Sharing Space
Over the weekend I finally found the opportunity to attempt something I have wanted to do almost since the day I started riding. Hawkeye moved Saturday morning, and I spent the day padoodling about straightening my tack trunk, marking his brushes… fixing his blankets… I did not really work with him, I hung out where he could see me – and take whatever comfort he needed in someone familiar in an unfamiliar environment. He took the entire move in stride, and never even seemed to look back. Whether or not that has anything at all to do with the time I spent there or not – who knows. It made me feel good to do it.
Sunday when I got there, they had turned him out into his own paddock. He could see other horses, but since he is in quarantine for a few days, he does not get to be in breathing proximity to the herd. The weather was fantastic, the best we have seen in quite a while so I took my little three legged stool, a book, and a bag of treats out to the paddock to just hang out in Hawkeye’s new environment.
I had somewhat assumed that I would get ignored. There was grass to graze and a loopy 4 year old in the next paddock to run the fence line with. Well, the grass was not as interesting as my book, apparently, as evidenced by the grass spludge all over the few pages he allowed me to read.
It is an interesting principle, this sharing space. Done right it means you have to be able to sit still. To sit still you have to calm your mind and let go of whatever might be causing your stress. This is not just good for your relationship with your horse, it is good for you. I watched the horse in the next paddock get wound up over every little thing*. OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE.THE.WIND?!?!… THERE ARE OTHER HORSES GOING INTO THE INDOOR RING!! HOLY CRAP CARS ARE SCARY! (*to be fair, his paddock mate was off working and he was grumpy to be left with only Hawkeye and I for company…) While Hawkeye calmly pulled at the barely-there-grass, or pushed the Kong toy I filled with carrots around with his nose to get the little orange treats that tumbled out of it. My book fluttered in the breeze. I spoke to people over the fence and he was nothing but quietly curious about any of it. Not only am I teaching him that I am not always demanding he perform, but he is teaching me what does and does not spook him from the ground. This sense of quiet, and trust, will inevitable translate into my work in the saddle. As I spend time with Hawkeye, and watch him be calm and unflappable, I am learning to trust him too. That not every clump of grass or gust of wind has the potential for me to eat dirt. The less I look for monsters, the less he will see them, too.
My biggest battle when I leased horses was trying not to get too attached, or bonded, to an animal that I did not own. Buying Hawkeye is going to open up an entirely new world for me.
I spent Sunday sitting in the sunshine, finding my inner peace, and bonding with my new friend over it.
