By Andrea Gilbert
During the extreme heat and usual summer sauna of the mid-south, we humans can take refuge in our air-conditioned, “climate controlled” homes, offices, and automobiles. Few horse owners have air conditioned stables, but some horses have figured out how to share those “creature comforts.”
A year or two ago when we had the first really hot spell of 100° F temperatures, Bar-B, my halter-bred Quarter Horse, was so hot she was panting like a dog and, in spite of all our efforts to cool her, she was still panting. Desperate to bring her some relief from overheating, we let her in the foyer of our air-conditioned house. Once inside, she was content just to stand there and enjoy the cool air, even closing her eyes to take a nap. We left her in quite a while, until we could tell she had cooled down.
Ever since, when she gets hot, she comes to the house and rings the door bell, touching it with her nose. She lets us know when it’s time to hose off her and all her buddies: Halo, Dream Floater, and Georgie, aka Georgia Peach. When I hear the door bell, I come out, they all follow me, walking on the sidewalk in line, around the corner of the house, and then they all stand in a line over the water hose by the faucet, waiting their turns to be cooled off. I guess they have figured out I won’t let them all in the house, so accept the next best thing – cool hosing.
My newest addition, Georgie, aka Georgia Peach, a Thoroughbred ex-race horse, likes to hang her head, peering through the dining room window first thing in the morning to be sure no one has forgotten her breakfast. She clip-clops past my bedroom window down the sidewalk. That’s her first signal, telling me to “get after it.” When she spots movement in the window, she then waits at the front door to be sure that someone is coming out to take care of her needs. The second the door opens, and she sees her favorite neon pink bucket in hand, she makes a bee-line to the round pen for her quiet morning, uninterrupted feeding.
Dream Floater, my daugther’s Arabian, is always full of games and mischief. She loves to be chased, or play Ring Around the Rosie, before she lets my daughter jump on bareback. And if she is not ridden first, or thinks her “master” is more interested in someone else for the time being, she runs around screaming, or puts on a bucking-running-slide show to attract attention. After that, her “master” gets the 3-day “I’ll run from you and give you the silent treatment” act. Once she gets her “suck up” and “I love you more than any other horse on the property” attention, she is back to her normal self again.
Halo is my 5-year-old show baby. She is registered AQHA, but was raised as an Arabian by “Aunt” Dream Floater to act, blow, and prance like an Arabian. She now moves and acts like a gaited Saddle Bred. Needless to say, she is having an identity crisis. These days, she will do anything to show off how beautiful she is and stir up lots of action. But she often gets snubbed by the other horses for this behavior, and comes to me pouting when the other mares are not equally impressed.
My horses have their set routine and I must adhere to their schedule. If I’m not home at the appropriate time, I would expect a text message from them, wondering where I am and announcing that their supper is late! It’s worse than being a teenager with close monitoring from your parents! Who’s in charge here, anyway? Next, they’ll be asking me to take them on vacation to the beach!
During the extreme heat and usual summer sauna of the mid-south, we humans can take refuge in our air-conditioned, “climate controlled” homes, offices, and automobiles. Few horse owners have air conditioned stables, but some horses have figured out how to share those “creature comforts.”
A year or two ago when we had the first really hot spell of 100° F temperatures, Bar-B, my halter-bred Quarter Horse, was so hot she was panting like a dog and, in spite of all our efforts to cool her, she was still panting. Desperate to bring her some relief from overheating, we let her in the foyer of our air-conditioned house. Once inside, she was content just to stand there and enjoy the cool air, even closing her eyes to take a nap. We left her in quite a while, until we could tell she had cooled down.
Ever since, when she gets hot, she comes to the house and rings the door bell, touching it with her nose. She lets us know when it’s time to hose off her and all her buddies: Halo, Dream Floater, and Georgie, aka Georgia Peach. When I hear the door bell, I come out, they all follow me, walking on the sidewalk in line, around the corner of the house, and then they all stand in a line over the water hose by the faucet, waiting their turns to be cooled off. I guess they have figured out I won’t let them all in the house, so accept the next best thing – cool hosing.
My newest addition, Georgie, aka Georgia Peach, a Thoroughbred ex-race horse, likes to hang her head, peering through the dining room window first thing in the morning to be sure no one has forgotten her breakfast. She clip-clops past my bedroom window down the sidewalk. That’s her first signal, telling me to “get after it.” When she spots movement in the window, she then waits at the front door to be sure that someone is coming out to take care of her needs. The second the door opens, and she sees her favorite neon pink bucket in hand, she makes a bee-line to the round pen for her quiet morning, uninterrupted feeding.
Dream Floater, my daugther’s Arabian, is always full of games and mischief. She loves to be chased, or play Ring Around the Rosie, before she lets my daughter jump on bareback. And if she is not ridden first, or thinks her “master” is more interested in someone else for the time being, she runs around screaming, or puts on a bucking-running-slide show to attract attention. After that, her “master” gets the 3-day “I’ll run from you and give you the silent treatment” act. Once she gets her “suck up” and “I love you more than any other horse on the property” attention, she is back to her normal self again.
Halo is my 5-year-old show baby. She is registered AQHA, but was raised as an Arabian by “Aunt” Dream Floater to act, blow, and prance like an Arabian. She now moves and acts like a gaited Saddle Bred. Needless to say, she is having an identity crisis. These days, she will do anything to show off how beautiful she is and stir up lots of action. But she often gets snubbed by the other horses for this behavior, and comes to me pouting when the other mares are not equally impressed.
My horses have their set routine and I must adhere to their schedule. If I’m not home at the appropriate time, I would expect a text message from them, wondering where I am and announcing that their supper is late! It’s worse than being a teenager with close monitoring from your parents! Who’s in charge here, anyway? Next, they’ll be asking me to take them on vacation to the beach!
