Memoirs: A Horse Girl Wants a Dog

I used to beg for a dog when I was little.  Of course, I really wanted a horse, but I knew that a horse was not something that could just "happen" overnight.  Dogs seemed like a good second choice.  Dogs were happy.  Dogs were playful and could learn tricks.  Dogs liked to go for walks.  The only problem was that I was a little girl and I lived with my parents.  My parents are not really dog people, so they did what any resourceful parent would do when faced with the demands of a dog-wanting daughter.

They got me a gerbil.

My gerbil was black and was named after a toy poodle, which I met while on family vacation.  I was easily swayed by the dark eyes and long tail.  I loved my gerbil, even if he did keep me up at night, scratching in his plastic sky-house.  My parents tell me that I used to yell at him to be quiet in the middle of the night.  He was good at ignoring me and kept right on scratching.  I built obstacle courses for my gerbil to explore out of blocks and tissue boxes.  I wanted him to have an enriching gerbil-life.  Although comical, cute pets, gerbils are not long-lived, so began a long line of gerbil companions whose names all began with "P".  The only trouble was that gerbils are so tiny, that I felt like I had to touch my pet so gently that I could just barely scratch my gerbil behind his ear and feed him sunflower seeds by hand.  Oh, and gerbils do not go on walks.  I still wanted a dog.

Eventually, having a gerbil and the occasional goldfish won from the state fair was not enough.  I started to lament for a dog again.  My mom bought brightly-colored neon fish to swim around with the goldfish.  The "Neats", as we called them, were beautiful with their shimmering blue stripes, but, alas, they did not have fur and could not snuggle.  I begged for a dog.  I wanted a pet to teach tricks and take for walks and snuggle with in front of the TV.  So, naturally, my parents broke down and I came home with a large gray and white kitten.  This was their last resort.  This kitten grew up to be the most "dog-like" cat I could have imagined.  He would go for walks in the woods, ride on the sled in the snow, and even let me give him baths, although he did not wear a happy face for that one.  I loved him dearly and he was joined by a second cat several years later.  Both had lots of warm, soft, wonderful fur that rumbled as they purred.  My cats loved to nap with me while I watched television.  My big gray and white cat could catch pieces of ham in his mouth like a terrier.  They were not dogs, but they were just about perfect.

Except there was one small technicality.  My cats' fur made me sneeze.  A parent of a friend mentioned something about giving up her cats, because her husband was allergic.  People do that?  I asserted to my parents that under no circumstances were my cats to be given away.  Sneezing wasn't that bad (I sneezed A LOT!) in my mind and I was willing to live with allergies if it meant having my furry, purring pets.  Thankfully, my parents never challenged the idea.  My dog substitutes grew into much more.  I became a devoted cat owner for fifteen years.  What this really means is that I was owned by two cats for fifteen years.  Cats are like that.

After marrying my human love, I moved out and moved in with my husband, whose family always had birds.  Naturally, we bought a bird.  I learned to read the many feather expressions of our little white parakeet.  She was such a darling, little creature and so incredibly smart.  I was delighted the first time that she flew to me and sat on my shoulder as I walked around the living room.  I was surprised how interactive parakeets, and later a cockatiel, could be as pets.  They are tiny pets with big personalities.  We have four birds at the moment and they never let you forget that they are there! 

The only problem with my avian companions is that I cannot really pet them.  I can sort of pet the cockatiel, but only if he feels like having his neck scratched.  The parakeets are only observed from a distance, even though we have been able to train most of them to perch on our fingers.  They object to any petting, which is a shame because their feathers look so soft and silky.  I want to touch them!  Luckily, I have a solution, and he has lots and lots of soft, warm fur...

Riding this pet is not frowned upon.

