# Bucking the Odds: Imperfect and Curly



## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

It all began when the family drove more than 4 hours in a borrowed truck, pulling a borrowed trailer to go see a 'Curly' mare in Ohio. I guess, it really started earlier than that, like when my then 4 year old daughter was diagnosed with a serious horse allergy. That diagnosis was actually a confirmation of a sneaking suspicion my husband and I had for a while - since I'd had to take her to the Emergency Room after a big dose of diphenhydramine that didn't slow down the swelling of her face, tongue, throat, eyes, or the hives all over her little body. All that from a 10 second seat on a wooly miniature horse in shorts that exposed her eczema inflamed legs to his dander. 

Anyway, back to that more than 4 hour trip to see the 'Curly' rescue mare in Ohio in late May. I'd been browsing the Internet for Curly horses at my in-laws' house 'just because' when I saw the photo of a cute little mare for a cute little price. I didn't really think I had a prayer of buying a horse. It had been about 5 years since I'd sold my last one - breast cancer while pregnant, then a newborn and a new 2 year old while doing chemotherapy weren't exactly horse-friendly circumstances. Then I started having surgeries to further combat my BRCA1 status: bilateral mastectomies, reconstruction, oophorectomy, emergency hysterectomy, more reconstruction, a rib removal for thoracic outlet syndrome. All of those were while I was trying to work full-time with my 2 little ones at home. No time for horses in there!

The little 'Curly' mare was a rescue, so there was no way to _really_ know if she was 'full-blooded' Curly (little did I know that the registries aren't really that strict yet, so full-blooded is a bit of a misnomer). So I'd asked for samples of her hair to be mailed to me. She also had a serious fault, a partially fused right knee. According to the rescue, she was cleared for driving - my main goal, and light riding - my daughter's main goal. However, even though she was almost 6 she was only green-broke to ride - mostly because of that knee. So I asked for documentation of her veterinary care as well. 

The hair samples and veterinary records came in the mail. We tested the hair and waited anxiously to see if there was any reaction. The first day, my daughter had some reaction, but she played outside in the spring air without allergy medicine... I forgot to mention, she's allergic to almost all weeds (except our state flower, the Golden Rod) and tree pollen in addition to horses. So the next day, we tested her indoors. No reaction! Then I delved into the veterinary records. I researched fused joints on NCBI PubMed. I discussed things with other knowledgable horsemen in my area. I consulted a veterinarian. Worst case scenario, if she became lame, my daughter would have a 13-3 HH My Little Pony she could enjoy without needing an epi-pen and trip to the ER. 

So back, to the truck, trailer, and 4+ hours at the end of May... My father-in-law (bless his heart, he drove and helped us significantly with gas money and even partially paying for her), husband(A), son (S), daughter(R), and I were going to finally meet this little Curly. We were going up there knowing there was a chance, a small chance, that we would be coming back with an empty trailer if my daughter had an allergic reaction to the mare. It was the only way to know for sure. We had saved our pennies, sold some things, and raised the money to buy her as long as there were no reactions.

When we finally arrived it was nerve wracking. Was R going to have a reaction or not? I was afraid A's anxiety was going to make the whole trip a waste because he didn't want to let R get too close to the horses. I got in the stall with the mare first and began my horse exam. She was a bit nervous, but not pushy or crazy. I picked up her feet and got to see first hand how far her bad knee bent. R finally came into the stall after I'd handled the mare a little bit. As soon as the mare saw R, she lowered her nose and sniffed all R's hair into her nostrils. Then she sighed. Of course, being a 5 year old horse crazy little girl, R was laughing, jumping, clapping, and super excited. After a few turns around the round pen to see how she moved, R gave the lady at the rescue the money and we loaded Starlie Ann into the trailer. 

And so our journey began. An imperfect horse, an imperfect mother, and an allergic little girl...


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

*Back to Horsekeeping*

When we brought Starlie home, it had been 5 years or so since I'd had a horse at home. In the past year or two I'd been helping my elderly neighbor down the road with his 4 miniature horses and Belgian draft horse, so I wasn't completely out of the horse routine. However, my land had been stripped of its fencing and my round pen sold. Since money had been tight since I'd been terminated from my job due to my "excessive absences" for my ongoing health issues, we couldn't just go out and buy a bunch of supplies. So I did what a good ole country girl does best - improvise and make-due with what I had. 

