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2015-12-15: Hi! You're probably here because you did a Google search for 'plus sized horseback riders' or you saw my content quoted elsewhere. There are a couple of things I'd like you to know.

I am still here! But I am living away from my horses and not riding often. I could tell you a lie and say that I am, but I have always endeavored to give you the truth here. As a result, I'm not feeling terribly motivated to write blog posts and I feel out of touch with the community.

I'd love for you to stay a while and look back through the archives. Visit the links listed below. We still have an active forum community and I post on the Facebook page from time to time.

I have tentative plans to try to get more involved in the horse world in 2016, and I will absolutely share whatever that adventure becomes with you, so keep checking back!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Can you hear me? How about now?

Yesterday, I attended an event that brings together the Maritime equestrian community after a brief holiday hiatus, January Thaw. In addition to hosting a great little trade fair expo, with booths from all kinds of different stables and tack shops, they have little seminars and it is a fundraiser for the Children's Wish Foundation. I believe, overall, they raised right around $3000 for the CWF, which is not too shabby, and I was impressed. Children's Wish Foundation is something I could really get behind as a charity!

I was there helping my mother out with her booth - she makes show clothes and a variety of other things, and April through May we are usually ridiculously busy with these sorts of events.



Anyways - they had all kinds of great booths there, including a pet communicator who was offering 10 minutes of communication for $10. She seemed like a bit of a kook but it was pretty cheap entertainment comparatively. I sat with my sister while she 'read' her problematic German Shepherd rescue (at first, without anyone telling her, she picked up on "a cute little while dog who likes to take things and hide them" - not the dog in question but my sister does have a really adorable little miniature australian shepherd who has a crate we like to call "the trash can" because of her penchant for stealing stuff and hoarding it). It was interesting and definitely a lot of fodder that could be true for any dog.

I tried to be very careful when I sat down for a reading on Bronwyn (just for fun, mind you!) not to give too much information but my sister sat with me and said I did leak a lot of things. Shay had mentioned during her reading that I had a "spooky" horse (they were talking about the dog being jittery because of her past), which kind of bugged me because then she focused on the spooky thing.

When I first sat down, I definitely thought I was going to get some kind of lecture because the first thing she picked up on was "You are way too pretty to be so heavy" from Bronwyn. Great, she has an issue with my weight. Then she went on to tell me that I was actually a very light rider (I have been told this many, many a time), and I am very good at what I do, always have been (implying I have been doing it for a long time which was not something I told her), but I just needed to believe in myself and stop second guessing my skill and "fake it til I make it".

I went on to "ask" Bronwyn why she had such a problem with my father. I am 200% sure he has never, ever hurt her, but she is consistently very jittery and sketchy when it comes to him. The communicator told me it was because he had a very low timbre of voice similar to someone at one of her previous homes who may have abused her, and implied that she had had multiple homes before I got her, and that some man may not have been very friendly with a rake or pitchfork. I, by no means, believe she was ever abused (neglected, definitely), but sometimes she makes me wonder if she got a smack or two that wasn't totally warranted, just because of her behaviour. Bronwyn also said I had something emotional blocking me and I just needed to "shed some water" (which apparently is what most horses refer to crying as) to get over it.

Overall, not a bad bit of entertainment though I was disappointed that Bronwyn's "personality" didn't come over as strongly as Bella's did when my sister had her reading - apparently, Bella told her that she needed to forgive someone in Bella's history and "get the f*ck over it!" (dog's words!). Also, at one point, the communicator went "oh! Sit up straight! She is a very no nonsense type of dog. She makes me want to sit up straight, too!" and told my sister to drink more water (but didn't tell me to, which is funny because my sister drinks very little water and I drink several litres per day).

The communicator gave me some ideas for dispersing adrenaline in the body of a spooky horse, which include rotating her tail (draping from side to side), stretching out her spine and massaging down the backs of her legs and her heels in behind. Just for kicks and giggles, I tried it when I got home. Bronwyn was a little stiff and resistant when I picked up her back feet, but immediately slouched into relaxation the second my thumbs hit her heels to massage. Even if it doesn't work dispersing her spookiness, it's something she likes and I'll continue to do, I guess!

Also - Bronwyn told me to stretch her more before I ride - her front legs and neck, said she gets stiff in the jaw, and I need to stretch out and twist my back because I can get locked up there (true). It might not help but it's not going to hurt. Oh! And she told me that Bronwyn hates winter and likes to wear blankets - which I can't really vouch for, the cold doesn't seem to bother her, but interestingly enough, she has never ever spooked when I have put the cooler on her - even the first time I did it - and she had not worn one before.

Whether you believe in animal communicators or not (especially ones who can do it over the phone or without the animal present), it's always some interesting insight. I'll take the suggestions she gave me with a grain of salt - the stretching and massage might not help (though I fail to see where massage ever DOESN'T help, properly done) but it's probably not going to hurt, and overall, for $10, an interesting afternoon "insight" into a couple of problematic animals. The jury is still out for me whether it is all "true" or not, but it was fun!

Anyone else a little on the "kooky" side of horses? :-D

7 comments:

  1. WOW, thats intresting! I heard that she was going to do one, but I didnt go see her before I left.

    Intresting the things she said, I love ""shed some water" (which apparently is what most horses refer to crying as) to get over it" I guess we could all listen to that advice!

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  2. Hehe very interesting on the pet communicator.

    Advice for a spooky horse: I do a lot of desensitizing and I mean A LOT! Before I ride I play with plastic bags and tarps and whatever scary stuff I can find. Rub it all over them till they are calm then hop on. Also, lowering their head helps lower the amount of adrenaline in their body. When i'm working a horse on the ground that gets excited, I ask them to lower their head, and they calm down.

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  3. I am a big fan of desensitization, too. I have done a lot of it with Bronwyn but the things that scare her (which she doesn't do a lot lately anyways) are things I can't really desensitize her to until I find out that they scare her - ie a cat jumping into a tree, etc.

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  4. Great vid and great post!!! I am always amazingly proud of you! You inspire me. Thank you for everything!

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  5. Very Interesting. A lot of people at my barn are having a reading done on their horse but I chose to try some different things with Kinsey instead. I may have to have a reading done on her though.

    I am trying some energy things. Something about "fuse points"and putting them back in place. I'll be posting on how well it goes on my blog.

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  6. I went to one once and it was hysterical...My horse, a North American Spotted Draft horse, was once 500lbs under weights. Now she is a healthy 1200 lbs...52 size girth. Anyways, the first words out of the psychics mouth was that the horse said "Plump is good ! " I think I would like to go back to her one day with a set of prepared questions, like why does she ALWAYS spook at the observation deck even though she has passed it a million times. Was she ever abused or did someone have heavy hands when training her? Anyways, thought you would enjoy my psychic adventure :)

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  7. I'm leery of them. It interests me but I'm afraid Tarzan will tell me something like he doesn't like me or something (which I doubt 500% because I'm pretty much the only person he will do anything for) but I'm paranoid of that for some reason.

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