Every horse teaches countless lessons. After over ten years with both of my horses, I can only name a few lessons they have taught me.
Boo Boo likes to know what I'm using, so I always offer brushes, saddle pads, and saddles to my horse before using them.
He hates having his mane and tail touched so I am not in the habit at all of combing, braiding, or doing anything with his mane or tail.
He taught me how to trailer a horse.
I rode bareback before him, but Boo Boo has really made me the bareback rider I am. We can do everything bareback that we can do under saddle.
He also taught me how to sit a buck. He used to buck so much and he never bucked me off.
He taught me what true trust is.
Trinity I'm sure has taught me just as much as Boo Boo, but they are so different I have a hard time thinking of what she has taught me.
She taught me how to handle a horse that is head shy. I couldn't touch her ears when I first got her and bridling her was a mess. I finally learned how to bridle her and although she still does not like having her ears touched, no matter how long we go without bridling we still have no issues.
She taught me that I love weaving poles as much as I love jumping them.
She is the first herd bound horse I have worked with, so I had to learn where her boundaries around the barn are and when to push and when to not.
She taught me how to balance because she can't.
She taught me how to find the good in the bad.
They have each taught me so many more lessons that I can't recognize them anymore as being lessons from them. They are just a part of me now, just like my horses.
Thank you, Boo Boo. Thank you, Trinity. Thank you to all the horses that have touched my life for teaching me so many important lessons, big and small.
What have your horses taught you?