My new love
January 16th, 2009, 12:37 pm · 10 Comments · posted by sjohnson
I’ve been quiet for a while, a little preoccupied.
Of course there were the holidays and vacation, lots of shopping and juggling work and home and family.
But there’s another reason I have been quiet.
It’s my Sancha.
She was the first I saw when I began my search, and no matter what, I always went back to her. As a matter of fact, the night after I met her, I couldn’t sleep. I paced and fretted, telling myself to stuff it and move on.
But I couldn’t.
My thoughts for the past three months have been consumed with her.
How to integrate her into my life, how to keep her, put her up in a nice pad and find pockets of time to sneak away to be with her.
Can I afford her? Will I have time? Do I know how to care for her? Will I be able to foster a long-term, positive relationship with her? Can I teach her what she needs to know?
I placed so much pressure on myself in making the decision, the commitment…
I tested others, read the classified ads, plumb wore myself out, but I kept going back to her.
Finally, after a ton of reading, seeking advice from friends and acquaintances (I’ll admit, listening mostly to what I wanted to hear), sleepless nights, visits to see her, and finally a clean bill of health from the Doc, the deal was done.
I took the plunge.
I think with every major decision in life, at least in my experience, you bog yourself down with research, make lists of pros and cons, toil and contemplate and then in the end you cross your fingers close your eyes and jump.
Doing what you probably wanted to do all along anyway, only slightly more educated and as a result, totally responsible for the outcome.
Last Thursday, as I watched them snake the ropes around her, tugging her head and pulling her rear end at the same time, I had second thoughts.
“What the heck am I doing?” “Am I out of my mind?”
As she set back on her hindquarters, nose stretched forward as far as it would go against the ropes with a wild look in her eyes, I looked away and told myself to stay the course.
And again, when we arrived at her new home and I heard the crazed stomping, snorting and whinnies coming from the trailer like a violent thunder storm trapped in a tin can, I told myself it was too late, she was mine, good bad or indifferent.
Commitment made, I waited for the explosion as the door opened.
But it never came.
Standing there with a little blood on her bottom lip from her harrowing trip, she looked out, calmed by the sight of sunlight.
A week later, I am still juggling a gazillion emotions. Pride and joy gives way to discouragement, frustration and fear only to be replaced with love and adoration and then back around again in a vicious circle.
It has been a real roller coaster ride.
She’s happy to see me when I arrive, but often reminds me that she spends too much time alone, wants more of this or that, alternates between being playful to turning her back on me to begging for touch and comfort.
Even with her sometimes-rotten attitude and the effort it takes to love her some days, I am still plagued with thoughts of her.
In the morning I can’t wait to finish my routine so I can sneak off and spend a few minutes with her before work, and during the day, I catch myself smiling for no reason, looking forward to the feel of her warm breath on my cheek and thoughts of brushing her red-tipped, silky black hair from her eyes when I go to see her in the evening.
Will I be the worst thing that ever happened to her? Am I going to ruin her? Make mistakes that can’t be undone?
I suppose time will tell.
But one thing’s for certain, my Sancha’s got my heart.
And maybe soon, I’ll uncross my fingers a little.
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I liked Sancha. She’s like a way bigger version of my dog. Ok, no not really, lol. And just to clarify for your non-Spanish speaking audience. Sancha means mistress.
You bought a horse? How does she like your living room?
Sharna buying a colt is a wonderful experience. It will take a lot of your time and most of all your love. There are a lot of great horse trainers out there you can go to for advice. You will hear all kinds of things and soon you will learn your own style of training your filly Sancha. Please take your time with her and never let her get her bluff in on you. She will need lots of space to play and grow up. Keep things simple and consistant is the best advice I can give you. I wish you all the best with your new adventure. Your friend ViAnn
Congratulations on your new baby. I know you will have tons of fun with her. I have had horses since I was a teenager. I have showed for years, worked with Special Olympics Equesterians and been a show judge. I have raised my current baby, who is now 17.1 hands tall. The best advice I can give you is to pick a style of training you are comfortable with and stay with that. Too much advice can be confusing. I use the natural method of using what is natural for the horse and just using the gentle and natural instintcs of the horse to teach them that you are the dominant mare in your little herd. Respect and love for each other are the most important things. Teaching her to respect you and your space is a good place to start. I would love to help you if you might be interested. I have help numerous people to get starting and advance in the art of horses. You can always call me. I am ViAnn’s friend. Heres to some wonderful experiences. Darlene
congratulations on your new baby!
Thanks everybody for the great comments!
• Dianna, thanks for the translation, I forgot to explain to readers, but it is certainly turning out to be a prophetic name!
• Tonya, silly girl, I would never take a horse in the house now that I’m all grown up! I’ve just practically moved in with her…
• ViAnn, you are a never ending source of support and kindness, I hope you’re ready for the barrage of phone calls that are sure to come your way!
• Darlene, I have been most interested in the natural techniques and like the concepts so I am definitely inclined that way.
I am interested in the results produced by Stacy Westfall, Clinton Anderson and Pat Parelli.
We’ve done some “sacking out” (she seems steady as a rock with bags and ropes and stuff) and leading is coming along nicely. The bonding is also coming along nicely.
Some of the natural horsemanship stuff has been very handy until I run into what I can only see as stubbornness on her part, either that or I just don’t get it and I’m doing it wrong, but I almost wonder if it might not be too gentle sometimes.
So in other words, I’m not too proud to ask for help. You might regret your offer
Sometimes what we think of as stubborness is confusion. Go back to what she has done well and work up to the problem area. Babys have short memories sometimes. Try a few times and if not sucessful go back to the beginning and do things that work into the thing you are having problems. You might try breaking the problem into smaller pieces to achieve and then add them together. I’m never sorry to offer help to a fellow horseman.
Darlene
She is beautiful Sharna. Congratulations.
in one ear out the other , I new you were going to get this baby. I hope she gives you the love you have her.
Sharna- congratulations on the new edition!
On a completely seperate side note I want to say that you have done EXCELLENT covering the disgusting tragedy with Jack the cat. It’s absolutely horrible what was done to him and I can’t think of a better writer than you (the animal lover that you are) to cover this sickness. Great writing and excellent research. I hope that this isn’t taking too much of an emotional toll on you. Please though, keep up the excellent work.