Mazzy visiting her friend Charles.
Checking out the sights.
Mazzy is on light duty, only hand walking, so Kylie has been getting my full riding time every night. Despite the 100 degree weather, and the consistent riding every night, Kylie was a lunatic last night. By the time I got out to ride her is was cooler (maybe 80's), and she was raring and ready to go. I'm hoping for a mellow Kylie tonight.
I sometimes wonder if horses are susceptible to mental disorders. Heck, enough people are, why not horses? I would say Kylie could be Schizophrenic. Most days she is a joy, but some days not so much. She is frantic for who knows what reason. I have owned her since she was first broke, so there are no weird incidences that I know of to make her wacky. I honestly think she either hallucinates, is paranoid, or hears voices (other than mine). It has developed over time, I think. I do not remember these episodes in her youth. Luckily it is not all the time and I'm not quite sure, even after over 10 years, what sets it off. I think she just wakes up like that. It is not due to time off, because I have given her weeks off and she comes out quiet as a church mouse, and sometimes she will be good for weeks at a time being worked daily and I change nothing then one day...crazy! Luckily she is never dangerous, just hyper sensitive to everything (except me). But then the next day, she is completely normal, quiet calm and perfect. According to Wikipedia, "Diagnosis is based on the patient's self-reported experiences and observed behavior. No laboratory test for schizophrenia currently exists." So I guess there is no way to diagnose this in horses. My trainer and I have discussed this many times, but we have decided Kylie is just Kylie, and we have come to accept her quirkiness. Luckily there are some good days are some really good days that make me accept the willy nilly days.
I just thought of the one thing that does send her into panic mode....the pickup truck with the wood bed. It somewhat resembles the truck that comes to pick up the horses after they are put to sleep, so I can understand her panic. When she sees this truck (which belongs to the barn owner's son-in-law so it is always on the property somewhere) she completely checks out. There is no talking her off the ledge at this point, our ride is OVER. I try to avoid it and for the most part we do, but occasionally it will drive past the ring while I am riding and Kylie goes into "frantic panic" mode. She shakes with fear. Poor girl! I have tried showing her that it will not hurt her, but in reality no matter how much someone showed me their pet snake would not hurt me I would want nothing to do with it! I couldn't get far enough away. Don't they all have such unique personalities?
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5 comments:
I rode my old mare for 23 years, and in that time she was totally convinced that the neighbors driveway contained a monster , no matter how often I took her by same thing . So I guess it is what it is and if she is not dangerous Oh well. Any more news on Mazzy?
I think your Kylie and my Topper are mental twins. My Topper is the same about being good one day and flipping out the next.
Fritz at our barn is somewhat like that too - fine one day and then frantic the next. In his case it's partly a matter of his diet - we have to be careful to keep his carbs down, and sometimes a change in hay will trigger his frantic behavior.
Sherry - I am am waiting to see when and if Dr. Mcilwraith can fly in to do Mazzys surgery.
I think every horse is certainly unique. I think Khrysta is a strange case too. She's a doll on the ground. Nothing bothers her but get on her and she's psycho and a rearing mess and it isn't from any pain issues. I still love her though.
P.S. - I'm featuring Etsy shops on my blog to hopefully help with holiday sales. Email me at redpinemountainatgmail.com if you are interested.
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