I know most of us remember when we were kids and how different our horses seemed then. We all seem to fondly remember our first horse and the special bond we shared with them. Most of us are always trying to recreate that bond.
You know the only thing that has changed over the years is US! Kids with horses are still creating those bonds and they always seem to be closer and more in tune with the horses than we are as adults. Oh, I know, we strive to learn equine body language and pick up on moods and we really, really want our horses to like and hopefully love us.
Why does it seem so easy for kids??
Or at least some kids??
You know the only thing that has changed over the years is US! Kids with horses are still creating those bonds and they always seem to be closer and more in tune with the horses than we are as adults. Oh, I know, we strive to learn equine body language and pick up on moods and we really, really want our horses to like and hopefully love us.
Why does it seem so easy for kids??
Or at least some kids??
Hmmmmm??? Maybe we need to put the pooper-scooper down once in a while and just BE with our horses. Maybe all of the things that people tell us is proper and important AREN'T really that important and this(see the series of pictures above) IS!!
I know that after watching Megan with her horses for a little bit, I put the scooper and the wheelborrow away and just spent the next hour just BEING with my horses.
DAMN THAT FELT GOOD!!!
PS-No treats were involved. Megan was laughing her fool head off because when she scratched their lips-Rip(the blue roan) would wiggle his top lip and Strawberry(the strawberry roan) would wiggle his bottom lip. And the last picture is of Megan backing Strawberry with just her feet. Wasn't she a fashion statement today-sheez!!
26 comments:
I think you've discovered the secret, just spend some time being with them instead of doing with them.
Those really are the best times. And I was gonna say, maybe Rip and Strawberry just like camo :-)
Girl AMEN! I do that all the time, just spend time! I'll go into the pasture and just love and watch them! You are so right, if more people did just spend time with there horses I bet there bonds would improve!
Meagan is just too cute!
Great photos! Megan and her strawberry are too cute! - I think you are right about just spending time with the horses - I've been trying to do that lately since it is too damn cold to do much else.
I also think kids (most of the time) are more relaxed and aren't in a rush to get home for dinner, or ride for so many minutes before their next lesson so that your trainer sees that you are practising, etc. etc.
Great post. Wow, it's been a long time since I've just "hung around" with my horses and you're right - I used to do this kind of stuff all the time. I used to lay flat on my mare's back in the pasture while she grazed and walked away and just "waste away" the good part of an afternoon.
I had to laugh at the one pic, looks like Strawberry is bowing, saying "gimme my treat!" lol.
Too cute, love the fashion, lol. It IS just nice to spend time with the horses :)
And here I thought it was just because kids are small and horses know they can squish them in a second if they want. lol
I was telling my husband the same thing. It's just so dang hard when you have a 1/2 hour drive just to get to the barn and time is so limited. The next few weeks are going to be cold so I told him no riding, only the spa treatment for the girls. Maybe they'll like us then. lol I remember before my mare was ridable and when we first came to our current barn, we were still trying to put weight on our older one we had just gotten from the rescue, so we had no horses to ride. We would just plop law chairs right next to the horses' stalls, open the little feed door thing and we'd just sit and read or socialize with everyone who was out for their horses and pet and scrath their heads while they hung out.
AMEN SISTA!!
Just BE with the horse, spend fun time with them, and y'all will be surprised at the changes there! ;)
Megan looks too cute out there in her new barn duds. She is going to make a statement for sure LOL
Rubs to all the crew there BECG!
I couldn't agree more! And amidst all this crappy weather we have been having, I have been learning the same lesson myself. I don't have to be riding to be enjoying my horses. Simply heading out to the barn and givin' 'em all a good scratch totally makes their day! Or with Sally I can go sit in her paddock or in her stall with a good book and she will nuzzle right up to me the whole time i'm there. (Once she figures out the book wont kill her off course.... she is a thoroughbred after all. And I think Peppy would try to eat it.....)
LOVE Megans boots and pants! ;P Too cute!
