I stand corrected...

In catching up on some of the blogs I'm following, I realized I had miscalculated the start date of my Horsey Parenthood.  What a bad Horse Mama!  Hil made some endearing comments about Merlyn's adoption on June 24, 2009.  You can read her comments here:  Hil's blog.  Thanks Hil, for the encouraging comments...

I may be spending a bit more time out "at the ranch" in the next little while to help out my good friend.  She's going through a rough time right now.  Her mom is really sick.  Keep them both in your thoughts and prayers. 

How we got here

One of the reasons I have decided to start up with the blog again is that I have been inspired by a woman in Manitoulin, Ontario.  She has created an equine sanctuary in the hopes of helping to keep the Sorraia breed alive.  She is also very in touch with communication and living more companionably with our equine friends.  If you have a minute, check out Lynne Gerard's blog: Journal of Ravenseyrie.  It's a lovely reflection on our changing relationships with horses and with nature.  Ravenseyrie is also where I learned a bit more about non-invasive and non-combattive ways of communicating with horses.  More on that later...

I thought that I would briefly catch you up (if anyone is out there...) on the first few months of my relationship with Merlyn.  Originally, I started riding with Merlyn just to get my riding legs back and to help get her out for some exercise.  As you may recall from my last post, what began as "non-committal-I'm-not-getting-attached" horse time evolved into full on horse ownership.  This evolution is something I am entirely grateful about.  I know that we can not plan for all things all the time, and the arrival of Merly in my life is merely one illustration of that. 

Merlyn was officially adopted in July of 2009, marked by an email to my friends about the "new horse mama" on July12.  Merlyn is a nine year old  Belgian cross mare.  I have decided that she is strawberry roan, and more Belgian than anything. Hil and I often laugh that from her croup forward, in profile she is 100% Belgian, but if you look just at her hind end, she could have some QH in her.  She has the softest, most expressive eyes I have ever seen and a lovely long blond mane and tail.  Being the tomboy that I believe her to be, that tail ends up taking hours to keep clean! 

Having learned from my first horse, Maya, that relationship building is probably one of the most important parts of having a horse, I decided from the onset that I would take all the time in the world getting to know Merle, and having her get to know me.  We went on some trail rides, rode to Birds Hill Park, played Parelli type games, and just hung out.  Throughout, I would intersperse some short "training" rides so I could try and assess where we both were in terms of our learning.  I was concerned that her saddle wasn't fitting quite right so I decided to put some bareback into the routine.  Ultimately, this led to the temporary demise of my riding due to a fractured tailbone.  Always looking for the bright side, I saw this temporary setback as an opportunity to do some real bonding from the ground and to do some reading into alternative methods of working with horses. 

The out of saddle reading time has led me to the work of Imke Spilker, treeless saddles, bitless bridles and "naked liberty."  It was also how I came across Ravenseyrie.  I hope to share, in upcoming posts, how some of my experimentation with different approaches is working out for me and Merly. 

until then...

Winter Dreams and second chances

It seems we all get a second chance at some point in our lives. Second chances can be vastly different in nature. I have had the odd second chance in life. Most recently, I've had the second chance to be a horse owner. This, coincidentally, corresponds with a second chance at this blog which I feel I have failed miserably. Originally started as a way to document my riding experiences, I found that I rarely dedicated the time to actually document anything! I stopped riding, started again, blogged a bit about other stuff and then moved back to the Prairies. A few short months after re-locating, we started to build a new house. This, of course, precluded any and all other activity. I rarely had time to sit and gather my thoughts let alone record them in any way shape or form. I hope that this entry is the sign of things to come. As the building process draws to a close, I hope to have the time to sit at the keyboard at least once a week to record my thoughts on this second chance.

Her name is Merlyn. She is truly a magician for we have been brought together in one of those chance situations. A name on a horse forum looking for contact information for a mutual friend. The realization that we were both looking for a riding buddy - someone horsey to hang out with - nothing too serious, just someone to ride with. She had an extra horse that needed riding, I needed a ride. We'd met when I'd lived in Winnipeg before, through a mutual friend, but we'd never really hung out before. From our first "horsey date" I knew I would enjoy getting to know her better. As a result of a chance re-meeting, I've gained a truly wonderful friend.

Merlyn was the other horse that needed a rider. She was a big girl - part Belgian, part who knows. She had soft eyes and one of those "aw shucks" expressions. Hil said she thought Merly might have been ridden hard in the past - maybe not full on abused, but definitely not treated right. She was scared of her own shadow when she had first arrived at Hil's - a horse purchased so her hubby could ride with her. Turns out hubby wasn't nearly as bit by the horse bug...lucky for me! We hung out for a couple months and had lots of fun. I'd been stung before by riding other people's horses and was determined not to let this one get to me. One day, that call came - the one I'd been dreading. "Hey, I need to talk to you about Merle..." I figured she was selling her, or decided she didn't need a rider after all. I couldn't have been more wrong.

After much thought, Hil had decided that Merle was a one person kind of horse. (Picture me waiting for the stinger, Hil wanter her to herself, she'd found an owner, etc.) Turns out, she had also decided, I was Merle's "person." She'd been watching me interact with Merle and noticed Merly was coming out of her shell. Hil liked what she had seen. Would I be interested in adopting her? She knew I was busy. Knew I wasn't really ready for parenthood yet. Still...would I think about it? It was a lot to think about - having a horse is a big responsibility. I spoke to my partner about it. What did he think? I spoke to my dad about it. I spoke to myself about it. In the end, it was a no brainer. I think Merly had picked me out. I'm glad she did.

Looking back on these past few months, I realize I have found my equine "soul mate." We're a lot a like, Merly and I. We've both seen our share of ups and down. I think we have soft souls, and strong hearts. She is wonderful and amazing and I can't wait to see how our relationship grows. I look forward to sharing our story, and hope you enjoy reading it...

Merle's Girl