Today, I realized something...
Today I realized something...
So many times since I bought Moose I’ve chided myself for; not being skilled enough, not knowing enough about green horses, not having the perfect seat - basically not being enough for him.
I have OFTEN felt sorry for Moose, imagining that if he’d got an owner with much more skill and talent than me, then he would be an eventer by now, he would have already had the taste of shows and rosettes. That maybe, he would have ridden a stunning dressage test and turned heads. That he would have jumped clear rounds and been a star.
I have felt on more than a few occasions that I have been letting him down by not being confident enough to take him off property to shows. What a let down his life must feel like, right? Just a pet horse, a happy hacker - a pleasure horse... 😣
But today as I was riding him a thought struck me. A thought so far out of left field that I honestly paused.
The thought was ...
Moose doesn’t care about that stuff...
Moose hasn’t got a clue what all of that is.
It’s actually so simple and ‘duh’ that it makes me laugh even as I write this. Moose only knows what I show him. What I reward, what I teach and what I ask of him. Moose knows nothing of rosettes and winning. Of shows and all that pomp.
He just knows me, and us and our friendship.
Maybe for Moose winning is treats and my voice saying ‘good boy’ when he does as I ask. Maybe winning for Moose is those hugs he gives me and the way I smile when he nudges me for tickles. Maybe to Moose there is no better rider/owner out there for him than me...
We may not ride at Kentucky, or belt around Badminton, but when we hack out around the fields and I natter to him about nothing and everything as we ride, maybe that’s Moose perfect life.
So I’m going to stop feeling sorry for him. I’m going to stop imagining that I’ve let him down. Because I haven’t. I’d only let him down by continuing to put our partnership down.
He is perfect for me, and I am perfect for him.
Xx
So many times since I bought Moose I’ve chided myself for; not being skilled enough, not knowing enough about green horses, not having the perfect seat - basically not being enough for him.
I have OFTEN felt sorry for Moose, imagining that if he’d got an owner with much more skill and talent than me, then he would be an eventer by now, he would have already had the taste of shows and rosettes. That maybe, he would have ridden a stunning dressage test and turned heads. That he would have jumped clear rounds and been a star.
I have felt on more than a few occasions that I have been letting him down by not being confident enough to take him off property to shows. What a let down his life must feel like, right? Just a pet horse, a happy hacker - a pleasure horse... 😣
But today as I was riding him a thought struck me. A thought so far out of left field that I honestly paused.
The thought was ...
Moose doesn’t care about that stuff...
Moose hasn’t got a clue what all of that is.
It’s actually so simple and ‘duh’ that it makes me laugh even as I write this. Moose only knows what I show him. What I reward, what I teach and what I ask of him. Moose knows nothing of rosettes and winning. Of shows and all that pomp.
He just knows me, and us and our friendship.
Maybe for Moose winning is treats and my voice saying ‘good boy’ when he does as I ask. Maybe winning for Moose is those hugs he gives me and the way I smile when he nudges me for tickles. Maybe to Moose there is no better rider/owner out there for him than me...
We may not ride at Kentucky, or belt around Badminton, but when we hack out around the fields and I natter to him about nothing and everything as we ride, maybe that’s Moose perfect life.
So I’m going to stop feeling sorry for him. I’m going to stop imagining that I’ve let him down. Because I haven’t. I’d only let him down by continuing to put our partnership down.
He is perfect for me, and I am perfect for him.
Xx
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