Seems like I always get to the end of the day and never find the energy to write the posts that have been writing themselves in my head all day. So instead of rambling analysis, today is another quick update.
Ride #2 on Tig was today!
Walk/trot today in the arena.
This is what I've figured out about Tig. Tig really wants a job. She wants to know what the expectations of the job are. And then she wants to be allowed to do that job brilliantly.
Some horses are people pleasers. This is not Tig. Her world does not revolve around pleasing me.
Others just want to be left alone. This isn't Tig either - she's eager to come out and play.
Others have their own agenda. I don't necessarily feel like Tig has her own agenda. She's perfectly willing to learn my agenda, as long as it is clearly and fairly explained
It's so much fun to figure out what motivates and animal. Almost as much fun as figuring out how to use that motivation to achieve things together.
I have a three day weekend coming up and I SO look forward to sharing with you some of the Tig stories so far - because if you know me than you know that there is ALWAYS a good story and lessons to be learned! And these simple little updates are more like facts and outcomes rather than what happened in the middle, which is the entire point of life right?
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I think we have hooves again
5 years ago
That description is my Tucker in a nutshell. I am (at this point in our relationship) confident that he likes me and enjoys working with me, but making me happy is absolutely not his motivator; his motivator is being a rockstar. It used to really hurt my feelings (and I would still like my next horse to be a bit cuddlier), but the longer I know and work with him, the more I feel like this is a _super_ personality for a sport horse. Not the only super personality for a sport horse, but definitely a feature and not a bug.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the want a job horses make great spot horses. It's one of my favorite traits about farley. Its also my favorite type of horse probably because i can relate to them. I would not know what to do with a cuddly horse! Farley and I are like two business partners that over the years have become best friends. There's a lot of mutual respect and occasionally we hug but most of the time we get down to business and go down the trail and have a good time
ReplyDeleteGem is a mare with her own agenda. She could care less about pleasing me and will get out of work if she can. I spend a lot of mental effort trying to figure out ways to convince her that my agenda is worthwhile, but once we get on the same page watch out. She will rock it. She is a complicated ride, but worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...not sure if my comment went through or not. Sorry for a double comment if it did.
ReplyDeleteGem is all about her own agenda. She could care less about doing something just to please me and will get out of work if she can. I spend a lot of mental effort trying to get her to see my agenda, but once she does watch out! She is a tough cookie, but worth the effort.