Yesterday was cold, wet, and windy, so I figured it would be a good day to do bodywork in the barn. My husband was excited to learn all about it, and work with Leah as I worked with Tumbleweed. (Unfortunately, I didn’t take a single photo. But it was a lovely way to spend time with them.)
We have a Bluetooth speaker in the breezeway, and we played “relaxing piano” as we did the work. Leah loved it. Tweed was a bit worked up for a while, but finally relaxed into it. It’s good for him to learn to settle and it’s good for Leah’s overall health and movement. He got big releases from her.
My husband isn’t used to the quiet language of connection through bodywork, but the horses all trust him. They do more for him than they usually do. He has some quality they relax into. Leah seems to really enjoy their relationship, even more so than she does with me. I wonder if it’s because he rarely asks more from them than just being petted. He’s always feeding them and fixing things, but not riding them.
Speaking of riding, I got some new obstacles for my arena, stackable rail razers and bending poles.
The razers are meant to get them picking up their legs higher. The bending poles, which just arrived, are to work on…bending. I see the obstacles as mental and physical fitness builders.
Today we set the clocks ahead, and even though it changes nothing about how much sun we actually get, it changes everything about how much sun we get with our schedule. My husband works from home and now we will have more daylight to do things when he gets off work.
We plan to take the horses to the equestrian area in the evening and have it be our date nights. A little horse play, a little wine, and some good old medicine that comes from horse/human communion.
So awesome to share special horse-human connection/s with your hubby! Time well spent.
ReplyDeleteHe has been joining me a lot this year and I love it.
DeleteLove that your husband joins you in equine pursuits. Ted doesn't ride any more so it also affects what I do. I need to find a riding partner.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to balance horse time with the spouse’s pursuits. Mine likes to ride bikes and hike, so that has to be added in, and it does interfere with horse time. But he likes to join me with horses here and there, too. Not always. I hope you’re able to find someone, or a group, to ride with. I have one, but it’s still not easy to coordinate times. It used to be, when my husband worked full time and I wasn’t helping babysit. I could ride anytime I wanted. Haha. Different world.
DeleteJay adopted Copper in anticipation of being my riding buddy, but it turns out, Jay doesn't love to ride. It's not at all relaxing for him, he's always worried about if he's doing it "right", which I 100% understand. I enjoyed riding so much more, before I took my one and only dressage lesson. That lesson completely destroyed my confidence in the saddle, and now I second guess everything I do, instead of just doing it.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, Jay is game to ride with me when we travel, so in Scotland next month, he'll be trekking in the Highlands with me at least once.
I love the idea of your date nights at the obstacle course, and am more than a little jealous of them :)
You bring up an interesting point, whether more training really makes us better horsewomen. I was thinking about my first horse the other day, and how I didn’t know squat, but there was an instinct to do the basics, a one rein stop, walk, trot, and lope, and not be on his mouth with the bit much. At that time, I thought the whole point was getting to a farm field and letting him run his little heart out. Oddly enough, that seemed to create a solid horse.
DeleteCome to think of it, we didn’t trot much. It was more walk or run. Walk to the field, run, then walk home slow and tired.
Your husband sounds great! You can’t ask for much more than that. You’re going to have an unforgettable experience! Mine will never be obsessed with horses like I am, but he’s game for a little bit and always up for a date night.