The Best Therapists Eat Grass ~ But Give Them Some Peace Too

Photo Credit: Nikki Alvin-Smith Studio

  

Whatever life throws at you, and let's face it during the last 15 months that has been a lot for all of us, there have to more options than 'suck it up' and deal with it. The time has been especially difficult for women in the workforce as they do double duty with home schooling kids and lay offs at work or working weird hours from home.

Our kids are stressed out. Youngsters toil with remote learning, our adult kids fight to keep their jobs and income and if they have a family, their sanity. Grandparents find themselves babysitting the grandkids as useful adjuncts to the daily life of their children and find it hard to go back to work even as the job market opens up once more.

For equestrians horses have become more important than ever in their lives in their role of emotional support. The perfect therapist! Plenty of hugs and interaction, no backchat, no noise. Just a peaceful coexistence with joyful time spent outdoors exercising during schooling time or the incomparable calm companionship of just hanging out in the stall grooming and spending time together.

It's no wonder that more and more folks are bringing their horses home to their backyard if they have the option. Sharing the equestrian passion with other members of the household can offer valuable stress relief to everyone.

What do the horses think of all this attention? From their POV I'd expect quite a lot. Boarding barn owners report that their human clients are spending more quality time with their equines and building better partnerships. Horses love attention and having something to do. Freedom to roam and move about being essential to their mental and physical health just as it is for ours.

But is it possible to overdo all that attention to your equine therapist? The answer is yes. Horses can become just as stressed by too much input as by too little. Obviously it all goes to the nature of the beast and the relationship that is currently enjoyed. Trust is essential in this emotional equation, as a horse that is distrustful of its caregiver or rider will become undone quickly with ever more time spent in the presence of the tension-inducing homo sapiens species. Homo sapiens, (Latin: “wise man”) being the species to which all modern human beings belong. But perhaps sometimes not all that wise.

 

 

It is important not to forget to give your horse his downtime and to establish a routine that works for both sides of the partnership. For example, rowdy kids climbing up and down all day on a pony can easily turn a respectful trustworthy critter into a cantankerous beast. 

It's also not fair to suddenly decide to increase the riding time just because you have more free time available. A horse needs to be 'legged up' gradually and new demands must be made with a clear understanding from the horse of what is being asked and how to answer the requests.

A horse may become lame out of seemingly nowhere. It may be possible to get away with a once a week one hour ride on a badly fitted saddle that works well for neither horse or rider (so often heavier riders sit in saddles far too small for their posterior). But when you start riding for longer periods or more frequently the pain may be unbearable and cause behavioral and soundness issues. A horse simply cannot be expected to 'suck it up' and manage any more than the rider should be asked to do. 

So give some thought to your trusty steed and their needs and as always, place them well in front of your own. Our noble beasts deserve our very best efforts and we must not take too much even though equines will so often give so much more than we should ask.