I scrounged up 8 metal gates of 3 different types: 4 were 12' round pen gates, 2 were 16' round gates, and 2 were 12' galvanized metal gates. With S's help (he's really strong for a 7 year old little boy), we managed to build a octagonal pen in the lush grass for Starlie to graze for part of the day. For the rest of the day, we had already cleaned out the 16'x10' three-sided shed attached to one of our outbuildings to use as a stall. We had a big muck bucket for water and shavings for bedding. We bought some alfalfa cubes for forage and a Jolly Apple treat for boredom. The open side of the shed had another galvanized gate to close it.

All told it didn't look like anything that would be featured in a magazine for horse lovers or anything, but we were proud of ourselves nonetheless. Starlie spent her first night, actually it was about 1 am when we finally got home, in the stall. She didn't seem to mind the unusual accommodations. She was tucked up snug and safe with food and water. That was all that mattered.

The grazing pen had to be moved several times a week and it didn't offer Starlie much in the way of exercise. To combat the exercise problem, I made sure to give her plenty of exercise myself. I would either work with her in hand to learn what type of ground manners she had or work her behind the quad to just build up some muscle and endurance. Moving the pen was a much bigger problem. A has a bad back and I have bad arms from my surgeries for breast cancer. I often have S help, but he's only 7, so I hate to work him like a grown man. So we had to figure something out quickly. We finally ended up with a roll of electric rope fencing and step-in plastic posts, thanks to my mom and dad. Starlie is very respectful of the electric fencing. She now has about a 1/2 acre paddock of grazing to roam about. 

Once we got her grazing situation resolved, we didn't have to rely on putting her in her stall as much. That benefited us and her in several ways. Obviously, it's cheaper to not have to buy hay, grain/cubes, shavings, etc to keep a horse in a stall. It's also less work to not have to keep cleaning a stall out all the time. It's funny though because, I was really pleasantly surprised to find out that Starlie is mostly potty trained. She uses the bathroom in almost the same place in her stall and even in her paddock every time. She designates a potty place, and uses it. It makes stall cleaning much easier! Not keeping her in a stall also helps keep her from becoming bored, stiff, sore, or achy. With her bad knee, arthritis is a concern that can crop up much earlier than in a horse with normal joints. Contrary to what it might sound like, movement is actually good for preventing arthritis. Movement is also good for hoof health and overall horse health. 

It took a while and some improvisation, but with the whole family's help we got our place back into Horsekeeping!


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

*Horses I Have Known*

OK... I'll admit it... That little girl in me that read and owned every Black Stallion book written by Walter Farley still lives inside me. I want to have that relationship with a horse like Alec and the Black. I'm always trying to communicate with my horses in a better way. I've also never been able to spend a lot of money of fancy training, lessons, or gimmicks. It's always been reading, experimenting, and good old fashioned sweat and horse sense. 

I can't honestly ever remember _not_ riding or being around horses. My earliest horse memories are being up in front of my mom on one of our many horses on a trial ride. At the time, I pretended the saddle strings were my reins. I have no idea how old I was, but I can't have been more than 4 because we moved from that farm when I was 4. My 'lessons' came from my mom telling me something's, but showing me mostly how to be around the animals we both loved. When I was 2 she and my dad used me as their first 'rider' on their 2 year old TB stallion. When I was 5, I had my own naughty pony and no saddle for the first year. My parents had gone through financial hard times, so a pony saddle wasn't in the budget, but the pony was. I learned to stick to that pony like a burr - even when he reared. I can still remember his teeth jarring trot to keep up with the easy striding walk of my parents' big horses on trail rides. His spine seemed to knife me in half, but I rode him every chance I got and begged for more. 

By the time I was 8, my big brother and I bought a horse-pony to 'share'. I think mom and dad probably forced him to 'help' because I couldn't raise all the money myself. She was an absolute babysitter that should be canonized if horses could become Saints. She taught me everything I needed to know about horses including things I didn't even know she taught me until I needed to know later! She was a 'Saddlebred' pony with a high stepping trot that was definitely not your usual Western horse gait. She could be driven and had an awesome little road gait that could go all day! I did things with that 13 HH pony that I probably shouldn't admit. We did Westen Pleaure, Western Riding, Halter, Showmanship, Barrels, Poles, Flags, Keyhole, Trail, Driving and more. I still regret selling her.

