Giddy Up

As mentioned in previous posts, the best way to get accepted into veterinary school is to rack up a whole bunch of hours doing various things with animals. Yikes, that sounds really inappropriate…you know what I mean!!

Anyway, as I alluded in the post about counting bird nests, I found an opportunity that would allow me to work with horses (something I have NEVER even considered doing before) and do so in a quasi-clinical environment.

The program I’m working with is called Simple Changes, a non-profit organization that seeks to offer low-cost equestrian therapy to kids with a wide variety of disabilities. A wide variety, indeed. Naturally, I don’t get the low down on every kid’s condition, due to confidentiality issues, but from what I can gather through observation, we see kids with cerebral palsy, autism, spastic paraplegia, muscular dystrophy – a veritable cornucopia of social and physically conditions for which horse riding provides a unique treatment and socialization regimen.

My duties with the program were pretty narrow at first, since what I know about horses could be tucked neatly into thimble. My first day was spent learning how to groom the horses and observing lessons to get a feel for how they ran.

A note about grooming: you want to feel humble in your humanity? Take a minute to clean a horse’s hooves. Not only are those suckers HEAVY, but these horses can apparently smell a newbie a mile away and proceed to go all Fred Astaire on you while you’re trying to clean them. This is not good news for either the horse or the one doing the grooming. Leaving debris in and around the horse shoes can lead to abscesses in the foot which are very painful and potentially debilitating for the horse. Great news for Erica. Apparently the trick is to wait for them to finish their rendition of Singing In The Rain and take control of the limb again to finish the cleaning. Take control of the limb!?!?! Are you nuts!?!?! These animals weigh the same as a Volkswagen and I’m supposed to “take control?” Lord have mercy!

Learning quickly, however, is a must in this program as you don’t get very much time in novice status. By the second week, I was grooming my own horse (except the hooves, I’m still contracting those out to some other unsuspecting, I mean experienced, sucker) and “sidewalking” during lessons. Sidewalking is exactly what it implies – walking besides the horse and the rider, making sure that they remain safely on top of the horse. Collateral duties include helping the students practice their riding techniques (walk-on/whoa, posting, jump positions and the occasional trot for the more experienced riders).

This, too, is a situation ripe with comedy. What the heck do I know about riding commands? The only horse I ever “rode” was a skinny, geriatric stallion who looked though he would implode if I gave him the walk-on kick. So basically I spent half an hour sitting on top of a horse, a meer spectator, while he moseyed around the paddock gettin’ his graze on. Acting as a dining companion does not good horse riding experience make. However, I do find that this is becoming easier as well, using the monkey-see, monkey-do approach to cognitive learning. Hey, it works for three year old, it should work for me.

Then, last week, I got to do the coolest thing. I got to lead a horse during a lesson. Again, this is pretty self-explanatory: the leader has control of the horse and assists the riders in their commands (stopping, starting, etc.). One would think that this would be a fairly simple function, but as with anything, there’s a lot more to it than you think. First, leading a horse is a lot like operating a car downtown. You have to keep your eye on traffic and make sure that the horses don’t get too close to one another, especially in the indoor arena where space is tight. Who knows what they’ll do and we can’t have horses bucking off students because they’re scared of their buddies. Plus, you have to know what all the commands mean so you can help execute them. Easier said then done when you don’t know jack about horse riding. Finally, you have to convince the horse that what you want him to do is what he should be doing. Did I mention they can smell a newbie? The big giant draft horse I was leading and I had clashing ideas of what he should be doing. Things were not going well for me and after running along side riders in the first two lessons on trail rides, I was quite drained in no mood to negotiate. Unfortunately, his massive size gave him all the bargaining power.

It was then that I learned the art of making that clicking noise with your tongue against the roof of your mouth. This annoying little sound somehow motivates a horse to your way of thinking. Fantastic! My problems are solved, I thought. For about five minutes. Did I mention the two previous trail rides? On a sunny day in 80 degree weather? Apparently this technique requires the presence of saliva in the mouth in order for it to come off effectively and I had none left. I couldn’t win for losing. Not to mention the two trail rides left the instructor a bit tired and, well, not with as much patience as she had in the early part of the day. Good day for Erica to start learning how to lead a horse. Woo hoo.

In the end, everything came off without a hitch. No one got hurt, no one was flung off my horse and the horse didn’t send me into next Tuesday. We’re calling that, in Erica-land, a raving success. I can’t wait to do it again.

All in all, this is a really awesome program and I’m so glad to have the opportunity to be a part of it. I’m excited to get to know the students and bond with the horses – truly a win-win situation.