1 post from 2009

Sure don't post very often but now that I have a shiny new laptop, I don't have to get in line for desktop computer time :D.  Maybe I'll post more often. On to today's topic.

Last Saturday I took Riley, my 16.3 Tennesee Walker gelding to the vet for annual vaccinations and to have blood pulled for a Coggins test.  It was a windy day, suddenly very chilly and spitting rain.  Usually my horse takes all of this in stride and behaves pretty well.  I had unloaded him on the outer drive at the vets' office where I normally do, right along side the paddocks.  I was aware that there were draft horses in them, but that is as far as my perception went.  Riley was very nervous and I was focusing on him to the exclusion of everything else.  I foolishly assumed that the weather was the cause of his antsy dancing and souped up nerves and believe me 1200 pounds of bone and muscle and get pretty souped up. About the time the vet came out to see us and suggest that we move inside the clinic, Riley jumped in my direction and landed squarely on my left foot with the edge of his hoof grinding into the nail bed of my big toe - Ow, really major ow.  I got him to move off of me and then out of the corner of my eye I noticed the big Percheron stallion staring at Riley.  AHHH  DAWN CAME TO MARBLEHEAD!   By not paying attention to what Riley was paying attention to, I didn't keep him safe.  He was, in his mind, trapped, 30' away from a threat is not safe and he was being held in line of sight of a dominant stallion that was sending out serious threat messages.  Once we moved inside out of sight of the stallion, Riley calmed right down and stood for the examination, shots and blood draws as docilely as a sleepy puppy.  When we went back outside, I asked DH to move the horse trailer to the other side of the facility way out of sight the stud.  Neither horse had made a sound.  It was all body language.  Horses survive on reading body language, sensing intention.   He knew he had to stay where I had him, but he also knew that if the stud came over the fence, he was dead.  He couldn't get away, so he moved as far as he could and right into and onto me.  Fortunately, my foot is fine and loading and the trip home were uneventful.

My point is that we must not focus so totally on what is right in front of us with no sense of what is going on around us.  As a veteran horsewoman, I should have been aware of everything in the vicinity just as Riley was aware.  In his estimation, I had him in danger, not an action worthy of his trusting me.  The few times I have been injured by horses, it has always been for this reason.  In the classroom, things have gone bad when I focus too intently on the lesson, or the student acting up, or the point I am trying to make, unaware of what is going on at the back of the room or under cover.

Keep a part of yourself always aware of your surroundings.   It just makes sense to keep aware and responsive.  My horses and my students are constantly teaching me :)