By the time I was 12, I'd moved upwards to my mom's difficult green-broke trail QH. Zan was beautiful, but strong willed and challenging to ride. When held back from running, she'd buck until you bailed off or let her run. She was about as flexible as a 2x4. Collection to her meant she collected corn or grain from you. Using a crop as an extra aid on her meant an instant buck and that she'd go from 15-3 HH to 16-1 HH. By the time I finished with Zan, she was flexible, collected, could jump 3'6", didn't buck. I worked with her initially for Western Pleasure, Western Riding, and Trail. Then I decided to try Huntseat and jumping. Then I dabbled in dressage with her. Jumping was what she loved. As soon as she saw something to jump, her ears would perk, her stride lightened, and she coiled herself ready to fly. It was a powerful feeling!

Her best buddy was her exact opposite. A tap with a stick and he'd practically trip over himself to apologize. Blitz was so flexible I nick-named him 'rubber-band-man'. He was so easy to ride that when we had beginners over that wanted to ride, we could put them on Blitz even though he was missing an eye. His only irrationality was water. A trickle an inch wide would cause him to jump like it was the Grand Canyon. He was a sweet Arab/Saddlebred (National Show Horse) that loved life.

When I was 15, I bred the QH mare after lots of research, consideration, and savings. I ended up with a beautiful Foundation QH filly that I raised and trained myself. Moonie was, if anything, over desensitized and familiarized with people. The night she was born, she approached me before she nursed the first time. The next day I was already handling her and her mother. By the time Moonie was ready to ride, she was so familiar with everything that she just stood patiently waiting for us to get back off of her instead of walking. Eventually we got her over that and riding. I trained her to drive. That was where she excelled. Pulling the cart, she perked her ears and went right to work. Although we communicated well when driving, the rest of the time we seemed to clash. After 8 years together, I sold her so she could have a chance to love someone as she deserved to be loved.

When I was 14, I had to board my horses for the first and only time. While I wa there I quickly became to go-to person for people that couldn't keep up with their horses' exercise and training needs. One man after watching me with my 2 horses (even though I rode English at the time and he was a roper) asked me to exercise one of his roping QH horses. After a couple weeks or so, he asked me to be his roping partner. Another man asked me to help him train his Arabian to do Western Pleasure and break her to harness for breed shows. Another man asked me to help him train his 2 year old Arabian for Halter classes. A woman had an Appaloosa that wouldn't let her swing the rope without bolting. Another woman just wanted her horse to get more exercise. I was busy!

By the time I was in college, I'd ridden a lot of different horses with different training levels and different abilities. I still had my mother and daughter QHs and the Arab/Saddlebred. Poor Blitz had to be put down when he severely injured his back fetlock. It probably happened when Moonie rough-housed with him. Then I sold Zan because I was away at school and not able to give 2 horses the time and exercise they needed. 

While I was away at school I took 3 equestrian classes - the only 'lessons' I've ever had. I was able to skip the Beginners' Horsemanship class by trying out for the Equestrian team. The coach said that if I qualified for the team he'd let me be in the Intermediate class. I was surprised by how well I did because I figured my riding style was a mish-mash of Western meets English meets riding by the seat of your pants. So when he told me I made the team and then asked me if I was sure I couldn't fit the team into my class schedule, I was more than just a little shocked. 

The Intermediate class was easy and enjoyable. It gave me a chance to play around with horses and solidify my riding with some instruction. Taking a break from the heavy course load of Biochemistry, Physics, Calculus II, and Ecology as well as my research in developmental biology was very welcome. I certainly didn't mind the 'tests' we were given or the repetition of the rail-work. I even enjoyed grooming!

The next year I took the Advanced class. This class had jumping in it, so I was very excited. However, we were assigned horses for this class and the one I was assigned was not one that I liked. He was non-responsive for me. I tried to work with him, but I finally asked if I could pick another horse. When I did, I accidentally chose a horse with no jumping experience. She was trained for cow work. She and I really clicked though, so the instructor let me work with her. He was impressed with how well I was able to train her to do work that was nothing like anything she'd ever done before. By the end of the semester, she was jumping as well as any of the other horses in the class. 

My other class that semester was Breaking and Training. Each student was given a 2 year old that was only halter broke, and barely at that. We had the semester to turn our untrained youngsters into usable horses. The instructor had certain maneuvers he was going to require of our horses at the end of the semester, but he wasn't going to completely dictate the methods we used to get there. My colt was a goofy QH that didn't seem like the smartest, but he tried and that was what mattered. By the end of the semester he and I were up there where the instructor wanted us to be in my English tack instead of the instructors preferred Western tack. 