Harley is not just my trail horse, my dressage partner, and my beautiful animal.  He is my "pet".  I may have never gotten that dog, but now I have something much better.  I can run my hands down Harley's long neck all I want.  He has soft, fluffy fur around his tummy and chest from his winter coat.  The texture could put a lamb to shame.  Velvet fur covers his muzzle.  Even his mane and tail are soft and silky once I have detangled them.  He is somewhat secretive about his favorite itchy spots, but I know where to find them.  Brush his forehead rigorously with a hard brush and he will lay into the brush.  Use a gentler stroke along the facial bones under his eyes and he will happily tilt his head so that you can get just the right spot.  If he slobbered from the bit, he also appreciates a good brushing under his chin and jowls.  Harley loves baths in the summer.  He stands nicely for running braids and will do just about anything for carrots.  I can hug his big face and whisper into his ear.  His liquidy brown eyes look right into me.  Harley takes his second job seriously.  He is a good pet.

One of my favorite children's books is The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble.  The Native American themed book refers to horses as "Sacred Dogs".  I may never officially join the ranks of dog ownership, since my allergy to cats extends to dogs, but I seem to have acquired my dog after all.  I will take my Sacred Dog over the real thing.  Besides, I am certain that a horse was what I was hoping for from the beginning.

My Sacred Dog

Dancing With My Horse's Backside

Think two-step meets a shopping cart.

I am describing my attempts to get Harley to roll his backend under as demonstrated in the very nice video posted at It's Quarters for Me.  Horse yoga.  I read this interesting post and watched the very clear how-to video and thought "I could probably stand to do some stretch work with Harley".  Every time I see my teacher, she immediately starts working his shoulders and neck.  My friend at the barn does all kinds of stretches with her horse.  Even the barn owner does the occasional carrot stretch with his trail horse.  I think that I have fallen behind the ball.

I am going to start with what Harley is good at.  He is really good at the belly lifts.  He can lift his back so high that it looks kinda unnatural.  I think this is a benefit of being rather rectangular in shape.  He has a long back and loin and they have an impressive range of motion.  Of course this does not mean that he stands with his back up all the time.  He doesn't.  He lifts it under saddle, but I should take the time to breathe with him and do a few sets on each side.  Nice and easy with a long exhale, like I am doing yoga, too.

You know what?  It was fun.

Harley is also good at carrot stretches.  I wouldn't say that he can go all the way to the stifle, as that would take some dedicated practice, but he can wrap his long body around like a bow.  A friend once nicknamed him "Gumby Horse", because he reached for the carrot she rested near his hip on the first try.  This makes it really easy for him to bend under saddle.  Too easy.  I spend more time reminding him to be straight then actively bending him.  Another benefit and challenge of being long-bodied.

The front leg stretches are an excellent addition to our new routine.  After a couple sessions, he has figured out how to extend his front leg without stepping down onto the stretched leg.  He seems to have already gained some range of motion and is finding it easier to straighten his knee.  Harley absolutely LOVES this exercise.  He lifts his foot up for me and nearly does the exercise by himself.  I just support at the pastern and lower his leg forward.  He actively licks and chews and sometimes nuzzles my back.  We are so keeping that one in our box of tricks!

The tail pull got a mixed review.  I thought that he was pulling against the resistance that I was providing, until he rested a hind leg, sighed, and looked back at me like, "Are you going to hang down there all day or can we get saddled up already?"  Do I not weigh enough to create meaningful traction?  Harley seemed pretty "blah" about that one, but I will give it a couple more tries.

Then came the dance (Well, actually I tried to do the exercises in the same order as the video, but this was the funny one.)  I found the spot described in the video on either side of his tail.  My hands were resting on his hindquarters about seven inches or so below the top of his tail.  I tried gently pressing his muscles and watched his hips to see if he started to tuck his butt.  FAIL.

Harley felt the pressure on his backside and immediately tried to interpret what I wanted.  He sauntered to the left.  He sauntered to the right.  He tried stepping forward.  He tried stepping back, but did not want to step on me and then would side-step again.  I tried to stay behind him (Normally, I would say, "Do not stand behind a horse!") as he side-steped which caused him to step forward or side-step the other way.  I followed, trying to apply pressure on either side of his tail and trying to watch his hips.  Unfortunately, I am too short to see over his croup, so I could not really tell if he was doing anything other than shifting around.  A couple times, I think that he might have started to tuck his pelvis, but I really could not see clearly.  At some point I realized that what I was doing probably looked dangerous or completely ridiculous or both.  I decided to call it quits and try another day.  Our waltz was created by what I thought was gentle pressure.  It seemed like Harley moved as soon as I applied any pressure at all.  If I applied no pressure, he did nothing.  If I applied stronger pressure, he just danced more.

