The True Horse Whispers

These are true stories from my new friends about their journey in the human world.

(Opinions expressed belong solely to the author, and do not neccsary represent the views of Science Of Motion)

Chazot, you said: " I rear and I expect to be punished. I rear stronger and higher and more angrily by anticipation of more punishment."

You know my own mind! And you have discovered the soft trap of whither scritchies...

I have been away from the racetrack for nearly ten years now, but I still go through these flashbacks from time to time. These days, my reactions are pretty mild and short lived, because I found some humans brave and kind, who turned all my expectations on their head, just like yours is doing for you. I was what you might call pro-actively defensive. My motto was "Get them before they get you, because they surely will try!"

At first my new owner was a little mystified by my extreme reactions to seemingly harmless stimuli. "Not fair, what have I done to deserve this from you? That's BAD and you mustn't do it! Let me try to accustom you to these things gently." Ha, she would soon find out I didn't come down in the last shower of rain! Approach and retreat and carrot bribery wasn't going to make me soft in the head! 

But then one day, she suddenly understood. It was as she was going through her monthly ritual of masochism, attempting to lift my hind leg to pedicure my nail. I was lining her up for a sharp kick to the thigh in preparation for the punishment that my memories told me would surely follow. I pulled up, kicked out, she dodged to the side, and said "GOOD GIRL Rosie!"  And stroked my neck!

!!!!!!!!  I was shocked into calmness. Wow! I'm a good girl?  REally?  Yes, I am!

Before long I was graciously allowing her to trim my toes.

From that day on, things changed. When I reared, she laughed and petted me and said I was funny. When I tried to kick she told me I was good. When I kicked up my heels in fierceness, she told me how magnificent I am. (And I AM) When I tried to bite, she said sorry.

Once I really hurt her and she sat down and cried. I couldn't believe i!. I was sorry. I tried to be more careful to control my craziness after that.

Many people thought she was mad. "You can't reward a horse for doing dangerous things! You'll create a monster!"  Idiots!  Do they think we're stupid? Obviously.

Well, let me tell you, I'm not stupid. I was suffering from PTSD. Would you hit a human for that? These days, I know myself when I'm over-reacting. And it's all a lot of effort for no real benefit. So I don't indulge myself very far. Most of the time I'm right here in the moment, and very happy to be.

(Oh, by the way, I know I'm just a little bit older than you, but I'm as black and magnificently beautiful as you are white and handsome. I'm just a few inches shorter, enough to allow you your masculine pride. And I'm currently domiciled with warmbloods and paints, and, can you believe it, even a shetland pony. UGH! So I'm looking for romance that could develop into a long term relationship, with a suitable TALL horse.)

Best regards,

Roseanna the Regal and Magnificent,

Queen of all She rears over.

Sue Addenbrooke (My human)