After I sold Moonie, I wanted to find another horse. I was looking for a driving horse or at least a driving prospect. I had knee surgery when I was 15, 16, & 17. The doctor told me that if I wanted to walk by the time I was 35, I would stop running 300m hurdles and stop riding horses so much. So instead of using my Track and Field scholarships I used only Academic scholarships (still got a free ride) and began driving instead of riding. I found a QH gelding that looked like he suited my needs. Wally was a sweet horse that moved beautifully. When I first rode him to try him out, I felt like I was riding a combination of a coiled spring and a cloud - powerful, yet floaty. When he came home, he freaked out over _everything_. He had been in training as a Western Pleasure horse, so I think he'd been kept inside or in small, isolated paddocks. When he got to my house, there were trees, deer, turkeys, bushes, rabbits, plants, dogs, cats, etc. _Everything frightened him._ His first day, I hand walked him around the perimeter of the fence both directions and then turned him loose. He ran around the field alternately trotting and cantering while neighing for almost 2 hours. Every 10 minutes or so, I'd go out there to try to calm him down, but either it wouldn't work, or he'd just get stirred up again as soon as I left again. As soon as I started trying to train him to drive I learned that he couldn't stand anything touching his back legs. I tried every method of desensitization I could, but no matter what, he'd panic if something touched his back legs. Even on trail rides through tall grass, he would progressively get more and more tense as the grass wrapped around his legs until he'd explode in a bolt. I had to give up on driving him. So I just rode him for a while then got off and walked for a while. Sadly, shortly after I began my cancer treatment, he collapsed with a virus (maybe West Nile) and had to be euthanized.

Shortly after I had baby R, after chemo, I tried to have a horse again. I was determined that this time it was already going to be trained to drive. I found a Haflinger mare not far from home. A and I drove to see her. I drove her around and was impressed with her. I took my mom with me to see her too. She was impressed with her too. So I bought her and had her delivered. I tried to work with her, but I just had too much on my plate. I started feeling guilty for having a horse, but doing nothing with her. I also felt guilty for spending the money to feed her when we didn't have all that much to spare. I was still working, but not at 100% and I still had lots of doctor bills. So once again, I sold my horse. This time, I sold almost everything I had: horse, cart, harness, saddle, bridle, longe line, longe whip, round pen, etc. 

I'm sure I'm leaving some horses out that I've known. These are just the main ones that I spent some chunk of time with on a one-to-one basis.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Your story is so interesting! I have really enjoyed reading it.


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## Bondre (Jun 14, 2013)

Yes, me too! I'm looking forward to the next chapter. 

I'm so envious that in the US you can take equestrian classes at university. As you say, it sounds like the perfect way to balance out the academically demanding subjects. I gave up horses when I went to uni because the only horse option there was to join the riding club, which was pretentious and pretty darn expensive. 

How common is it that colleges in the US offer horse-related classes? In Europe I'd say it'd have to be a very specialised college to offer equitation or horse training.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

Subbing for more


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Hey BB! How nice to see you here!


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Subbing!


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Just found your journal and happy to sign on to read your updates as they come.


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

Bondre
I can't speak about all colleges here in the U.S., but I live in KY - the heart of horse country. Many of the public colleges in KY offer some sort of equine courses, maybe not riding per se, but at least 'equine science' as they like to call it now. Most colleges with a pre-vet program that trains for large animal work will have some horses on their farm(s) and that just kind of extends to having riding classes too. There are some colleges in the U.S. that basically cater to the horsey crowd like the University of Findley in Ohio (one of the Universities I wanted to attend at one time). I'm glad I chose to stay in my home state of KY though. I think in general, colleges and universities that have a large animal veterinary program and a large agriculture program will have equine and equestrian classes available. I never really thought about it. 

I envy those of you that have had lessons and Pony Club since you were tots. I loved riding and having my own pony and my parent's horses. However, I dreamed of having friends and mentors to teach me more than I could learn from books and harried parents with other responsibilities. 

