Yes, even famous EN writers take shameless horse smooching selfies
To piddle: to spend (one’s time) aimlessly; fritter. My mother used to use this phrase a lot when I would dawdle behind her as a child in the grocery store, as in, “Quit piddling around back there and hurry up!!”. While I am one of the equestrian elite who gets to spend my time fully ensconced in the glory of all things horses (mucking, grooming, riding, turning out, bringing in, feeding, cold hosing, tacking up, and bathing to name a few), I must admit that I do my fair share of piddling around. I prefer, however, to think of this as my particular ability to lavish unnecessary and unusual attentions upon my equine partners.
Let’s start at the beginning of my predilection for piddling. I’ve always had what one could call “difficult” horses, as those have always been the ones I can afford. I’ve also enjoyed farm life with my horses living at my house, and a rather loose set of rules set by my parents as to how I can interact with my equine partners. These things combined have led to some….experimental tendencies on my part. I remember in Elementary school spending hours simply sitting in my field, trying to figure out how this whole “pecking order” thing worked. I learned subtle horse body language, and experimented with being the boss mare myself. I also spent countless hours running wild through the countryside bareback with a halter and lead shank with no particular goal or destination, but ultimately teaching me how to solve problems and stick on anything. All my feral younger days were not filled with structured lessons or even competition of any kind, but pure unadulterated piddling around and experimenting with my own abilities.
All this disorganized learning has had to be tamed in order for me to be any type of successful at the upper levels, but I still harbor a love for my 10 year old self. I teach all my horses to let me lead them around by the mane right behind their ears, and stand free in the aisle at home while they are groomed and tacked up. I still try to hone my skills for the launching mount from the ground to the back, although that is significantly harder now that 2/3 of my horses stand over 17 hands. I give each of my horses a bare minimum of one day a week where we go on an adventure over an hour through the wilderness with no particular goal. Nyls, who has been with me for 8 years now, has a repertoire of random tricks that are both absurd and impressive, and he loves showing them off for visitors. They do hard work, but they also have more than a little play time incorporated into each day, which means I spend more time than strictly necessary piddling around.
Bareback training! Note: Leo's weird smile
So what’s the point, you ask? I’m interested in not only creating a horse that can perform certain movements in the arena or clear a height of obstacle, but a horse that engages with it’s human counterpart. Eventing isn’t just any sport, and it takes a lot more than a perfectly trained horse to be successful. If you’ve ever for a moment doubted the value of the bond between horse and rider, think for a minute about the performances of Totilas before and after Edward Gal. Yeah.
Due in a small part to all the “extracurricular activities” that I create for my horses, they are engaged with humans from the moment you step into the barn. They are curious, confident, and ready for any weird thing that I might ask them to do. Ride around bareback one day? Sure. Cross this freaky looking bank into a river? Alright. Chase this herd of cattle? If you say so… When it comes to new experiences, they adopt an attitude of, “Let’s try it!” more than resorting to fear and flight.
Leo, as it transpires, is enamored of the idea that he doesn’t have to be the big bad guy in charge anymore. He found himself in this position in the herd that he didn’t really like, as the scary broncing monster, and he didn’t know how to get back to being a good boy. Because he is new to me, I probably spend more time piddling around with him than actually practicing “real” things. We maybe ride in the ring twice a week, but the rest of the time I pretend that I’m 10 again and we run around in the countryside and play games in the barn. I started riding him bareback, which he thought was a really weird request, but there were lots of cookies involved so he decided it wasn’t all bad. He’s not a rocket scientist, but he really enjoys learning how we do things around here. He likes the personal involvement, and wants somebody to tell him where to go and what to do, it’s quite comforting to him.
I have yet to meet a horse who doesn’t flourish under this unorthodox approach. I also understand that most people don’t have the time or space to do these types of things, so I figure that if I get these horses started like this, they can only be better citizens in the future. Maybe this is my thing: taking the naughty horses, the unengaged horses, the uninterested horses and treating them like ponies (in a good way). Their brains click to the “on” setting, their bodies grow from the cross country gallivants, and they discover the confidence and happiness that can be had from a fun relationship with a human. For now, I’m happy to spend my time piddling around.
