Trust

A long while back I talked about trust. Our horses trust us to protect them, care for them, feed them, etc. They do what we ask (most of the time without question).  We sometimes take that trust for granted or even forget about our horse's total and 100% trust in us.

I saw that trust this weekend. Now that I'm pregnant, I'm grounded from riding so while my drill team performed this weekend, I had to stand on the sidelines and watch. Our drill team loves to thrill the crowd and loves to perform. It's a fantastic group to be involved with and I love every minute of it (even if I can't ride right now).  Go check them out.. Dakota Thunder Drill Team (or Dakota Thunder Mounted Drill Team).

During this weekend's performance, there was a crash. We've had near misses in the past but this was a definite crash. The more I think about it, the more I'm amazed. It was an accident and everyone is recovering nicely but I'm still amazed. These horses put their trust in us to guide them through the routine. Sometimes there's split seconds between horses crossing paths and they trust us to keep them safe. The horses in question trust their owners. They did what was asked of them possibly knowing that they might get hurt.

It's not just in the drill team world that horses put their 100% trust in their owners. It's in any event with a horse be it barrel racing, eventing, etc. But the more I think about it, the more I'm amazed at the amount of trust our horses have in us.

Then I look at the feedlot pictures of horses (I look at the feedlots based out of Washington because they are the most active that I can find) (http://auctionhorseswa.proboards.com/). I wont' go into the debate about buying from a feedlot or buying from a kill buyer. That's not the point of this post. The point is, those horses standing in that feedlot trusted someone to care for them. They put their life in someone else's hands and look what happened to them.

I'm afraid people treat horses like a piece of machinery. When they can no longer perform at the level they want or have lost interest, they dump the horse without a second glance. Now dont' get me wrong. Sometimes it doesn't work out and the owner does everything in their power to find their horse a perfect home. I commend those owners for doing what's right by their horse. It's the owners that drop them off at an auction without a backwards glance and are only concerned about how much money they make. Those are the horses I feel bad for. Those are the horses were the trust was broken.

I look at the Sanctuary horses and although some of them are standoffish, I know that they trust me to care for them. I am constantly amazed when I look at Bo. He was treated horribly, starved, and beat and yet, he's still the happy go lucky horse. Somehow his trust was never broken. And I can tell that he trusts me. And when I look at Junior.  He's only been here a few short months and he's already trusting me. He started trusting me the first day he arrived, which blows my mind. How can someone trust so quickly? Not because they have to but because of their personality? I really have no idea why.

I just now that the trust horses have in their owners is an amazing thing. I know that I'm not explaining myself very well. I can't really put into words what I'm feeling. I guess what i'm saying is that the next time you go out to play with your horse, take a closer look at him/her and see what type of trust and bond you have. Trust is such an amazing thing.