Alas, we all desire what we cannot or did not have! ;-)


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

*Mr. O and the boys*

In my 30 years, I had _never _been without a horse for longer than a month or two, but after my chemo and round of surgeries turned into years of struggling to get my battered body back into some semblance of normal, it had been a long time since I'd owned a horse. Thankfully for me, one fateful day, I happen upon my elderly neighbor chasing his elderly QH and Belgian down the road in the hot July sun. He was red with heat and exhaustion and his horses were no nearer to being caught. I gleefully stopped in the middle of the road and left the car running to help him. He was surprised when both his geldings easily acquiesced to my hand around their mane leading them toward home. I'd never handled a Draft horse before - unless you count the lucky break I caught at the KY Horse Park one year when I was allowed to 'help' give a Clydesdale a bath when I was 9. To be honest, his 19 HH and 2000 lbs were pretty intimidating, but I was intoxicated by the smell and feel of horses. 

So began my friendship with Mr. O, King (the Belgian), and his 4 miniatures (sadly the elderly QH died of old age shortly after I met him) began. Mr. O had, at one point, ridden frequently and even, as a youngster, worked draft animals on is parents' farm. However, at 85+ years of age, he was slowing down considerably. He owned the motley crew of horses just because he enjoyed seeing them and patting them. They were all geldings in a range of chestnut (or sorrel) with flaxen manes and tails. In his big barn, he had harness aplenty and even a cart for both the Belgian and mini(s) as well as an antique doctor's buggy from 1880. I began helping him with barn chores and grooming the minis. I worked up to King as Mr. O was hesitant for a mere girl to work with such a big horse, even though he admitted that the big horse took a shine to me. 

By the time fall rolled around, I was driving two of the minis singly to the easy entry fore-cart up and down the roads. The others I wasn't sure we're harness trained, so I just longed them and worked the larger one for a kids' riding pony. I was also slowly working on getting King used to me and working again by longeing him. My eventual goal was to get King driving too. Mr. O was ecstatic that someone was using his horses and he just enjoyed seeing them working. I eventually got King between the shafts and let me tell you, it was worth the wait! The power that big horse had was incredible. Of course, I wasn't content to just let him be a cart horse, I had to break him to ride too. Talk about *power*! Riding on that powerful animal was a dream come true!

When R (my chemo baby) was 3-4 years old and desperate for some time with the horses with me. One of the minis is larger with solid bones, so I set R on his back for a minute or two. That afternoon didn't end well. R had eczema from birth onwards and it had flared up rather badly on her legs. Instead of simply having skin problems, she was having problems breathing, her face was swollen and red, her tongue and throat were closing up, and she had hives all over her little chunky body. Even after a hefty dose of diphenhydramine, her symptoms hadn't improved. A trip to the ER for IV medications and examination gave us a preliminary diagnosis of a horse allergy. It wasn't until we went to the allergy doctor for a complete work-up that we realized how severely allergic she was to horses as well as the majority of plants and trees in our area in addition to having asthma. _Our dreams of sharing horses went down in flames._

I continued working with the horses, but coming home only to strip as soon as I entered the house to shower before even touching R. She was heartbroken. On rare occasions I would take her for short trips down the road to the horses or driving with the minis, but such trips almost always ended in rounds of allergy medicine no matter how short it seemed. During early spring and fall even being in the house could leave her with a slightly swollen face, sneezing, coughing, and itchy skin without any horse allergens present. We despaired of sharing our love of horses together. 

Then, although I can't remember how, I found out about so-called hypoallergenic Curly horses. I began my painstaking research into them. With my biomedical background, I search through medical journals, quizzed her allergy doctor, and found numerous anecdotal accounts of highly allergic people being able to handle these fuzzy equines. My next problem was getting my hands on one.


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

*Getting to Know You - Groundwork*

One of the first things my mother taught me as a horseman was to never leap onto a horse without first working with them on the ground. Obviously, when you go to try a horse out for purchase, you handle them for only a short time before you ride them, but that is part of the risk you take buying a horse. Once you bring a horse home, my mother taught me that you kind of pretend they have never had any training until they prove otherwise. 

Starlie was no different. We got home a little after 1 am May 30th, 2015. She was tucked into her stall, the kiddos tucked into bed, and DH and I tucked into our bed too. Of course, I was keen to start working with her the next day. First thing, R and I went outside out a halter on her and led her to the backyard for some grazing. Shortly thereafter, my mother came for a visit on her quad - test #1 for Starlie. She passed with flying colors, grazing peacefully while the quad rumbled near her, R squealing, giggling, and shouting with joy about her Little Curly. 

