Horses, Journey from Fear to Respect. From a husband's point of view.

The world of horses as a hobby is dominated by women. Yes, this is a generalization. It does not always hold true, but I can confidently say that this is a fact. Two years ago my wife wanted to get a horse. It had always been a dream of hers, and frankly I was beggin for her to get a hobby. I have tons of hobbies, and when I left to do these things she would always be a little irked that I was not spending a little more time with her. Frankly I can't fault her. I do have a lot of hobbies.

So she got her horse, and we saw each other less and less. At first it was great. We were both happy doing what we do, and we made the most of the time we spent together. Eventually, we realized that we would have to meet on some common ground so we were more a part of each others lives. One Huge Problem. I realized horses terrified me. (By the way, she made some concessions as well. Not a ton of wives I know that totally get into Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica. But that is a discussion for another time.)

Thing is, I am not a fan of being controlled by anything. This includes fear. So I set out to overcome this irrational feeling. I know a guy named Paul Creviere Jr., the man was deathly afraid of water. He overcame this fear, became scuba certified, and eventually wrote a book called "Wild Gales and Tattered Sails." It is about the shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. Which by the way he explored himself. I can't honestly directly compare my situation with his. I believe his fear was rooted deeper than mine own. Yet his situation did provide me with some small amount of inspiration.

These animals are huge, powerful creatures that seemingly have an unpredictable nature that stems from them being prey animals. Huge, Powerful, Unpredictable. Take all three, and you have a very fearsome and dangerous animal. Thus my fear seemed warranted. But I have motivation, spending quality time with my wife and not completely hating it.

I am dog guy. I love dogs. I have never met a dog I don't understand. I can always tell if a dog is approachable. Does it want to bite me, warn me, love me, lick me? I can just tell. I cant explain how I know what the dog is thinking, I just do. We fear what we don't understand. Through knowledge comes understanding. Through understanding comes trust, and the absence of fear.

I am Capricorn, thus I think in logical terms. Logically speaking, learn everything you can about the horse's language so you can eventually understand it's reactions and the reasons for these reactions.

The process that gets us there is much more complicated.

(to be continued....)

"Lee Geurts" aka Lee Speakin

My Knowledge Sources (bibliography)

• Karen Zoelle - Green Bay, WI Based Dressage Trainer
• Julia Cornette - Green Bay, WI Based Horse Trainer
• Ellie Neerdales - Green Bay, WI Based Natural Horsemanship Trainer
• Danielle Jauquette - Green Bay, WI Based Hunter Jumper Trainer
• And of course my lovely wife, Leslie Heyden