Spring Fever: Goose in Love
Spring has officially hit the Carolinas! Which is almost true, except it snowed last Tuesday... hopefully that is the last of the cold and we are moving into sunny 70's weather.
The past few months have been uneventful due to the ridiculous deluge we've been experiencing. Work has also continued to be busy, so I haven't been pushing myself to get to the barn late at night when it was dark or raining. Now with the weather improving, that's already starting to change and I'm able to make it out more easily. I'm also working from home more often which makes it easier to get to the barn, even if I leave during rush hour.
Last week I went to the barn hoping for a lovely hack in the 70ish, sunny weather. As soon as I got out of the car, Abby came up to me announcing that Goose was in L-O-V-E loveeeee! We have a new mare that just arrived the day before, and she is adorable. As far as daughters-in-law go, you can't get much cuter than a pretty redhead, so I approve of Goose's choice.
EXCEPT.
Goose is a raging asshole when he is in love. He hasn't been herdbound since I first bought him in 2012 and he came in with his friend Kashi who he had lived with for years. In a two for one deal, I got the Goober and gave my trainer at the time Kashi who went on the be a beloved lesson and IHSA horse for many years. For a few weeks, Goose was extremely challenging as we tried to separate them on our small property. There was a lot of misbehaving and screaming going on, and if they were both in the arena at the same time I could forget about doing anything productive. Eventually they both settled down. Since then, Goose has had friends but hasn't been obsessed with any other horse.
Enter Hannah. As mentioned, Abby announced his new love affair and everyone at the barn told me that the two went gallivanting around the field together, ending their gallop with a sunlit dinner of grass, side by side. I went out to get him and found him right next to her, and as I walked up he nickered at me, Hannah nickered at him, and they started touching noses nickering at each other like fools in love. It was adorable, slightly inappropriate (ahem, Goose think of *something else*, maybe baseball? and control yourself, dude, you are not a stud), and I knew I was in for an interesting evening.
After dragging a zig-zagging, hollering Goose back to the barn, he mostly behaved on crossties and I knocked the mud off and threw on tack. Originally my plan for the evening was to ride in the big field where all the horses are turned out, but considering this new love affair I wanted a level of separation (thank you, hot wire) between the two in case things escalated. Which they did.
At the mounting block, we had a brief discussion that NO, you cannot spin to face the big field while I am trying to get on you. Then, we had a discussion about how steering was not, in fact, optional, and YES, he does have to be an adult and work today. I wanted a solid 40 minutes of work, and Goose wanted to go make out with Hannah. So, we compromised and fought for 20 minutes and then had 20 minutes of sweat-inducing work that left us both panting.
Goose's favorite trick is just casually dropping his shoulder completely to rollback in the direction he wants to go. After six years of this crap, I can usually anticipate it. He was latching on to my left rein, so he got to spin in a tight left circle for a minute. Then he tried the other rein, here we go to the right. I hate this about him, but kindness and patience isn't always the answer with this horse. Sometimes I need to dig in a spur, tell him to man up, and then when he realizes I don't give in, we can get to work.
We ended with some really lovely flatwork and I let him pop over a few cross rails that were set up in the field as a reward. I'm looking forward to doing more with him this year, getting back into jumping and going on adventures with friends. Hopefully his love affair with Hannah is short-lived, or at least his brain shifts back into place. I don't mind him having friends, but the whole herdbound BS is NOT something I tolerate. I'll chock this one up to spring fever, but if this trend continues a certain someone is in for some serious manners bootcamp!
This weekend I snuck in a grooming session Saturday morning before I went to do normal people things at a brewfest in Charlotte. Sunday I managed a ride despite the rain - I really had to convince myself that I don't have to be one of those riders scared off by a little precipitation. We only worked for 15-20 minutes since it started down pouring the second I got on, but he really showed up to work and I was thrilled with the ride we had.
This week's weather is questionable, and with work events coming up I'm not sure how much riding I'll get in before the weekend. Jenni is coming to visit (YAY!) so Goose is in for a lot of snacks, riding, and hopefully a beauty day where we tackle his mud and poop stains and try to tame the mane.
The past few months have been uneventful due to the ridiculous deluge we've been experiencing. Work has also continued to be busy, so I haven't been pushing myself to get to the barn late at night when it was dark or raining. Now with the weather improving, that's already starting to change and I'm able to make it out more easily. I'm also working from home more often which makes it easier to get to the barn, even if I leave during rush hour.
Last week I went to the barn hoping for a lovely hack in the 70ish, sunny weather. As soon as I got out of the car, Abby came up to me announcing that Goose was in L-O-V-E loveeeee! We have a new mare that just arrived the day before, and she is adorable. As far as daughters-in-law go, you can't get much cuter than a pretty redhead, so I approve of Goose's choice.
 |
| I'd already started walking up to them once and they trotted away to eat more grass. UGH horses. |
EXCEPT.
