Herman's story

Every "problem" horse has taught me something.....even if it is just that we need to listen to them.
I'm going to add the various horses that made it clear what they needed.....and what happens when no one listens.

Herman was a big buckskin quarter horse. You know, the real old style.
I met him when I became a riding instructor at a public stables.
He was big, head-strong and basically grumpy. He was rarely used for beginner lessons, because he would not do what he was supposed to.....and usually had his rider in tears before long. Only the more advanced riders could even begin to make him lope.....and that was usually with a lot of crop use and a lot of kicking.
He was used on trail rides, and always was the last in line, since he kicked at anybody behind him. If someone thought they "were a cowboy" and insisted they knew what they were doing, they got Herman. And Herman generally returned back to the barn either riderless or with a rider pretty scraped up by the branches from the trees Herman used to try to wipe them off with.

Not even the instructors were immune from his shananagins, although we were more likely to be able to counter his moves.

Until, one day, all the instructors were riding together.....and we all had "problem" horses. So we decided to "up the ante" a bit, and do some barrel racing. Well, not really, we were just going to do the pattern at a walk, trot and jog.....and maybe make a run or two at them for fun.

Not Herman. He saw those barrels.......those ears went up, his head went up, and he took off. He knew the course, all you had to do was hang on. And he didn't just run the course.....he cut those barrels close, dug in at just the right time, ran full out and stopped just after the imaginary timer line would be. When he was done, his eyes were shining. We all just sat there, dumfounded. Ol' lazy, fat Herman LOVED barrel racing. For three days after that, he was a different horse, he was ready to play with the humans. Then he returned to his same sullen self.

So what did we learn? We learned that all Herman wanted was to have fun his way. All he needed was a little bit of barrel racing, once a week and he was a different horse. Not only did he quit kicking out on the trail, but he was actually used as the lead horse the guides used......and they all said he was the best guide horse out of all of them.

All we had to do was listen.