Cob Jockey

No idea what caused them, could be anything this time of year.  He's going to be 100% fine, but it reminded me that I never shared one of me and Mary's most hilarious horse escapades in college on this blog.


The only time in my life I've ever had a horse with hives occurred after Mary and I were scrubbing a wound on the pony we co-owned sophomore year using the college's gallon jug of Betadine.  We weren't supposed to be using that Betadine because Venice was a privately owned horse and not a school horse, but we did it anyway because it was late at night and we thought we wouldn't get caught.

Mary jumping Venice in class

We had replaced the lid so the jug was closed tightly, and we left the jug on the ground next to Venice.  Well...Venice knocked over and then stepped on the closed jug...which caused yellow Betadine to positively EXPLODE all over our white-grey pony, us, the light blue walls of the college's boarder barn, the floor, EVERYTHING.  Like, picture a bomb filled with a gallon of Betadine going off, because that was a brand new bottle, still full.  That's what it looked like.

Picture this horse...covered in yellow leopard spots...

It only got worse when we tried to clean it up, because we used a hose, so of course all that Betadine turned into so much suds, it looked like a fraternity foam party in the barn aisle.

The security guard that found us frantically scrubbing walls and floors while standing in a mountain of bubbles at 10pm that night stopped to laugh his ass off before continuing on with his rounds.  To be honest, I probably would have done the same thing, and I wish there were pictures. 

Why no, we never did questionable things with our horse late at night, why do you ask?

In all the chaos, we hosed Venice down, but apparently not thoroughly enough, because when we got to the barn the next morning he was peppered with hives anywhere the Betadine hit him.  We had to wash our horse, and confess to destroying an entire gallon of the college's Betadine in the barn manager's office.  She thought it was hilarious and we didn't get in trouble.

And that's the only other time in my life I've had a horse that had hives.

I still remember the first time I rode a pony.  I was eighteen years old!  Her name was Taylor, and she was famous for a trot so comfortable, anyone could sit it.

Taylor

But what struck me most about the experience wasn't her trot - it was the immediate confidence boost I got just by being on a smaller equine.  I had always been a nervous rider, and I thought it was just the way I was and would always be.  But on Taylor and then Venice, I was a new woman, gleefully laughing when my horse bucked instead of curling into the fetal position, bravely riding when it was windy outside, and happily doing anything asked of me in class.  I felt invincible.

This article from Denny Emerson sums that all up for me.  Find your "steady Eddie," find your pony, and watch your whole riding life change.  From the article:

Standing in a starting gate, or unleashing an attacking “crotch rocket” when the starter says “GO”, takes confidence, and Jack Le Goff used to say that “confidence comes from success.”

And riders gather success (or failure) over time, and that success or failure will be largely dependent upon whether the rider had the right horse for the job, and whether the job itself was something within the bounds of what the pair could handle.

Too tough a horse, or too tough a challenge, in the learning stages, and confidence can crumple. Once confidence is lost, it`s harder to regain than not losing it in the first place.

So, be smart—-about the horse you ride, and the challenges you tackle.

Build UP, don`t tear DOWN.

I'm not saying I couldn't ride a full-sized horse back then, or even now, but ponies, and Connor in particular, give me a level of confidence that makes the craziest things seem less scary, and it's made such a big difference.

Mary and her stable management horse, Max.