Goose is a raging asshole when he is in love. He hasn't been herdbound since I first bought him in 2012 and he came in with his friend Kashi who he had lived with for years. In a two for one deal, I got the Goober and gave my trainer at the time Kashi who went on the be a beloved lesson and IHSA horse for many years. For a few weeks, Goose was extremely challenging as we tried to separate them on our small property. There was a lot of misbehaving and screaming going on, and if they were both in the arena at the same time I could forget about doing anything productive. Eventually they both settled down. Since then, Goose has had friends but hasn't been obsessed with any other horse.
 |
| Okay lady you caught me, but I loves her and she come too okay? |
Enter Hannah. As mentioned, Abby announced his new love affair and everyone at the barn told me that the two went gallivanting around the field together, ending their gallop with a sunlit dinner of grass, side by side. I went out to get him and found him right next to her, and as I walked up he nickered at me, Hannah nickered at him, and they started touching noses nickering at each other like fools in love. It was adorable, slightly inappropriate (ahem, Goose think of *something else*, maybe baseball? and control yourself, dude, you are not a stud), and I knew I was in for an interesting evening.
 |
| As much as he loves her, he did NOT want to share snacks |
After dragging a zig-zagging, hollering Goose back to the barn, he mostly behaved on crossties and I knocked the mud off and threw on tack. Originally my plan for the evening was to ride in the big field where all the horses are turned out, but considering this new love affair I wanted a level of separation (thank you, hot wire) between the two in case things escalated. Which they did.
At the mounting block, we had a brief discussion that NO, you cannot spin to face the big field while I am trying to get on you. Then, we had a discussion about how steering was not, in fact, optional, and YES, he does have to be an adult and work today. I wanted a solid 40 minutes of work, and Goose wanted to go make out with Hannah. So, we compromised and fought for 20 minutes and then had 20 minutes of sweat-inducing work that left us both panting.
Goose's favorite trick is just casually dropping his shoulder completely to rollback in the direction he wants to go. After six years of this crap, I can usually anticipate it. He was latching on to my left rein, so he got to spin in a tight left circle for a minute. Then he tried the other rein, here we go to the right. I hate this about him, but kindness and patience isn't always the answer with this horse. Sometimes I need to dig in a spur, tell him to man up, and then when he realizes I don't give in, we can get to work.
We ended with some really lovely flatwork and I let him pop over a few cross rails that were set up in the field as a reward. I'm looking forward to doing more with him this year, getting back into jumping and going on adventures with friends. Hopefully his love affair with Hannah is short-lived, or at least his brain shifts back into place. I don't mind him having friends, but the whole herdbound BS is NOT something I tolerate. I'll chock this one up to spring fever, but if this trend continues a certain someone is in for some serious manners bootcamp!
This weekend I snuck in a grooming session Saturday morning before I went to do normal people things at a brewfest in Charlotte. Sunday I managed a ride despite the rain - I really had to convince myself that I don't have to be one of those riders scared off by a little precipitation. We only worked for 15-20 minutes since it started down pouring the second I got on, but he really showed up to work and I was thrilled with the ride we had.
This week's weather is questionable, and with work events coming up I'm not sure how much riding I'll get in before the weekend. Jenni is coming to visit (YAY!) so Goose is in for a lot of snacks, riding, and hopefully a beauty day where we tackle his mud and poop stains and try to tame the mane.
Uuuggghhh. Horses lusting after one another is The Worst. I hope this is a super short-lived thing for your sake. I know how complicated it can be to ride a herd bound horse! Q tries that shit with me all the time at home. Like, come on creature, you're an adult and you KNOW better. Fighting against my aids only results in more work and stress on both our parts. Let's just, y'know, get along?
ReplyDeleteIt's awful!! That's the hardest part, the fact that they KNOW their jobs and they KNOW they're going back out in the field when they're done. But I guess they don't rationalize the same way we do. Luckily Goose goes to his "summer home" out of the big field to a smaller pasture so his highness doesn't get any tubbier. Hope Q doesn't give you too much trouble this spring with the herd!
DeleteYay for the weekend of snacks and beauty and more snacks!!! Fingers crossed the weather cooperates for us!
ReplyDeleteDon't tell Goose how to live his life.
ReplyDeleteShe's his soulmate.
For now.
Update: They're already on the outs hahaha
DeleteShe found that Goose was being too needy and controlling, found herself a nice chestnut TB instead. Stay turned for more, def going to be on again/off again. Ah, young love.