Horses

I think horses are beautiful. I am not a huge horse person because quite frankly they scare me. But I do think they are beautiful and I love to watch them. We used to live across the street from a working ranch and many evening they would let the horses out to pasture right in front of our house. I loved to watch them run down from the upper part of the ranch just bucking and jumping and chasing each other. It was a beautiful sight to see. After a few minutes of running around and getting silly they would settle down to the job of eating and that would occupy their time for a few hours. Then usually near sunset they would get all frisky again. I have some pictures of one of the horses playing with an orange traffic cone. He is tossing it around and chasing it - way too cute. But I can't find them they are on the hard drive somewhere.

We also used to live in an area of the island that is known as horse country. This area has some decent sized ranches and many, many people have horses. They are also into polo and dressage. Drive through this area on a weekend and you will frequently see dressage events. So a friend of mine has recently gotten into dressage. She had been sharing a horse with someone but just a couple of months ago bought her own. As a child she did jumping and dressage and is eager to get back into it. She is currently shopping for a dressage bridle and I had no idea it was so difficult. There are round bridles and square bridles, padded, lined, white, colored, with reins, and on and on and on. Wow!! I had no idea. Since she hasn't done dressage in years she is looking at all the different types and borrowing from people to see which ones she and the horse likes. I had no idea.

With dogs there are only a couple of options for leashes and there is a standard collar, Gentle Leader type halter, or harness. Variations on those basic themes, but that's really about it. Of course, I've been dealing with this dog stuff as it evolved. When I had my first dog and standard collar and leash was all you could get. If you were lucky you could find them in colors. So I've owned dogs during the whole evolution of the halter leader and harnesses. I'm sure the dressage bridle market has evolved in a similar fashion. And if you're involved in it, it's not overwhelming at all to you. But coming in, not a horse person, and having no real prior knowledge - it can be overwhelming. Helping my friend out has been a huge learning experience. It has also taught me that horses really aren't that scary. They are quite loving and cuddly. The thing is wanting to be cuddled by an 80 lb dog is one thing. Wanting to be cuddled by a 1,000 lb horse is a whole nother story.....