Mikey-He was bowing. Megan was scratching his belly and when she stepped away he bowed. He is such a silly little horse, but you just can't help but love him.
It always amazes me about him, because he was such a scared rabbit when we got him. NO personality whatsoever.
Rip on the other hand has always had a personality. Megan encourages it-hehehe. He watches Strawberry bow and he is starting to put his head down and stretch right along with him.
What great moments. Megan really has two great horses there. You two have done a great job with them. And I love that she can just "be" with her horses. It's not too often that we take the time in our busy lives to just be, and enjoy the quiet moments.
I am glad you two got some horsey time, admist all the cleaning up! And I love how much Strawberry loves Megan, and Megan looks great in her outfit!! LOL!
Quick observation. I'm liking her clothes, but not the awesome fashion and color matching. Is that ONLY a sweatshirt she is wearing?? Aren't you guys in South Dakota??? It's like 18 degrees here in Ohio, I thought you all were WAY colder than us. I am, in that sense, TOTALLY jealous of her outfit. lol
Hmmmm...barbed wire, poop piles and kid's on horses with no helmets/halters/saddles etc....???I think that I am going to have to turn you in to Fugly...just kidding!!!! LOL!!!
I love this post, because it is so true. I think that as adults, we are sometimes just too busy to pick up on the little signals that our horses are sending to us. I want to be Megan again!! :0
Excellent post...sure makes us all start thinking...great pics of Megan too.
Kids expect so much less...they're just having fun. Yes, we adults work so hard at having everything "just right" that the fun part goes to the wayside.
Well, there's another one for the 2009 resolutions...remember to have fun with my horses...and burros!
Hey! I just spent the last 3 days reading your whole blog in between house work, appointments and riding my horse! It seemed to take forever but I really enjoyed it!
I love just hanging out with my horse. He can be really lovey when your just letting him be and not asking him to work (the lazy sod)
Keep up the awesome work.
You know I can't ride worth a damn and because of that I was always put to work with the horses. Getting them in from the pasture, on occasion feeding them, lots of grooming them. I loved it and they loved me. One of them would not come back in from pasture for the owners at all, just would not do it. I was the only one who could get him to come close and let himself be haltered. I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I was the only one who spent time with them but did not work them. I miss that, they are fun!
You are right - we get so wrapped up in our lives - in ourselves that it tends to be just out of our reach.
I think we can ALL learn a bit from her. Great pictures.
Grown ups have "goals."
For kids, just being with the horse is the goal.
Lot of wisdom in that. We get slightly dumber as grown ups about some things.
Here's to more child like wonder in 2009...
Awesome photos! That's the best time I have with my two girls, sometimes I just sit on the ground around them and they just mill about or wrap arms around them and scratch favorite itchy places. Great bonding! Love it!
Amen! I love this blog. I still goof around with my horse. It's really funny when I do it at breed show. All the snobs look at me like I have lost my mind. I guess I am lucky enough to have never grown up. When I ride with my mom I still go "Mom look. Mom are you looking? Your not looking! Look!"
I agree the bond that kids get with thier horse is wonderful to watch. Go on over to my blog and see my Meghan, and the incredible connection she got with Easy.
What a great post! Yep, I totally agree! I wish I could get up on my horse like Megan did! I always have to use the fence... :)
Heart-Strawberry bows for Megan so she can get on. She taught him. I keep asking her to teach my horse...guess I will have to use my fun time to teach him myself-LOL.
Cute post, great message! Megan and Strawberry remind me of being a kid with my ponies. It seemed so much simpler when you were younger. We spent all day hanging out and lying around on our ponies! I would never do that on My Boy now~ at least not loose in the pasture, without a bridle on, LOL! My spotted pill might just wonder what in the world I was doing and take off with me! ;)
Boy, are you right on here!
Looks like Megan is having a great time. I haven't seen a kid lay on a horse like that since I was a kid. It wasn't me, I was always too long to fit on the back of a horse like that.
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