So I had a terrific ride today, which surprised the crap out of me. I hadn’t ridden since Tuesday, and thinking about it I may actually have longed her instead, so it was probably a week since I’d had her under saddle, being as I was too damned tired from my ridiculous job to ride at any time prior.

At any rate, it’s cold here and snowy, and that usually makes horses a little more energetic than usual, and she’s a thoroughbred, a breed normally known for being varying degrees of high strung. But I am certain that Fi is in fact not nervous or high strung at all, only lazy and accustomed to getting out of work by pretending to be spooky, and that supposition was once again proved today. I took her in the indoor, got on, and she offered to be spooky about the door. I thumped her (i.e. gave her a stern leg aid) and said, “Cut that out! You know you’re not afraid of anything in here!” in the sort of cross voice you use with a six year old who is about to flush your keys down the toilet. This would not work with a horse who was actually scared, but Fi just sighed and ignored the door and went right to work. We did it again when a boarder brought her horse in for a lesson (I’m convinced she only offered to be disobedient because the horse in question is her pasture partner and her boyfriend and she wanted to stop working and go see him) and another thump and a stern word and she was right back to work again.

After the ride, she even stood still when I show sheen’d her tail, although I had been informed by the barn staff that she “flips out” for spray bottles. The first time I used it on her she offered to be spooky, I snapped at her, and she contented herself with walking in slow circles in her stall while I calmly held her tail and followed her and kept spraying until she quit walking and stood still. Three days of that and I guess today she decided the walking was a waste of energy and she may as well stand still because all she was doing was tiring herself out. I have high hopes that within five years, she’s going to be the steadiest horse in the barn.


(How do I know the difference between a horse who is actually scared and one who is merely shamming? Fourteen years doing this professionally, a very sensitive feel for body language, and a gelding who was actually genuinely terrified of a great number of things and couldn’t help his reactions. Fiona doesn’t in any way exhibit any signs of real fear, just a sort of “Maybe she’ll fall for this and I’ll get out of work” attitude :)