Within a few days, I got to work with Starlie. I knew she'd had some 'Natural 
Horsemanship' training and was green broke to ride with just a handful of rides before winter called a halt to riding for the season. However, everyone puts a slightly different spin on their horses. The 'buttons' are sometimes wired just a little differently, so I began with simple in-hand exercises. Starlie was phenomenal - even her 'bad' behavior was workable. My dad was even impressed - and that was really saying a lot since he is a stickler for no-nonsense obedience at all times. Our only sticking point seemed to be reversing directions while longeing. Honestly, I'm not sure if it was my issue or hers, but we worked it out and it's been great.

I was working with her on a mostly daily basis. If I couldn't do real groundwork with her, I was trotting her behind our quad to build her endurance, wind, and muscles for riding. She 'ponied' behind the quad quite nicely. I learned that after a failed round pen session her second or third day with us. I was free longeing her in the round pen and asking for a reverse of direction when instead of turning to face me, she turned her rear towards me. Under no circumstance do I allow a horse to turn their rear towards me, so I go after her. She again turned her rear towards me, and again I got after her. This time, in addition to turning her rear towards me, she took aim at the gate of the round pen and jumped it, bad knee and all. She didn't clear it, her bad leg scraped the top rail, but considering her withers are only about 55" and the gate she jumped was about 60" I thought she did pretty well. inkunicorn: I was absolutely amazed that she jumped it at all. 

I believe my jaw hung open for a while as she galloped :gallop: madly away into what was unknown to her. My first thought was that she had to have broken her leg or at least seriously injured herself and then I worried that she would get to a road and do further injury to herself and we'd only had her 2-3 days. I ran home and got my quad and set off after her. The ground was soft enough that I found hoof prints showing where she was going since I could no longer see her. She was following an old abandoned county road filled with treacherous ruts from logging equipment, downed trees, and old fence-lines. It also ended on a small county highway. I was hoping to catch her before she got to the paved highway, but I had no way of knowing if I'd succeed or not. In an effort to avoid 'chasing' her, I tried to keep my speed down and take side trails. Yet, each time I came off a side trial, I'd stop and see that her hoof prints had already continued further, and at a good pace, so I'd continue too. I finally caught sight of her less than a 1/4 mile from the paved highway. :gallop: Her head was up, her tail flagged in the wind, and she raced the wind. From her movement, you would never have thought she had a fused knee or jumped and banged herself up on a metal gate 5" taller than she was a couple miles further back down the road.

I thought I had her, she looked at me, took a couple of steps towards me, and then, she caught sight of a small herd of cows. I think she thought they were horses. She whinnied and took off like a bolt of lightning towards them, :gallop: leaping ditches as if they didn't exist. I couldn't follow her directly since she was running through some farmer's cornfield, so I took the long route on the road. The whole time I worried she was going to plow through the fence in her attempt to join the herd or she'd misjudge a ditch and hurt herself. For a while, as I took the long route, I couldn't see her, so I just prayed my Guardian Angel liked horses as much as I did. Apparently, my Guardian Angel does like horses like I do, because nothing bad happened, except Starlie realized the cows were cows and she lost interest in them. However, that didn't mean she was ready to come to me. I continued following her :gallop: through fields up and down the road for another hour or so before she finally let me get close enough to catch her. Then we had to take the long way home on the road with her behind the quad. If she hadn't led behind the quad, I really don't know what I would have done. 

After that incident, I didn't try to free longe her in the round pen anymore. If I longe her at all, I use a good old fashioned longe line and longe whip, but in consideration for her knee (just in case it gets sore) I make sure I walk in a fairly large circle too, so with a 20' longe line, we're probably making at least a 60' circle. I also learned that if you expect her to behave and lead somewhere, she will. However, the opposite is also true, if you expect her to spook, she will oblige. The more confident I am, the more confident she is. So far, I've walked her over huge flapping tarps, unstable pieces of plywood, up to vehicles with flapping tarps strapped to them, up to running lawn mowers, along the road, and basically anywhere I want to go. The second I start thinking she'll be frightened she starts, but if I regain my confidence, so does she. She's very intuitive. 

We've done lots of groundwork in preparation for saddle work... That's the next phase.


