My current side project is this stupid (okay, really really damn smart) bitch of a mare I'm trying to break now. She's this cute as a button mover, good work ethic bouncy, would make a great all around horse for someone, girl. That is, if we can ever safely get in the damn thing. She's SUCH a mare!! This breaking process has taken months longer than it should have, mostly because people have run out of time to be able to consistently work with her, but also because her brain just doesn't want to be there. Now that she is a bit older and wiser she's safer to get on and get working with.
As of now she's been backed twice. After much practice with putting weight on her, and leaning over her etc., we finally swung a leg over her and decided to go for a pony ride. On this one, I'm the person on the ground and the barn owner (her owner) is the "meat on a stick" or "dope on a rope" or... rider if you prefer. So, the first time she got a leg over the mare didn't protest and we walked off comfortably. the pony ride went well for almost an entire 20m circle before the mare decided she had had enough, and promptly tried to remove the owner. She did it completely without warning, and this is partially why I hate mares, because they pull shit like that. NO warning! And she did it not because she was scared, but just because she decided she was totally done. Fine... we dealt with that rodeo of bucks and rears, I kept her close to me on the ground so she couldn't get up any momentum, and she stopped. We took a few more steps forward with the rider and were done for the day.
Then we move to day two, yesterday. I pre-lunge her and get her nice and sweaty, more tired than the first time... and then line her up for the mount. As I turn to look at her before the rider mounts, I look into her eye and I can just see it... I can just see "oh we are SO not doing THIS" in the mare's eyes. I know that we're both going to be in for it this time, even before we've got a chance to start. Again, this is why I hate these stupid bitches. A gelding... nay...not even a stallion will pull crap on you like that. This premeditated "I'm going to burn you alive and trample your unborn children" bullshit of a mare. So... here we go. The rider barely gets her leg over the saddle and we were off on a bucking and rearing frenzy. At one point the mare came down with her head square on MY head (note to self, wear helmet during next go round) and I almost lost her because the sun was setting and I got turned around into the glare of the light. This time the "fit" lasted longer than the first one, but the rider still stayed on (by the hair of her teeth) and we were able to move on. This time, however, the mare didn't really relax much and still had the "trample your unborn children" look in her eye for almost the entire length of the bitchy pony ride. I think that if either myself or the rider gave and let go of her head at all she would have gone back into launch mode. No good.
So, I think its safe to say two things... one... I'm not looking forward to going back and doing pony ride number three with this horse. I'm sure as I'm alive she's going to be worse than she's been these past two times and it's just going to be ridiculous. I'm bringing thicker gloves on this next one, and a helmet, you can be sure. The second thing is that I hate mares. I owned one, and she drove me nuts. And I'm sure that with this one, once she's broken and moving, she'll make someone else a wonderful partner... but just not me. Personally I hate putting up with this moody crap that happens with them. I like the boys much better, the geldings and the stallions. I'll take a young stallion over an in-heat mare any day of the week.
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