afternoon in the stall with Spirit. There was definitely something going on with him. He wouldn't miss an afternoon out in the grass. I gave him some hay. He started nibbling. His manure looked fine and he wasn't dehydrated.

Eventually the shaking subsided. He walked around the stall. He ate some more hay, slowly. He drank the water I offered in a bucket. The only thing that really started standing out was when I ran my hand down his right front leg, he would lift it up. Now, That's not something Spirit does. I mean, he'll give you his foot if you ask, but to just lift it like a dog would lift it's paw, that was odd.

At that point I started pressing on his shoulder and ribs while watching his face. I noticed a bit of a wince on his part and he looked back at me. It was right then and there I decided that Bo had probably kicked Spirit. I found no outward evidence. No hoof prints on the skin. I'd seen that happen with the ranch horses plenty of times. Usually the mares, Kleo or Lena, hauling off and kicking one of the others leaving a dusty hoof imprints.

From this evidence, I deducted that the reason Spirit had shavings all over him was because he had either been down in the stall, lying or rolling, or whatever, and Bo decided he wasn't happy with that, because Spirit was in "his" space. In response, Bo kicked the crap out of Spirit. That's the only thing I can really come up with. Through the rest of the day and evening, Spirit walked gingerly on that leg, dragging it a little as he walked. I'm pretty sure it was a shoulder or rib kick. Bo usually does the double legged kind of kick. Spirit, on the other hand, is more of a cow kicker type.

The next day, Spirit was not dragging that foot. I still had in my mind any type of toxic problems from EPM to Lyme disease, but he didn't fit any of those symptoms. Over the next few days Spirit was back to his almost usual self. The only other evidence of an altercation that I have witnessed is the fact that Spirit appears a little more wary of Bo. I don't like that, but in the horse world, they have their own rules. I don't stand for any kind of aggravating when I'm around, but when I'm not there, well, there isn't much I can do about their disagreements. Most of the time, Bo and Spirit get along fine. I'll never know what sparked the incident, and I'm not even sure if I'm right about it. I'm only going on clues, evidence and gut feelings.

I never did like playing Clue!

Two Book Reviews

Riding With Confidence!
Practical and inspirational advice to help you deal with your fear and enjoy your riding

I originally thought this book was more concerned about breaking through particular fear issues, which it does, but different fear issues than I've actually had. However, the information and format make it an interesting read, nonetheless.

A variety of female contributors from the horse world:
Christina Barlow-instructor and riding school proprietor from South Africa.
Julie Goodnight-instructor and natural horsemanship trainer from the U.S.
Abigail Hogg-author and equine trainer from the UK
Liz Morrison-ICF accredited NLP coach and Level 2 international instructor from the UK
Sharon Shinwell-professional hypnotherapist and counsellor from the UK.

My favorite chapter was chapter 1, Managing Your Fear by Julie Goodnight. Always clear and practical in her teaching she walks the reader through identifying fear, understanding fear, a plan for recovery, making your plan, polish your horsemanship and safety skills, and improve your riding skills. She describes the basis of many fears and how to learn to start dealing with them when they are interfering with your relationship with your horse or simply running your life. The whole fear concept can cover many aspects of life, not just riding or horses. Personally, I have never been afraid of horses themselves but as with anyone who has horses in their lives, there have been times when my own confidence issues with my riding ability have gotten in the way of enjoying my partnership with my horses.

For me, the other chapters weren't quite as interesting, though I did glean some helpful advice in my areas of interest. I think this book is a great read for older women who may be a little intimidated by riding again, or maybe have developed a fear, or lack of confidence in horse skills or riding skills. Very easy to read because it's divided into chunks you can spend as little or as much time as you choose at one sitting.

Chapter topics:
Understanding the Horse-Abigail Hogg
Teaching the Nervous Rider-Christina Barlow
Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis-Sharon Shinwell
The NLP Approach to Confident Riding-Liz Morrison

The forward had some helpful information also as Kelly Marks provides top ten tips for handling fear.


What Your Horse Wants You to Know
What Horses' "Bad" behavior means, and How to Correct It
Gincy Self Bucklin


I'm not sure what I expected from this book, some different insights I suppose. For me, most of the information became "ho hum" and I ended up skimming to the sections I thought might give me some different aspects of common misbehaviors.

Now, not to say this isn't a good book! It's definitely a great insight for people who may never have been around horses at all and have not experienced horse behavior or what their meanings may be. Definitely some great information and insight on horse behavior. If I'd found this book back in '04 (Copyright 2003) I'm sure I would have gobbled it up. It's an excellent source for anyone just getting into horses or who may have questions about some horse behaviors they've been dealing with on their own.

Simple short chapters on topics from Bathing to Tying: won't tie, in alphabetical order. The introduction was an excellent start: What You Need To Know To Help Your Horse. If every new horse owner, who has none to very little understanding or experience around horses, would read this, they'd be giving themselves a gift of knowledge and understanding, as well as their horse.

I appreciated many aspects of this book and believe it is one of the better guides on horse behavior. The importance of learning how to communicate with your horse in the right way and what he's trying to communicate to you can never be underestimated for the loving partnership most people want with their horses. There's an abundance of information in this book from a woman who has tons of experience and years of devotion to horses.

Gincy Self Bucklin has 60+ years of riding and training experience, 50+ years of teaching experience, and 30+ years of managing stables large and small. She is certified as an Expert Instructor by the American Riding Instructor's Association. She is the daughter of of well-known horsewoman and equestrian author Margaret Cabell Self. (excerpt from back cover)


Both of these books are excellent additions to your horse training library though you'll find, as I did, and depending on your own knowledge, you can breeze through some sections while taking in others.