Equine Update

This is weird! i thought I had published this days ago! But it was in my drafts folder...

My horse doing yoga! It is pretty incredible that an animal the size of Maggie can simply lift her hind leg up, swing it around and scratch her ear (like she's doing in the photo). And with a hoof! You'd think they'd accidentally kick themselves in the face, or give themselves black eyes.
Here's another odd Maggie thing- she dreams. I mean, I figure that most animals do, as they sleep and do most everything else we do, so why not dream. But I've never SEEN a horse dream (like the dog; twitching and yelping) until last week. And horses don't actually sleep that much.
Bob and I were going to the store so I walked out into the pasture to make sure Maggie was secured. (Sometimes she's out in her temporary pastures.) Anyway, she was lying down but her chin was resting on the ground. And then her lips started to move and sort of bite at the ground. And here ears started to swivel all around and independently of each other. I thought, "Either she's asleep and dreaming or she's dying." So I stood there, where she could see my plainly if she woke up or came back from the dead and waited. This peculiar REM state continued for a few minutes. I was really starting to worry when her eyes opened, she looked at me like, "Oh hello!" and then she rolled vigorously around on her back and finally hoisted herself up and shook herself off. She looked very relaxed and well rested. But it was weird.
Hey, what I don't know about horses could fill several very long blog postings and it wouldn't be that interesting. Suffice it to say that between my admitting to giant blank spots in equine knowledge and residual fears about evil horsey activity*, thanks to Crispin (whom I hope is now residing in a can of dog food) I decided that what this middle aged equestrienne needed was some remedial lessons. And it's doing me a world of good! It's crazy as so many people say things like, "Why do you need lessons? Don't you already know how to ride?" But as my sage sister Beatrice observed, it's like dance and you can always learn something new. And it's been at least six or seven years since I had lessons.
So I have been riding a much larger, stouter horse than Maggie (Hannah by name, a red Hanoverian/Morgan cross) and consequently, my upper/inner thighs are killing me. I feel like I've been drawn and quartered, and I'm walking like a cowboy. This is also an interesting fact to point out to cynics who insist that riding must be good exercise for the horse, implying that the rider does nothing but sit there. Ha! Let me be the first to assure those skeptics that riding is incredibly physical. Your weight is one of your "aids" while riding; subtle shifts in balance tell the horse where to go. Not to mention posture and the alignment of shoulders and legs are constantly in use. But it is giving me new confidence and a happier attitude.I rode Maggie this afternoon as it didn't rain after all, and enjoyed myself immensely.

Not the most flattering picture of Maggie, but it shows her skepticism. I think she likes me, but secretly thinks I'm a wimp. I am. But I do like my little Magster!

* like bucking and spooking and bolting. All kinds of horsey fun!