This was one of those weekends that parents live for. On Saturday we headed to the farm bright and early with Tiffany, the horsey dominatrix. She would spend the day teaching Emily to ride and figuring out what we needed to do with the two horses. Up to this point our lives as horse owners had been, well, less than proud. Joey is a big, lovable, stubborn Quarter-horse who will follow you to the ends of the earth, but don’t expect to do much if he has no one to follow. Most of the time Em just sits on his back getting more and more frustrated as he refuses to move. On the rare occasion he would let her ride it was a short trip as he went looking for some place to rub her off his back.
Tiffany brought along Queen, an extremely gentle Quarter, and put Em in the saddle to see what she knew about riding. Emily was incredible. She spent the next few hours wandering around the pasture, sitting tall in the saddle and grinning from ear to ear. For those of you with daughters who have watched them on a horse you know what I mean about the great feeling you get seeing how happy they are. There is a reason so many books and movies have been written about little girls and horses. I’d have given anything to have bought that horse right there on the spot so I could see that look in Emily’s eyes every day. It was really hard to watch that trailer head down the driveway at the end of the day.
We’ve always surmised that Joey knows how to ride but didn’t respect Em enough to do it. Not knowing much about horses, (ok, I know slightly more about equine then I do about brain surgery and no one is waiting in line at my front door for a frontal lobotomy ) I figured Tiffany would saddle up Joey and ride him around a bit to see what he knew. Talk about surprised. After saddling she didn’t bother to ride, instead going straight into a form of breaking, letting him know, in no uncertain terms, that she was in charge. Within half an hour she was on his back and riding like the two of them were twins, born joined at the saddle. It was amazing watching them work, this tiny little twenty-something girl taming and controlling this thousand pound animal. You hear talk of “horse whisperers” and people who “have the way”, well she has it.
So by the end of the day we had digested huge helpings of horse information, but a few things were certain.
A) My little girl knows how to ride a horse.
B) Her horse knows what to do when someone is in the saddle.
C) Emily has to make Joey understand that she is in charge.
D) Gaining his respect won’t be easy for a ten year old girl.
But the story gets better. Sunday afternoon we headed back to Vicarious Farms, this time she’d have to do it on her own. She has to get his respect on her own, no trainer, no parents, just Emily and her horse.
She saddled him up and led him around the corral just fine, she even rode him around in a circle for a while. But soon came the moment of truth. How would he act when allowed into the half-acre holding pen? Right away Joey decided he wasn’t going to be told what to do, heading towards the shed to try to rub her off. She stopped him and forced him back into the corral. Now she had one really ticked off horse. Refusing to move, this stubborn horse decided it was time to establish who was boss. There was one thing he hadn’t counted on, Emily is twice as stubborn as him. Now that she knows what it’s really like to ride a good horse and that her horse knows how to ride, well the only thing standing between her and little girl horsey nirvana is a battle of wills. Joey might as well throw in the towel, he doesn’t stand a chance.
She slipped out of the saddle, tied his bit around to his side and made him walk in a tight circle. He’d stop, she’d make him walk again. It was heart breaking to watch this proud horse forced to do circles, though not painful, it was a blow to his spirit. Almost as bad was the fact that a little girl was having to make her pet do something he obviously didn’t enjoy, but she told him “Joey, this is for your own good. You’ve got to learn I’m in charge and be a good horse. Then we can ride every day.” After ten or fifteen minutes you could see the look in his eyes, he had given in. Emily had won.
After a few pats on the head and some encouraging words (his head, not hers. At this point she didn’t need encouragement) up on his back she went and the next half hour was spent riding back and forth in the corral. Joey responded to every command, obeying every instruction.
I’m really not sure who was prouder. You can’t describe what it’s like to watch your child accomplish something like that. Of course, her feet have yet to touch the ground, after months of struggling with Joey, she’s made remarkable progress. There is still a long way to go, but there is no doubt that Em will be able to handle it and one day soon we’ll be able to sit back and watch our little girl and her best friend gallop across the Ozark hills.
