Horse Unit

I have an inherent fear of horses. So obviously I was putting off this lab until the very end of the semester. Horses, and horse people just don’t mix well with me. The funny thing is, I used to be an avid rider when I was younger. I rode both English and western for about 6 years. However, after being thrown from a horse and hitting the fence that just happened to be next to me, that all came to a screeching halt.

Needless to say, I forgot everything I ever knew about horses, and was subsequently traumatized. Horses to me are just large accidents waiting to happen. They are smart and fast and really scary.

Upon arrival at the horse unit, when Angela instructed us to go into the pasture and catch a horse, I nearly dropped dead of a heart attack. Luckily Angela helped me out by giving me some extra help when it came to catching and leading my horse.

Once I had caught my horse, Diesel, and had secured him with a halter I was feeling quite a bit better about the situation. Familiar things were coming back to me, like how to hold the halter and how to lead the horse, but I was still pretty nervous the entire time.

We lead the horses up to the barn, without injury, and learned to tie a quick release knot. We also practiced leading out horses and tying them in cross ties. Then came my favorite part: Grooming.

I remembered grooming well from when I was riding because it was my favorite part. It’s almost therapeutic, and the horses are restrained so I was a lot more comfortable with this. Throughout the whole process of curry combing and brushing, I was becoming more and more comfortable. True, I was still scared and my fear is not completely gone, but I am so glad I made the trip out to the horse unit to face my fear of horses.