From the Dome—The Backyard Horse

 Introduction

Horses are dumb. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. My Shay is a smart young Arabian horse. She learns quickly and follows my every command . . .

until her instincts get in the way.

Yes, she’s caused me damage directly related to her natural penchant to run from danger. I’m reminded of the time she jumped back and broke me in three places. It happened when I threw the saddle on her back and started to mount. All I remember after that, from my vantage point sprawled in the dirt, was spotting her in the northeast corner of my property shaking like a leaf, the saddle halfway under her belly. You get the picture. When a thousand pound animal bunches its body to jump away from you in terror, it slams into your body first. I got it in the elbow, the wrist, and (of all things) the finger.

That wasn’t the first time Shay had given me body aches and it wouldn’t be the last. On this occasion, I learned that horses suck in air as you cinch up the saddle. Of course I knew this, but I had an ill fitting saddle that wobbled on Shay’s shoulders and in spite of having tightened the girth, it wasn’t enough to hold a heavyweight like me. (Darn, I’ve become that fat old lady on a horse). On a similar occasion I got the wind knocked out of me when the saddle strap on the off side of the horse broke free.

Such accidents are preventable. Had I pre-checked the equipment, rechecked the girth, and invested in a properly fitted saddle, I wouldn’t have had to whine to my doctor about deteriorating health. Truly, I was the dumb one. I knew how to control the animal from the saddle, but didn’t know why horses do some of the blasted things that cause pain. Though I was a new horse owner, I understood very little about the nature of the beast. And how could I? Riding stables commonly use even minded, older animals to school new riders. Used daily in training, these horses are unlikely to do the silly, dangerous things Shay has done.

Shay is a backyard horse. Like most home grown equines, she’d spent too many years in someone’s backyard stall doing nothing.  Occasional turn out, minimal handling and a little hay were her only life. For horses this spells disaster. Unlike the professional variety of horse that is carefully bred, well kept and constantly put to work, the backyard animal tends to be a mix of poor breeding, poor feeding, and bad manners. I’ve walked my neighborhood and have found backyard horse owners who say, “I can’t ride my animal. He’s impossibly wild” or “My horse’s feet have gone bad. I can’t take her out.” No wonder I think, shaking my head, one horse is dying to run free so it can work off pent up energy; and the other animal is grossly overweight and under shod.

Sad to say, many backyard horse keepers have become afraid of their animals because they treat them as pets. Lacking the tools needed to deal with these wonderful beasts of burden, they spoil a weighty animal prone to be unpredictable. Often, unscrupulous horse traders have dumped half-trained, sick, or problem animals on naive people who are ready to buy the first horse they fall in love with (usually the first one presented to them.) Yet, these horses can, given proper care and training, become winners in the show ring. That’s what I wanted for Shay. Here’s how I got there.