12/8/13

I'm sorry.

Took the horses to the parade yesterday. I don't even want to talk about it..Red was an angel being tacked up and with all of the extra tack, bells and noise. He nickered every single time he saw me and was just a sweetheart, he got in the trailer just to follow me, he was well-mannered when we had to make an emergency stop to fill up a tire, he was PERFECTION in horse form in the old parking lot, I let him trot/lope around just to get his energy out. We lined up and he was great, then someone got run over. Yes. Run over, a cop. They sent over 5 stinkin' ambulances and about 45 police cars, right in between and behind the horses.

My bomb-proof horse is NOT siren-proof. He flipped out, started backing and sidepassing, he was pawing at the ground, not Red. Mom had to grab a rein to help me keep him in control. It was all stress. He was peeing everywhere, pooped a dozen times and tensed up, his eyes got huge and he was just scared to death. We spent half of the ride totally tense and stressed. Once we got about halfway done, he relaxed. Got him back to the trailer and loaded him, he did perfect again and you could see him just let out a breath like "oh geeze never again". We managed to leave the keys to our car in the trailer, so we had to get a ride to the barn and back to the old parking lot, but it's only like 2 miles away so no biggy. Once we were back to the barn, I walked into the gate and he saw me, nickered and ran over. It's a good thing horse's are forgiving because I would've been pouting in the corner and upset. I took his tack off, got him all comfy, gave him some much deserved treats and promised him that I'd never do that again. :)) Brushed him out, loved on him and made sure he was A-Okay before I let him out. As usual, he didn't want to leave me but once he saw Bay-Bay, he took off galloping to her and I cleaned up. Le sigh, I felt like a horrible horse owner yesterday. Everyone was like "Oh he's only 12 and he'll get over the fear if you continue trying" but no, I'm not trying again. There's no sense in putting him under so much stress. I didn't buy a horse to go in parades and show and rodeo and I let myself get sucked into that. There's nothing wrong with showing, rodeo'ing or parades, but sometimes, you just need to, well, not do it. :)) :)) I didn't get a horse for that, I got one to be friends, partners with it, and just ride. I let myself get caught up in the excitement and it ended up making our night horrible when I could've spent it in a pasture, doing what we love the most, together and comfortable. Sorry, Red. :(

I have more photos, but this is the only one I've edited and posted on anything. I'll post the rest later.

Before the stress. Being my perfect horse.

10 comments:

  1. I'm sorry that it didn't go as well as you'd hoped, but don't be so hard on yourself! Parades are notorious for sending horses over the edge. Even Missy would get pretty amped up when we used to do them. Several years back, before I owned Miss, I rode a little Appy in the first parade I ever rode in. He was great. The very next year someone else rode him and he LOST IT. Bucking, rearing, the whole 9 yards. Finally, his ride had to get off and lead him away because we were worried he was going to flip over on someone...

    Anyway, my point it that you didn't know this was going to happen. I always say that there's no completely bombproof horses in existence. When push comes to shove they all will turn to the fight-or-fight instinct. And considering it's been ingrained in them for millions of years, we just have to accept that and not blame yourself or Red. Simply use this as a learning experience and move forward from it:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. :) There were a lot of horses freaking out, I think all but two were being horrible, I just know Red and I hate seeing him so scared. I've never seen him like that and it made me feel so guilty for taking him, everyone was shocked that he did so badly. Definitely didn't expect it!!

      He's a good boy, though. The whole time, he was looking at me and it was like he was trying to make sure what he was doing wasn't hurting me or effecting me. On the brightside, he did start doing better about halfway through and we had a nice night after that. I've learned through it and know how to handle his spooks now if he does anything like that again. I'm just crossing my fingers that it was his last big spook. ;)

      Delete
  2. Aw sorry for the bad day, but don't beat yourself up! We all make mistakes, and like Mare said, parades are tough for even the most "bomb-proof" horses. Red will be OK and don't make it make you give up entirely on showing, etc. if you still want to do that...if you have a show ring or even a warmup ring that's as bad as a parade with 5 ambulances and 40-odd police cars, you have a MAJOR problem with the show organizers or something!

    On a positive note, he looks super cute in all his Christmas stuff! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't get to down on yourself... Those situations are what makes your partnership stronger. It's not always fun or comfortable but you both made it through :) it's an experience that was a learning experience for you both .. Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I understand what you are saying but remember, too, that sometimes stress is okay. It helps us to grow and helps our horses to grow as well. Not that there is anything wrong with not wanting to do parades or anything else but I wouldn't just automatically discount it all, either. I am confident Red will be okay either way.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That sucks, but hey! what can you do! if someone got run over he/she got run over, there's nothin' you can do about it. It could've happened to someone at the farm (God forbid!) and the ambulances still would've scared poor Red. So keep your chin up and keep trying! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Think of it this way...has he ever been in that situation before? No. It was a learning experience for him and you! I'm sure if you went to another parade, he would be better. I mean how often is he in situations like that, with sirens, and tons of people around? Not very often I'm guessing!
    My AQHA gelding was a huge CREEP in parades. Not because he was scared, but because he knew that the faster he got through the parade route, the faster he could get back to his food. He would prance and dance all through the route. It made him look like a fancy parade pony, but the look on my face was not a happy one ;-) I was almost in tears our first parade because he was such a jerk.
    I also agree with Mare when she said she always says that there are no completely bomb proof horses in existence. My AQHA gelding that you could shoot a gun off of was completely terrified of blue tarps, he'd jump out of his skin when he saw one. Piney my sweet ,calm, nothing spooked him, turned into a fire breathing monster when he even caught glimpse of a horse trailer. Pistol 'flipped' out when he saw the shadow of a windmill...it was moving and he was certain it was going to eat him...Every horse has their 'thing' I'm quite certain of it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bummer!!! My first thoughts on your post- a parade!!! Fun!!! And he looks beyond cute!!! Sad it didn't go well but agree with some other posters- don't let that deter you from all events!! I think this was a fluke :). Hopefully. Although you never do know with parades.

    ReplyDelete
  8. showing isn't for everyone but I wouldn't liken showing to a parade!! A parade is completely freaking scary to a horse. I feel like it'd be easier to take a horse to a lot of shows and then take it to a parade. There aren't sirens and millions of people and asphalt and cars and all of that craziness at a horse show. :) I'm sorry you had a bad time though!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sounds like Prince actually handled himself really well considering the circumstances. Just because it went terribly awful one time doesnt mean you should give up on your plans. Something Ive learnt and something every horse rider needs to learn is to never give up or get down on yourself because of a bad performance (or parade in this case). You just can't let it get to you. You can still have an amazing patnership with your horse and still do parades and rodeos etc. Just because one time didn't work out doesn't mean you should throw it all away.

    ReplyDelete