Terence Trent - part 2

We have been together for about 2 months now and we have progressed, he accepts me on his back and will school the basics in the indoor arena as long as its not too busy and the ponies are elsewhere. They really set him off, I think its the size, speed and quickness to buck and kick. He doesn’t care too much for children either and as a consequence the sign and red ribbon is on his stable door. Oh dear, he is going to be one difficult young man but I do so think he is worth the agro. 

He nearly took the vet out! The poor man has to cope with a lot but did say next time he would give me some tablets to give Terence before he sees him next time. Yes, it was that bad, I thought at one point the vet would refuse to come back to the yard!

Terence trapped him at the back of the stable and even though he was tied up, nearly kicked the poor man out the back wall. In the end carrots and a stick did the best at distracting him whilst the vet sidled out the stable like grease lightening. 

Anyway, the jabs were given all-be-it with the twitch in full use, and the vet did get a chance to check his general fitness. I can laugh now but at the time it was scary watching the vet being chased by an irate horse who was having none of it. He didn’t think there was an issue with soundness or the like, but he would have to come back for the blood sample, as he couldn’t guarantee how much of it in the syringe was his. Whoops, and yes I did contribute some money to their charity as a way of saying thank you for your patience and ‘please come again we need you’.

So Terence now goes in the indoor school and if he has a few friends with him, he will go in the field for some R&R each day. When he comes in, he is used to me getting the tack and getting him ready to ride him. The fractiousness has reduced and he is listening to the leg a bit better. He is so light in the hand though, it’s wonderful. I have walk, trot, and canter out of him now on both reins, and we are just starting to play with the idea of circles, although he does fall in through the shoulder a great deal. I wonder if his background is the race-track, he likes straight lines and finds bending beyond his understanding. Mm, this could develop into something wonderful. But then again, there are bound to be tears before bedtime and I wonder whose will fall first?

Stating the goal - a date with my unconscious desires

Terence Trent is a stubborn youngster. He curls his lip and snarls at me as I brush him down making his coat shine. He lunges at me and his teeth crack together, he missed me again, he’ll get me one of these days but until then he lives t tell the tale. As yet we are to join up fully but when he finally does it will be a great day.

His life to date has been a traumatic one and he has lived learning to hate and mistrust us all with great depth and persistence; I will not give in, he is such an amazing creature, we both deserve more than this. He came from Ireland in one of those lorries you get to see coming over on the boats, laden with horses ready for the French meat market, and like many of the horses, I have owned in the past he has come via the auctions at Ashford. We bought the lorry load; we didn’t look in the back just paid the man to deliver the lorry to the yard where I ride and called the knacker-man ready to shoot those who had failed to travel well. Sometimes there would be dead ones in there already, half trampled where they had fallen and failed to get up. So sad, but one of the facts of life so hidden from many eyes.

Terence as I called him came down the ramp with that wary eye and skittish action. He was going to be hard work for someone and on spying me, ran almost headlong at me. I grabbed his head-collar and that was that, Terence entered my life. He has stomped on me, bitten and kicked me but when I go away from him he calls for hours I am told, so there is a connection I just have to get it to be on my terms not his. He is stunning to look at, a dark grey with black lower legs and mane and tail. His dapples are irregular and when you look closely they are of two colours, black and brown, giving him the moth eaten look so common on dark greys. He is over 16 hands tall and is still filling out so there is a chance he will reach 17.2 maybe more. He has elegant gaits and a head carriage to die for, but place a rider on his back and he goes as stiff as a board; he has been terrified out of his wits and I am going to try to get this magnificent animal not only to trust me but to also allow me the privilege of riding him. He has such promise but I can see by the stubbornness and the resultant fear, he has been a handful and continues to be one now. I will win, I have to, the alternative for him is unthinkable.

Perspectives

The little boy held the dog’s head in his hands and stared deep into its eyes. The dog looked back wagging his tail, and in his heart he said,

“If I could talk to you what would I say? That I trust you beyond all else, whatever happens? That even when we share crumbs together and I am hungry, I will stay with you because you are my whole world? That on good days when we play my whole being lights up and I cannot think of anything else more pleasurable than to be with you? If you could hear what was in my heart that is what I would say.”

The little boy saw all the love in the world right there in his dog’s eyes and said,

“If you could understand what I say to you, what would I say? That you are the best friend I have always wanted? That I trust you with all my secrets and pain? That I love it when we play and have fun and snuggle up when mum goes down stairs? If you could understand what I say that is what I would tell you.”

Mum looked at her son and the dog and thought to herself,

“If I could tell you what I thought in my heart when I see you two together what would I say? That I worry because you have no friends except that dog? That you never talk to me about things? That - when I get up to check on you in the night, that dog is with you on the bed and I am worried he might suffocate you?  That I worry about you because I know we have little but I am trying my best? If I could tell you what is in my heart that is what I would say to you.”

The little boy looked at his mum. The love he had for her shone from his face. “Mummy, thank you for my dog, I love you very much.” He got up and rushed over to her giving her a bug hug. He pulled himself away and went back to his dog. Staring into his eyes the little boy said, “You have given me my best friend. He is everything I have always wanted,” and as he said this, he hugged the dog and the dog reciprocated, wagging his tail and licking the boys ear.

“Careful dear”, mummy said, “don’t let him get too close. Push him away dear. It’s not healthy.”