First Impressions
Published by GHC • Jan 14th, 2009 • Category: Horse Advice, by Rebecca Shylyby Rebecca Shyly, age 12
As I’m sure many an adult has told all of you, first impressions are not always correct. Now, where most wise people who state this fact are usually talking about people, it can be true for horses too.
It all started when my stable got a new horse. His name was Gabar (I think that’s how you spell it). When my lesson got to look at him, my instructor told us that we would be working with him a lot because we are the most ‘advanced’ lesson and he was a high strung Arab who wasn’t used to being a school horse. Nobody could ride him right away because he had a huge gash in his side that was just healing. It looked really ugly and like it would take a long time to heal. We all felt terrible for him.
Well, we finally began to ride. I was the second one in my lesson, and my first impression was: YUCK! He was too excitable, too unruly and riding him made me feel like I had been riding 3 days instead of three years. I really didn’t like him. I mean he was sweet on the ground, but riding him was a different story. Luckily a different girl in my lesson fell in love with him, and my instructor let her ride him most of the time.
Well, finally Jessica (my instructor) said that the other girl had ridden Gabar enough, and it was time that some of the rest of us tried it out. Guess who she picked? If you guessed me, you got it right. I was skeptical,but I decided to just hope for the best. I joined up with him while the other girls were saddling up (if you want to know what a Join Up is, read my blog Joining Up – An Amazing Experience!) to wear him out a little and get him to trust me.
When I got on, he was moving around a lot, and he refused to stop when I asked. But as the lesson wore on I began to enjoy myself and trust him a lot more, and it seemed like he felt the same way. When it came time for a lope (canter) I was slightly nervous because this is what had freaked me out before. But as we started he did well. Only at the end did he get really excited. But it all worked out.
The moral of the story is that first impressions of a horse (or a person for that matter) are not always correct. Give the horse another try if he seems a little crazy the first time around.
You’ve grown so much as a writer! That’s an excellent blog you’ve written. Horses are pretty unpredictable and you’ll never know when they have off-days. We should always give them chances. Great job, and I hope everything continues to go well with Gabar!
I 100% agree with you Rebecca. Wonderful blog! It’s always a pleasure to read your blogs.
mustangmane
Madelaina: Thanks so much. Actually most of my writing growth spurt has sprung off reading some of your blogs vecause they give me new formatting ideas. So thank you for your loveing support and your inspiration.
mustangmane: Thank you. Your always so supportive, it warms my heart everytime. I very much enjoy your writing style too.
Love you all!!
XoXo
Rebecca Shyly
Horsecrazzz
I agree.
I have a mare, Shyanne, and from the start I didn’t like her. The first year I had her she bucked and nearly broke my arm… not a good start. Almost exactly the next year She ran me over, smashing my leg. That was about 5 years ago. And if you would have asked me this time last year would has said the same thing. But last summer I needed someone to ‘pony’(lead around) Velvet. The only horse open then was…Shyanne.
To my utter unbelief, something ‘clicked’! I was having loads of fun! She worked wonderfully!
And this was after 5 years of animosity!
Now she is working with me instead of against and she likes it!! So happy!
She is not quite my dream horse but her bad spells are ‘dispelled’ ;)
Oh wow. He sounds like a handful, and also the type of horse I would love to ride. I love to ride challenging horses!
Salina: Im glad you didn’t break your arm. It’s great that things are finally starting to ‘click’!
Hope you hae lots of fun with her.
Stargazer: He is quite a handful. I enjoy riding challenging horseses too, as long as I feel like I have a little control. Lol.
XoXo
Rebecca Shyly
Horsecrazzz
Salina: Good luck with Shyanne. I know a pony with the same name. We spell it Cheyenne.
Sometimes I meet people that I think are a bit snobby, like one in my Art class. No one talks to her because she pushes past us to get where she is going first. But after a while of trying to be friendly I found out she’s just shy. She dosn’t think she’s better than us or too good to engage in our conversations; she is just too shy to try. More and more she is talking to me and I feel that getting to know her had really chanced my viers on her. Now I really like her!