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

*"Eh... Just one more thing..."*

I'm a huge fan of 'classic' 70s and 80s TV shows. My favorites are mostly mystery-type shows, but nothing like the blood and guts of _CSI _that we have today (even though, or perhaps because I was a 'real-life' Forensic Scientist). Back in the day, it was much more about getting into the mind of 'whodunit' than the science of figuring out who did it. So, lately I've come to think of myself as an Equine Columbo. If you know the show at all, _Columbo _was the original defective detective (sorry _Monk_, Columbo came first). He was sloppy, he had a glass eye, he was forever losing his pencil, eating boiled eggs, and driving that wreck of a car around. Yet, even though all others disdained him as sloppy, slow, unintelligent, and hopelessly lost, he always figured it out and managed to get the villain to confess. 

Although I don't claim to have anywhere near the same record as Columbo with horses, I do tend to have that same persistence that he does. There is always the threat of being disdained as an unintelligent, neglectful, ignorant, well-intentioned-but-wrong, sloppy, untrained, green horseman when you approach a forum such as this with a question as well. :icon_rolleyes: Sometimes as I sit typing out a question or reply, my fingers fly faster than I can read. Then I re-read, backspace, re-type, re-read, backspace, re-type, re-read, add caveats to the beginning and end of my post and hope for the best. Even then I often still get tsk-tsked for my remarks. Then I end up defending myself repeatedly until I turn away in frustration because the question I asked got lost in the 'schooling' I needed from other forum members. 

Yet, the truth of the matter is that no matter what other people think of our abilities or bond with our horse, our persistence in figuring out what our horse needs is what matters. If there is a question that needs to be answered, I will risk the flames of the forum to seek answers because she is more important than how nameless and faceless people see me. Like Columbo, who always knew that others looked at him with jaundiced eyes, the results of your work are what matters not others' opinions of you. Due diligence requires that you seek out the best for your horse. If that just happens to be the forum, then it is better to run the gauntlet than let your horse suffer the consequences. Most likely there will be some pearl of wisdom hidden among the reiterations of oft-repeated 'advice' that may just be the tip of the iceberg that you need. Yet, it matters not where the information comes from, only that you seek it for your horse. Your horse doesn't care whether some internet Cowgirl thinks you're a greenhorn.:gallop: Your horse just knows that you're there at feeding time and riding time ready for fun. 

Again, like Columbo, its important with horses to also persist with that 'one more thing' that may be the answer that you seek... Or at least maybe another piece of the puzzle, as it so often was for Columbo. Our lives don't happen in a vacuum and often insignificant things can accumulate into vastly significant masterpieces. Columbo was never ashamed to ask his questions, even if he was ridiculed for his supposed simplicity. The same should be true for horsemen. Horses are amazingly complex, yet utterly simple too. Sometimes the simplest questions yield the greatest results. 

All this philosophizing is the result of Starlie being her odd little self again, inkunicorn: so I sought the aid of the forum after a long absence. I created a thread called Coyotes=Terrified Horse??. Long story short (haha, like that happens with me), I get answers: some of which are basically repeating things I already mentioned in the original post, and others that ask some questions and/or deny that coyotes pose any threat to horses. So of course, I can't leave it like that. I have to answer and defend my care of Starlie and such. As I type, I discard some responses as too defensive. However, I also start thinking outside the box a bit. I think about something else my odd little Curly-girly has been doing this week and add that in... Hence, the "Eh... One more thing..." Then "BOOM" this post writes itself!  

Here's my latest art project... My Little Curly.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Just a side note, I LOVE Columbo. Grew up watching it. He was brilliant and I feel his "look" was to throw people off and have them let their guard down.

I'm actually rewatching all of the seasons up on Netflix atm. It's so good!

Good to have you back, I need your help with my horse's feet.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Yay yay yay!! You're back! I love reading your posts. I feel like you are a kindred spirit as I also longed for riding lessons, but only got a few, rode by the school of hard knocks, and sometimes feel "tsk-tsked" when I put my own thoughts on the forum. Also, like you, I have the persistence, so even though I may not have all the knowledge, I don't give up, and finally get there . . . though it may take a lot more time than the folks with coaches and trainers. I hope you put up a lot more posts in the future. You are quite a skilled writer.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

BiologyBrain said:


