Archimedes--my first horse language teacher

The first horse I owned was a non-descript, bay standardbred gelding...so naturally, he needed a fancy name. He wasn't my first choice (a huge [both high and wide] Palomino QH was), but he was a horse my husband (a non-rider, big time) felt comfortable on. The others we looked at were just way too much for him to handle.

The great thing about having him was what I learned, by having him. We at first boarded at a very nice private stables that raised Gaited Horses, and the owners were kind enough to let me ride and teach me about them. But for "knocking around" and trail riding, Archimedes was better. Later, a recession hit (hard) and we had to leave that place and go to another barn that was.....welll.......not the best clientele. There were wanna-be cowboys and tough guys (like the guy who owned to TWH stallions that he mistreated and underfed). But I learned about people, what they do......in his case, he was scared of his horses, so he tried to get them scared of him!!! Eventually one of the stallions nailed him pretty good and he got rid of them (although the young stallion was probably scarred for life). But there was the time when I was feeding Archimedes and the young stallion (who had been moved next to him for ??? reason) reached over to grab the hay I was tossing into his stall. I have to admit, I was stunned, seeing a gaping mouth and teeth coming at me. Well, Archimedes was having none of that and promptly nailed that stallion on the neck.....hard.....left a mark (but no bleeding). No problem after that!!! Don't mess with HIS food.

He was not the easiest ride.....you definitely had to "ride" him.....no goofing off. Yet, my husband could take him out on the trail with some of the "cowboys" and Archimedes would take care of him. He had an injury that I aggravated when I started working him for shows......he had a bad back left leg, which left him gimpy and unable to canter in the right lead. But, boy, could he gallop!!!! Only in a circle did he have a problem. Yep, you had to ride him, but you could NOT cowboy him. Anytime someone got on him to "prove a point" or "make him do" something......they usually ended up on the ground. That included me. He had this knack of "dropping a shoulder".....and no matter you do, when a horse drops a shoulder.....you're off. And he upped the ante by adding a fishtail or two just before. Several times the wannabes got on him to either catch loose horses or because they needed another horse to go out riding.....and each time he set them on the ground. See Archimedes was a sucker for food.....and even when loose, would head back to the barn where the hay was stored.....so he was an easy catch. But when they dug their heels into him......game on!!

He was also very expressive. He could look like a cartoon horse...and make all the faces you could imagine. He gave me my first lessons in Equus.....the language of the horse. Yeah, I knew about the sounds, the ears, etc. But he showed me the beginnings of the "conversation"....from "go ahead, make my day", to "I REALLY don't feel up to this (but I'm not mad about it)" to "Look what's over there" to "I wonder how that's going to turn out".

It started with his eyes. No matter what was going on, if you looked at his eyes, they told you exactly how he was feeling. Now, I know horses don't "think" like we do.....they pretty much act, react and feel (physically). But they can still carry on a conversation. I always knew when he was saying "that was fun", or "this really sucks" or even "I'm only doing this because you really seem to want me to."

Yes, his ears said things too.....but all the nuances came from his lips. From the little wrinkle to the full-blown snarl...they all meant something. It would take a few more years to begin to understand them.

Ultimately, we had made a purchase of a farm, and he moved with us to 6 acres. Naturally, we needed a companion.....and found someone desparately trying to sell a pony. Smokey was a beautiful pony, as wide as she was tall, and looked like a miniature Morgan. She was also a first class snot. As snotty as she was, she gave us all lots of laughs. She was ridable (my feet didn't even touch the ground she was so wide!) but knew how to get you off.....she'd just get going with that pony trot then suddenly stop and duck her head (or maybe it was the other way around...didn't matter....same effect) and you'd just keep bouncing over her head. She never ran away.....just stood there and looked at you....and you knew what she was thinking. She was almost as expressive as Archimedes.

The third critter was a little fancy shetland pony, bright sorrel with a flaxen mane and tail. I came home from work one day to find a truck and trailer in my driveway. They had just let her out in the field with Archimedes and Smokey. Bad idea. Jody had been raised in someone's garage since the age of 3 months and now she was 2 years old. She had never been in a pasture (or even in the back yard!!), had NO idea what a horse was, and , of course Smokey was not about to share "her" boyfriend. Obviously these people had no idea about horses, and I kept the pony anyway.....just to protect her. Eventually, they all got along....with Archimedes often "herding his mares" around the pasture protecting them from some unseen predator.

Eventually we had to leave Cincinnati for a new position......and all of them got new homes.
But what I learned from them, was the beginning of watching, learning and listening to them....of understanding Equus......the language of the horse.