Painting by Linda Martin
Among those attending the fair earlier this month was Tika. Never has my diva been subjected to such stress, and she made it known early on that this was simply too much for her, despite having a 24x24' paddock located alongside the others outdoors.
So by the end of her second day (and the first day of the fair), I was thinking we'd be making a midnight run home with her. I led her to the horse barn that evening and put her inside a stall, fully expecting her ears to be pinned in anger and for her to begin an attempt to tear down the walls.
Tika, however, is full of surprises, and she spent the following two days completely content, all snuggled up in a cozy little cave, happy with the fact that there was not a horse on either side of her.
So by the end of her second day (and the first day of the fair), I was thinking we'd be making a midnight run home with her. I led her to the horse barn that evening and put her inside a stall, fully expecting her ears to be pinned in anger and for her to begin an attempt to tear down the walls.
Tika, however, is full of surprises, and she spent the following two days completely content, all snuggled up in a cozy little cave, happy with the fact that there was not a horse on either side of her.
The peace, however, did not last long. Within a couple of days, Tika was beginning to get anxious, and the banging on the wall began.
Fairgoers. Some are more intelligent than others. Children can read signs that say "I bite", where as adults take it as a challenge. One woman in particular stood and ran her hands up and down Tika's stall front. When asked to please stand back, she replied that she was an animal behaviorist and that she studied animal behavior. All I can say is she must have failed her class if she could not tell my lovely girl was stressed, cranky, and wanted her dead.
Despite her stress, Tika remained the easiest horse for me to handle with my broken ribs. I took her for walks in the morning before the general public showed up, and she'd follow me willingly through the isles, out along the back of the barn without worrying much about the tractors and other farm equipment, past 4-Hers and their wheelbarrows as they mucked stalls. Her ears were up and she took in all the sights and sounds, reaching out to touch me now and then for reassurance that all was good. Never did she push or pull, and always was she polite.
Fairgoers. Some are more intelligent than others. Children can read signs that say "I bite", where as adults take it as a challenge. One woman in particular stood and ran her hands up and down Tika's stall front. When asked to please stand back, she replied that she was an animal behaviorist and that she studied animal behavior. All I can say is she must have failed her class if she could not tell my lovely girl was stressed, cranky, and wanted her dead.
Despite her stress, Tika remained the easiest horse for me to handle with my broken ribs. I took her for walks in the morning before the general public showed up, and she'd follow me willingly through the isles, out along the back of the barn without worrying much about the tractors and other farm equipment, past 4-Hers and their wheelbarrows as they mucked stalls. Her ears were up and she took in all the sights and sounds, reaching out to touch me now and then for reassurance that all was good. Never did she push or pull, and always was she polite.
Wadatika was more than happy to return home. A full week was simply too much for this girl to handle. When I walk out among the horses, Tika follows closely behind me. Stressful situations do tend to increase bonding, but it simply wasn't worth it for this red headed diva.
2 comments:
Very nice painting of your girl. I hear ya on the fairgoers; I once had one of my quarter horses on display like that at the Calgary stampede, there were some strange folks there. Poor Tika!
some people are just too darned stupid for their own good. I'm glad nothing bad happened.
I'm enjoying your blog!
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