I think that this yoga stretch could be very beneficial for him.  The practitioner in the video suggested that if your horse cannot do a stretch, then that is probably the one that he needs to do.  Okay.  I will try again, but how do I explain this one to Harley?

The 150th Post

One hundred fifty posts.
Memoirs of a Horse Girl will be one year old next month.

When I began writing this blog, I was not sure if I would have the staying power necessary for blogging.  I made a modest attempt at blogging every day and then realized that I just didn't have the time.  Since horses are never far from my mind, I am sure that I could come up with something to write about each day, but I do not feel that I would regularly have time for the editing and proofreading, as well as reading other blogs, which I really enjoy!  I also seem nearly completely unable to write short entries.  Once I get going on the keyboard, I like to just keep going!  So short, daily posts do not work for me, but I am accepting of that fact.

Every writer, musician, and artist needs a muse.

During this past year, I have found my blogging rhythm.  I write about every other day.  If I have something burning that I am really interested to share, then I blog more often.  If my schedule with work, family, and other stuff (house, appointments, etc.) requires more time during a particular week, then I might blog a little less.  If you knew my school's marking period schedule, you would find that there is an indirect relationship between the number of blog posts published and the deadlines for interim and quarterly report cards.  I spend many hours at home lesson planning, designing assignments, grading those assignments, and updating my electronic gradebook.  That sort of paperwork interferes with blogging, because they fill the same void: sit and read and write and then do it some more.  Of course, my job has to take priority, because I am paid for that one and I love teaching.  I love my job.  What I do not love are the many hours that I must spend at home grading.  Hours and hours.  Non-teachers or people who do not live with teachers will often have no sympathy for this.  Teachers get summers off.  Teachers get winter and spring vacation.  Teachers get every holiday in the book.  I know.  I get it.  I sincerely wish everyone had lengthy time intervals like my summer vacation to recharge their batteries.  I wish that for my husband who only gets two weeks vacation outside of federal holidays.  But what non-teachers or people who do not live with teachers may not understand is that doing paperwork for hours after school and hours on the weekend (including those holidays) really starts to burn the candle at both ends.  It is impossible to leave your job at work if you must carry a fifteen pound messenger bag home with three hundred tests, quizzes and lab reports to grade.  The time I am given to grade at school is completely inadequate.  I use that time for lesson assembly, lesson clean-up, staff communication, parent communication, making copies, and running to the bathroom (If you are a teacher or work on a strict time schedule, you will really appreciate that last one).  There just is not time for the multitude of paperwork which accumulates on any given school day during school hours.  Often, there is not time after school hours either, but I digress.  My students work hard.  I work hard.  These are good things, it is just that sometimes they interfere with my regular blog posts, and that has been enlightening...

What I have noticed is that if I write a post and let it sit for a few days, more readers tend to get to my written entry.  Sometimes I check the "stats" and see that people, like me, are busy and need a few days to read what I have written.  If I allow some time between posts, I tend to get more feedback in the form of comments, which I love and really make my day!  This also relieves any sense of urgency, which I might get from blogging and, to be honest, I do not need one more deadline.  I want blogging to remain fun and a stress release, because that is what I really need.  I can take my time editing and proofreading, so that my writing is (hopefully) grammatically correct and free from typos (if I can help it).  I want to set a good example, should my students or their parents become readers.  I want to exemplify that writing is fun and something worth doing, even when time is short and the days are long.  I am a science teacher, so my objectives are not to teach writing mechanics or compositions, although you better believe that scientific writing and lab reports are on the table!  Bring the supporting details and data to explain your conclusions, leave those pronouns at the door, and, by all means, use science vocabulary!  Writing has got to be one of the most difficult skills to teach, because so much of it is not mechanics.  Writing has a lot to do with feel and timing.  Rhythm.  Not unlike riding.  So I am trying to teach by example.  I am still working, even when I am writing for pleasure.  I found something about which I love to write.  I hope that you continue to read my work, contribute your thoughts, and keep your own blogs going amidst your busy lives, because I know we all have them, whether grading papers is a part of them, or not.