Some people are just flat good at
handlin’ horses. They’ve got that good “horse savvy.” Matter of fact,
there are people actually makin’ a livin’ trainin’ horses! I admire
these folks’ ability and special talent. It’s always a pleasure to see a
good horse workin’ right. But horses look at veterinarians like kids
look at Sunday School or cowboys look at weddings.
They
make’m uncomfortable. Even though everybody tells ‘em it’s for their
own good, they’d lots rather be someplace else. But, in the case of the
horse, you can’t really blame them. Most every time I have to handle a
horse it’s to stick something in him like a tube or a shot or a plastic
sleeve!
And, they remember you! I’ve
seen horses go bug-eyed and snorty at the sight or smell of a vet truck!
The only way you could give’m a shot was to sneak it to the cowboy and
let him do it from horseback.
Years
back I went to a lecture and demonstration on “horse psychology for
vets.” The gist of the whole philosophy says it is a matter of wills.
Since the horse is a social animal, each band has a pecking order. It’s
not always the strongest or fastest or biggest that’s the leader. It’s
the one with the most dominant personality. So every time a person meets
a horse one has to dominate the other.
Well,
I took the schoolin’ seriously and came back ready to test my new horse
psychology skills. I practiced on several “bronky” ones before I tried
it out on my archenemy. He was a dark brown, non-descript, bad-headed,
ill-tempered, big-footed, long-haired typical Nevada-raised feedlot
slogger named Scrap Iron! In six years I had never tube-wormed Scrap
Iron or given him so much as a vitamin shot! He wouldn’t let me within
20 foot of him!
Following
my instructions, I crouched real low and approached him. He mistook me
for the farrier and let me pick up a front foot. I buckled on the
one-leg hobble and stood up. He realized immediately the trick I pulled
on him and promptly went into his “bad actor” routine. He ran around the
corral on three legs, he reared, rolled, snorted, slobbered, kicked,
fell, cussed and generally just made a fool of himself. Which, of
course, was the plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment