La Vida Cita y La Traileria

With that ridiculous sunshine and warm weather out, making the horses drop their hair like there is no tomorrow, ice melting under the frozen poopsicles so I can finally pick up all 43 loads of it out of the fields, new training horses and feet to trim, and riding, riding, riding, I have been a wee bit slack about posting a new blog (as some of my more drill sergeanty type friends have pointed out..hahahaha)
So, since sleep is optional and surely the dogs get enough for all of us, I am going to share a nice little ‘Allow’ story with you. This is Cita. For those who don’t yet know my future diamond, she is 1/2 arab 1/2 Quarter horse, almost 2, and just beginning her next phase of education. And, like most most teenagers (or so I am told) she can have some pretty cheeky moments and others when she is real unsure of herself and runs back to Mommy Indy (much to his dismay, sooooo bad for his Ultra Cool Guy Image!) We have been playing around, refreshing her ground skills, and adding some new ones. Its funny to watch the herd watch us work, they are all so very interested and concerned that I get it right (yeah, no pressure, guys, thanks!) Mostly though, Cita thinks this is pretty ok, and is happy to be growing up and doing big Kid Stuff. I had her out and was brushing the mud off, and attacking her with the spray bottle, trying to squirt Toxic Palomino Death Juice on her...no! Wait! That’s just mane de-tangler! Oh, ok, go ahead……, picking feet (cause that what us Farrier type folks do once every six months, weather they need it or not), and getting in some good positive tying practice. (Oh! remind me to expand ad naseum on tying on day, and I will). And…….one of the all time Favorite things to Avoid Until the VEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRYYYY Last minute…The Trailer!

Happily and (not so) oddly enough, right after my little awareness kick on Allow, I am presented with one of the most triggering of all horsey related situations, designed, not as you may think, too haul your horse around in, but to bring out all the very worst traits and habits and truths in both horse and human. Here we have the opportunity to really get tight and tense, impatient and all pressurey. ” Make the outside uncomfortable, and the inside the good place” ( Make?) how many times have I heard that line? So, here I am standing outside of said aluminum torture chamber on wheels, wondering how this was going to unfold. You see, Cita has no real opinion yet on a trailer (short of when she was 4 months and hauled up here from the island, but two winter’s up here will have frozen that memory outa her head) and is a clean slate. And I sure don’t want to end up ‘making’ the trailer be an issue. So what happened was this. I decided to just allow her to get in the trailer.

Allow her all the time in the world. Allow her to just stand here and fall asleep while I brushed her with her nose in the trailer. Allow her to check it all out. Allow her to scoot backwards as she made the bum bar rattle. Allow her to paw the ground. Allow her to fall asleep for 5 minutes. (Gee, says human….wonder if I ought to be making (!) her do something now, dozing can’t be getting us closer to in…hmmmmm I should be doing something…hmmmm). Allow her to put a foot in and bring it out. allow her to go for a short walk around the patio furniture. Allow her to put two feet in. Allow her to rattle the barriers….and NOT come out this time, brave girl. Allow another calm back out and wander around the lawn furniture…… And allow her to just get all the way in, blow and happily take a mouth full of hay, calmly looking back at me standing outside the trailer door. Allow her to calmly BACK out and go for another stroll, and right back in.

Total length of Trailer Loading time? 13 minutes. hmmmmmmmm very interesting. All that was required of me was… presence, patience, softness, awareness, and feel.

I was so curious with MYSELF thru this process, as I wasn’t really sure that she was knowing what I was looking for (duh!) as she seemed almost disinterested, but, oh, she knew! So hard to not want to get in there and get all busy and make (ah) something happen! I also became aware of just how little we need to do to make our requests clear, and how often we screw it all up by just doing TO MUCH! When I asked her to move, I literally lifted my hand an inch, and quit as she went “Yes?’ So everything was just so small and relaxed and low key… what a neat experience, and another level again of just how subtle we can communicate. If we just get out of the way, they find the way we have shown……………easily, calmly, confidently and together we allow one another respect.