It was going fine until the goats.

[quietann]

So... I went riding on Minnie with J on Trumpie this morning. Footing in the woods is terrible due to deep snow, so we rode out on the road. Both horses are generally road-safe. Minnie was behaving herself, we waved to some neighbors and the overall polite people who passed us in their cars, and it was good.

Until the goats. For some reason, both horses took offense at the small herd of small goats that was fenced in on the opposite side of the street. They were clearly Evil Scary Horse-Eating goats. Trumpie was starting to get over it, but then Minnie just freaked. Whirling, backing, unhappy horse in the middle of the road is not a good thing. She even backed into a snowbank and sat in it.

But. I stayed on, without even losing a stirrup (which was easier once J reminded me to breathe.) Minnie did not gallop back to the barn, with or without me. If I were a stronger rider, I would have pushed her more to go past the goats, but I'm just not quite up to it (yet).

So we turned around and went back, and then rode the horses around the snowy field near their barn, just to remind them that even though they'd won the battle to not have to pass the Evil Scary Horse-Eating goats, they still needed to work. (The ride around the field included one episode of Minnie stopping and being very bad, wanting to just go to the barn as we rode away from it, but I turned her in a tiny circle and eventually she decided that she'd be better off following Trumpie.)

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way Minnie strained her hocks, and my oh my she can work up a sweat when she's scared! I didn't have time to groom her thoroughly after the ride, so her coat is going to be a mess. Sigh. J will give her some good medicine and she'll get a little rest, and we think she will be OK.

J and her daughter are going to take the horses out for a goat-tolerating lesson sometime soon. I suspect that they will be able to convince the horses that the Evil Scary Horse-Eating Goats are not, in fact, evil and scary, and while goats will eat almost anything, they don't think that live horses passing by on the road are tasty.

Comments

Goats?

[sarahshevett.livejournal.com]

Just for the record, contrary to popular belief, goats are extremely picky eaters and though they might mouth and taste many things, they won't eat "almost anything".
http://acga.org.au/goatnotes/C001.php

I take what the goats leave behind and feed to cows or horses. Who, on the other hand, will eat anything.

Re: Goats?

[quietann.livejournal.com]

I should have said "will put anything in their mouths" perhaps? Or maybe it's just that the people I've known who have had goats have had crazy goats.

Re: Goats?

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

well....that depends on the goat. i knew a goat who drank four quarts of used motor oil. the next week or so were quite vivid and frightening.

[unclebooboo.livejournal.com]

An option that you might not have considered would be to get off and lead the horses past the scary goats. This has huge advantages in terms of safety (you're not going to get dumped) shows the horse that you are still in charge, and gets you to where you want to be.

Since the goats were on the other side of the road, chances are that you could have led your horses past without any serious resistance. In these kinds of situations, you typically get to a point where the horse is happier moving forward, because that's the easiest way to get away from the scary critters. You could walk far enough to get out of sight of the goats find a good substitute for a mounting block and then get back on.

This approach becomes particularly useful when the scary thing shows up on the way back to the barn and there's no other route home.

[goddessfarmer.livejournal.com]

Some of us don't bend well enough to get back on easily, so I usually leave dismounting as a last resort. Nothing is ever that scary going *home*. They were looking for an excuse to be bad. I've know Minnie since she was born, that's 24 years, and I've known Trump for almost 12 years now. They have both been past these goats without some much as a by-your-leave in the past, they have both shared sheds with goats. Bad ponies will have a goat lesson this afternoon, with my daughter and I, and no shit will be taken. If we have to get off, we will, but I suspect that a whack or two with a crop will be all we need.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

I think J answered this pretty well. When I was younger I did in fact get off a couple of times and lead my horse past. Getting back on just depends on finding an appropriate mounting aid. I could probably get back on Bearito without one, because he's all of 13.2 if he stretches really tall, and he's a bit swaybacked. Minnie is 15.1 or so, and if she's excited she won't stand still as soon as she feels weight on her. I spend the start of every ride walking her in teeny tiny circles while J gets on Trumpie.

As J said, there was absolutely no reason for the horses to balk at going past the goats. Trumpie had walked past them the day before, I think. (However, Minnie hadn't been ridden for almost a month, and she does lose brain cells when she's not ridden regularly. J and I are taking steps to get me on her at least once a week again, now that my work is less crazy and I have more time.) It almost makes me wonder if there was a coyote stalking the goats, because there were a few wee baby goats.