DH has his own horse hobby as a living historian/reenactor. He portrays 18th century Continental Cavalry and U.S. Civil War Federal Cavalry. He’s a history buff, got his undergrad degree in history, and can really knock your socks off with the depth and breadth of his knowledge. He loves talking about cavalry history with spectators. Once, he was asked “Is that a real horse?”
Maybe this person was a Westworld fan?
haha or its just one of those really elaborate puppets?
Depending on how quick-thinking I was in that moment, had someone asked me that I think I’d have said, “no, it’s a robot” or something. Not sure whether I’d say it sarcastically or kind of deadpan it. (downside is knowing me, I wouldn’t have thought of that comeback until probably three hours later)
No - the answer is “WOW I don’t know. It seems to be but I am not positive.”
Oooh another good one! 
See, if people I know decently well or friends of good friends ask to come ride, I’m all for it. But for slightly evil reasons. My pony mare is very chill and won’t do anything bad at all, but she’s not easy to actually ride (she will do EXACTLY what you tell her to do) and it’s great fun to watch people that think they are cowboys go nowhere but in a tiny circle or straight over to me because they don’t know how to use seat and leg aids. I do eventually help them out a bit so they feel like they’ve learned something, and they always come away with an appreciation for riding. But I get a good laugh out of it first.
See now, my TB was the opposite.
He tried his darnedest to accommodate Newbs.
But for me?
I better ask right Or Else < this especially O/F 
He liked to be guided to the base, then my job was to stay the Eff out of his way.
If I failed, I got a run-out. Never a stop, so better? 
But I got the message.
One clinic with a BNT had my novice shareboarder so loose in the tack she almost came off over a One-stride.
I didn’t see it happen, but was told he practically cantered in place to keep her in the saddle 
So funny. I had a friend who had a Paint stallion like that. If you knew nothing he was perfectly happy to tote you around and would really try to keep you on. BUT if he thought that you had one scintilla of knowledge then you had to work yourself into a sweat to get it from him. He wasn’t giving it away for free.
I miss him (Buck) and his owner Deb. She passed a year ago from cancer and he preceded her by two years.
How is she two already? Wow. Time flies.
Right?! She is nearly the biggest in her group and certainly towers over her pony fwend.
I have an old friend, who i now only am in contact with via facebook. She has a student, a STUDENT, who my friend just knows would really love coming by my farm and visiting my animals…especially the horses, especially the mustangs. Girl is in a wheel chair, parents salt-of-the-earth i would ‘love them’…etc etc.
Family of four driving through Missouri from Indiana on their way to Grand Canyon and she’d like to schedule a visit to my farm for them along the way…
I have fielded away visits for years from people I actually know, in real life…and now a friend of a friend is trying to come here and use me as a petting zoo.
Geeze people… NO. The answer is: no.
Last week, not caring that Bay is clearly saying to let him eat dinner in peace … He was 15.2 the last time he was measured (like…18 years ago or so, he’s 28 now).
Generally I won’t put anyone on my pony as she is very, very forward (she’s also too small for your average adult so that’s a good excuse). However, I did let my sister ride her once, and pony spent the whole time simply walking back to stand with me 
If I moved away, she followed. My sister, who did take some riding lessons, attempted valiantly to get her going where she asked…pony simply very politely said no thank you, I shall stay with mum!
I love this video!
Thank you, she is a cutie and gets away with entirely too much.
If I could fit these folks into my schedule, I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute. Not a minute. I own a couple ponies in part for kids to come visit and pet. And sit on if they’re able. EVERY child should get the opportunity to pet a horse. And sit on one.
I still remember as clear as a bell an old broken down horse pastured behind a restaurant my folks frequented on Friday nights. Somehow, my parents got permission for me to pet him. And occasionally the farmer would let Dad lift me on him. I was three. It was the highlight of my week.
I am going to defend @eightpondfarm a little here.
We have had literally dozens of people and families to our farmette for a farm visit. Pet the pony, pony rides (we keep an assortment of helmets), feed the chickens, collect eggs, ride the ATVs, fish in the pond, etc. My favorite visitors have been my nieces and nephews and the children of some of old riding students.
It can be exhausting. I am more than a little tired of being treated like another roadside attraction and some people’s incredible sense of entitlement. (You have this cool place so you must want to share it. Sure, like people with pools and beach houses want to share.) I also have a very healthy fear of liability. So I will now only offer the farm visit to extended family or people I have a fairly close relationship with. Friend of a friend that I haven’t met previously and know little about? Uh, no. Include in that that the child is in a wheelchair? Um, hell no. Passing through on the way to somewhere else? Whatever is stronger than hell no.
Yes, it would be a nice thing to do for the kid. But it’s a huge ask of a total stranger. And a huge risk. Knowing the little about @eightpondfarm that I do, I also suspect that she finds exactly this kind of social interaction utterly draining.
I was in pre-school when a friend of my mother’s put me on the back of her horse bareback and led me around, it’s a really important early memory, so I’m with you on that part. But the key difference was that it was my mother’s friend and it was a 15 minute thing at most, NOT a random stranger passing through town.
Did you miss I began my post with this? Maybe because I rarely let people infringe upon my boundaries, I’m able to accommodate most requests. Requests have to fit into MY schedule.
This girl is under 12 has cerebral palsy. Her sister is a teenager. And both these girls spend five days a week at my friend’s barn, brushing, cleaning stalls…just to be around horses. My friend teaches ADA riding…has four or five lesson horses. The girls love horses. i understand how desperately they want/need to be immersed in horseness. that i ‘get’.
The part that i do not want are four people i don’t know, here. All asking questions, moving around… Me having to keep track of them and keep them safe and answere questions. Maybe they’ll get too close, maybe they’ll try to hug me when they leave. Certainly i will need to talk to them the entire time they are here and i can’t just walk off and gather myself while they are around my animals. I have two horses, about 75 sheep, two llamas, very friendly chickens and guineas all wandering around the house and barns. And that’s just when you get out of your car…before entering into any yard or corral or pasture…Once you do that, my domestic horses are quite in-your-face types. They will surround you if you walk in their area…like literally surround you. I am kinda worried about liability, my partner most assuredly is!, but i haven’t told her about this…she’d just stress.
I field requests from local people who just KNOW their grandkids would LOVE my farm and my animals. But you see, i’m not a petting zoo. It takes too much time off other things i need to do to make things looking nice for visitors. I get nothing at all out of it, nor do my animals. Only the visitors get something out of it and i am not devoting my private life to making others feel happy. I donate my time to the Senior Center, i donate my training skills to developing disaster search dogs. I donate money to charities. i have ample ‘giving-ness’ in my life. This visitor stuff is something i’ve tried…after 20 years you betcha some have gotten in, have pushed and invited themselves until i finally gave-in. It is NEVER anything less than extremely stressful for me. And WHY do i even have to explain this to you people? You don’t get to tell me how i should live my life.
I get it, I do.
You are not obligated to run a petting zoo. And you are not obligated to spend you scant social energy on people you don’t know or care about.
I go back to the pool or beach house analogy.
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