No Treats Please
March 16, 2016
This past Saturday I had the pleasure of speaking to a very young lady who was totally in tune with her gelding, Apache. She and her grandparents had stopped at my table at the Stony Plain Spring Tack Sale. Her grandparents asked her if she wanted to hear what her horse had to say. She quickly replied, “Sure.”
I guided her to the client chair and we began. Her gelding spoke up immediately. I don’t want to be fed treats. I don’t want to be fat, he added. He went into detail what it feels like to be large and clumsy because he was enormous and really heavy, and in his opinion, overweight. He made a joke about like being a large person sitting on the couch eating a bag of chips. He did not like that about himself so he asked, no pleaded for help monitoring what people gave him for treats. He suggested apples and carrots would be better treats than grains for him.
When this comment came out, the young lady looked at her grandparents and said, “See? I told you he didn’t want any treats!” This girl definitely knew her horse.
Apache said that he wanted to have leaner muscles. He wanted her to condition him, get him moving at a trot. When he moved out in an extended trot he explained that it would mean that he felt lighter, more flexible, conditioned and then he would able to really compete, just like she wanted him to. He loved her so much and wanted to please her. He did have body image problems. He did not like where the condition of his body was heading. He asked for their help, because as he put it, he could not say no to food that was offered to him, even if he knew it wasn’t good for him. He also added that his body had a very difficult time processing grains. The grains just added too much weight and bulk to his body.
What does he think of his pasture mate they asked? He said that even though the mare in there was pushy and bossy, he needed someone like that to push him around. He was really laid back. He didn’t get excited about much. He added that if he were married he would choose a wife like that because if he were left on his own, he wouldn’t accomplish much in his life.
Apache was very happy with his young owner. He requested that she help him become the kind of horse that he wanted to be. He wanted to be leaner and feel more physically fit. She was just the one to help him, because like me, she could hear him too.
This past Saturday I had the pleasure of speaking to a very young lady who was totally in tune with her gelding, Apache. She and her grandparents had stopped at my table at the Stony Plain Spring Tack Sale. Her grandparents asked her if she wanted to hear what her horse had to say. She quickly replied, “Sure.”
I guided her to the client chair and we began. Her gelding spoke up immediately. I don’t want to be fed treats. I don’t want to be fat, he added. He went into detail what it feels like to be large and clumsy because he was enormous and really heavy, and in his opinion, overweight. He made a joke about like being a large person sitting on the couch eating a bag of chips. He did not like that about himself so he asked, no pleaded for help monitoring what people gave him for treats. He suggested apples and carrots would be better treats than grains for him.
When this comment came out, the young lady looked at her grandparents and said, “See? I told you he didn’t want any treats!” This girl definitely knew her horse.
Apache said that he wanted to have leaner muscles. He wanted her to condition him, get him moving at a trot. When he moved out in an extended trot he explained that it would mean that he felt lighter, more flexible, conditioned and then he would able to really compete, just like she wanted him to. He loved her so much and wanted to please her. He did have body image problems. He did not like where the condition of his body was heading. He asked for their help, because as he put it, he could not say no to food that was offered to him, even if he knew it wasn’t good for him. He also added that his body had a very difficult time processing grains. The grains just added too much weight and bulk to his body.
What does he think of his pasture mate they asked? He said that even though the mare in there was pushy and bossy, he needed someone like that to push him around. He was really laid back. He didn’t get excited about much. He added that if he were married he would choose a wife like that because if he were left on his own, he wouldn’t accomplish much in his life.
Apache was very happy with his young owner. He requested that she help him become the kind of horse that he wanted to be. He wanted to be leaner and feel more physically fit. She was just the one to help him, because like me, she could hear him too.