> There is always the threat of being disdained as an unintelligent, neglectful, ignorant, well-intentioned-but-wrong, sloppy, untrained, green horseman when you approach a forum such as this with a question as well.
> *Yet, the truth of the matter is that no matter what other people think of our abilities or bond with our horse, our persistence in figuring out what our horse needs is what matters.* If there is a question that needs to be answered, I will risk the flames of the forum to seek answers because she is more important than how nameless and faceless people see me. Like Columbo, who always knew that others looked at him with jaundiced eyes, the results of your work are what matters not others' opinions of you. Due diligence requires that you seek out the best for your horse. If that just happens to be the forum, then it is better to run the gauntlet than let your horse suffer the consequences. *Most likely there will be some pearl of wisdom hidden among the reiterations of oft-repeated 'advice' that may just be the tip of the iceberg that you need. Yet, it matters not where the information comes from, only that you seek it for your horse.* Your horse doesn't care whether some internet Cowgirl thinks you're a greenhorn...
> 
> Again, like Columbo, its important with horses to also persist with that 'one more thing' that may be the answer that you seek... Or at least maybe another piece of the puzzle, as it so often was for Columbo. *Our lives don't happen in a vacuum and often insignificant things can accumulate into vastly significant masterpieces.* Columbo was never ashamed to ask his questions, even if he was ridiculed for his supposed simplicity. *The same should be true for horsemen. Horses are amazingly complex, yet utterly simple too. Sometimes the simplest questions yield the greatest results. *


You speak like a very wise and very true horsewoman. Beautiful words. Your journal is the first that actually brought tears to my eyes (I'm not one to cry) at the thought of someone like your daughter wanting to be around horses and being extremely allergic. I'm not sure how I could have handled that, with horses seeming as integral as breathing air to me. 

This quote about your former horse also was so funny to me! "Collection to her meant she collected corn or grain from you." 

I understand and agree that people might take your words wrong, and that the deepest thing is the striving to do what is best for the horse. My opinions have changed many times over the years about things having to do with horses, and I will debate and dither with the best of them, but sometimes while I am holding out my own strong opinion, the other person is slowly sowing seeds that are changing my mind. I am open to being wrong, very wrong, and I feel that is important and helps build the master horseman some of us want to become. Perhaps we will disagree sometimes, here on a forum, but I know we are kindred deep inside where horses run through our soul.


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

*A Bucking Trend?*

I was going to try to go in chronological order of my horse-career, but I'm going to have to buck that trend. 

I'm faced with a hard decision. My time with Starlie may be at an end. I've been trying to buck the odds and get her to buck the trend of her bucking, but it doesn't seem to be working. Granted it is just now getting to be spring and the weather is warming, but today's session was very poor. I spent 90% of the session re-doing lessons I thought she'd already mastered 6 months ago. I'm not talking about high-spirited momentary lapses of obedience. Nope, I was facing full-fledged disobedience and/or ignorance of simple things like standing to be harnessed, not bucking while being harnessed, not rearing and crow-hopping (all 4 feet in the air like a champion bronc) for direction changes on the longe-line, and not bucking and/or bolting at random in the longe line. 

I'm not a novice horseman. I've trained horses before. I've had horses that didn't like certain things that I either worked around or trained them to accept. However, I also have to admit that I'm 34 and I have limits. I have 2 children under 8 that I homeschool. My husband has chronic anxiety towards horses. I have a couple chronic health issues that mean I don't bounce back from injuries or physical stress as well as I should/could. We are financially limited as well, so I can't pay to have her trained by someone else. Plus there would be no guarantee even then that she'd be a worth-while mount/driving horse for my family. 

As much as I hate it, right now, the answer to my conundrum seems fairly obvious... Sell the problem horse before something worse than a dislocated shoulder and concussion happens. Stop putting money towards feed and supplies for a horse that isn't working out as expected. She's adorable, sweet, quirky, and curly, but she's not rideable or drivable and I don't see that changing in the near future. This morning, I thought she was further along and even told my husband I thought I could ride her if I had a saddle and a helmet. I glad I didn't. I'd probably be dead. 

I'm writing from a very low place right now. I've poured a lot into this mare - hopes, dreams, work, and money. My little girl hasn't even been able to pet her since I had an accident on her - my husband won't allow it. So far all I've gotten out of her are an ambulance ride and some cute ideas for drawings.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Oh no, my heart is breaking for you. I know how much all of this meant to you. I also know that you have experience and it should have worked out. Sometimes life is just manure, isn't it? I am so so sorry.http://www.horseforum.com/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

This journal has been closed due to prolonged lack of participation by the author. Journals that have no active participation by the author for a period of time greater than 18 months will be considered abandoned and will be closed until the author asks for them to be reopened.


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