Be like Mike......

,One of the perks of my job is getting to meet all manner of horse people. Ones who have been astride a horse since their exit from the womb and those who one day, right smack dab in the throws of middle age, up and decide to get a horse and get to riding. I enjoy all manner of horse person, especially when they fall into that category I can only label as "characters" Don't read me wrong here, a character is a term of positive distinction in my book. I usually learn my best lessons from a "character". Lessons I use to help the next person who calls with a horse dilemma. One of my favorite "characters" is a man we'll call Mike. His take on some of his horses behaviours was not quite what most horse folks would have agreed with. That being said, after further consideration, I began to wonder if Mike was onto something and the rest of us where off base.

Mike took his two horses everywhere to ride, an unusual thing for a relatively new horse owner to do. His attitude about it was one of hoping his horses, like his family dogs, would enjoy the new scenery and appreciate the outing. And by golly I think they did. Not because his horses where so different from all of our horses but because of Mikes attitude. When we would meet for our weekly lesson he would tell me of his various adventures that week, and while I shook my head in amazement at some of the "fun" they had had, I noticed that the language mike used in retelling the strories was so positive from beginning to end. I couldn't help but believe a grand time was had by all. For instance, as many of us have experienced when taking stable buddies on rides away from home. Theres a good amount of "talking" that goes on between them when one gets just a bit to far out of range of the other. Most of us would say "He was yelling his head off for his friend." Or "The screaming back and forth was getting on my nerves." Not Mike! He described it as "they CHEERED for each other!" I have never heard horses calling for each other referred to as "cheering". But because he believed this to be the case, He was not distracted or disturbed by it and had a pleasant ride. His horses picking up on his vibe, settled down and enjoyed it too. Another Mike original is describing his horses prancing after a particularly challenging obstacle as the horse having pride in his success of tackling that obstacle. Well why not? Haven't we heard it said time and time again that attitude is everything? I think Mike has proven it is.