Why I Don't Want Children...

Looking back on that summer, so many things went south for no apparent reason.

The woman, Jane, who I was helping seemed like a rational, reasonable person. All I did was give advice and suggestions based on what I was seeing and stepped in if asked for help.

Her daughter needed so much help. I was all set to watch her ride and offer feedback when... the meltdown happened.

Oh, this meltdown wasn't in the ring. It was in the crossties. Their dear old lease horse new his job as a school horse and was patient, behaved, and just ever so slightly uncooperative. Mostly when it came to bridling. To this child it was as if his lips had fused together and he grew three feet.
To me it was just hilarious.

The girl kept getting frustrated and angry. She was shouting at her mother, at the horse, at herself. It was painful to watch.

When I was finally asked for help I attempted to make it a learning moment. So, donning my best teacher voice I asked her what the steps to put on a bridle were. She refused to speak. Absolutely refused. All she wanted was for me to put it on for her.
So I switched tactic and asked if she could name any parts of the bridle which I know for a fact she could because she had been at our barn's horse camp the previous year.

Silence.

I looked to her mom for support who seemed to encourage me and then pronounced that I would do nothing with the bridle unless she named at least one part of the bridle.
I wasn't asking for her to know anything complicated. There wasn't a flash noseband or anything out of the ordinary. I would have taken reins or bit.

But instead of answering a simple question she decided to scream instead. I was appalled. She screamed and squeezed out crocodile tears. This was none of my business and beyond my (nonexistent) pay grade. So I sat down and waited.

After maybe 10 minutes of this extreme and erratic behavior her mother calmed her down. Thankfully, the girl finally sputtered out the word reins and pointed to them. I quickly hopped up and explained the bridling process while I did it.

I honesty had never experienced something like that before. But that was just the top of the iceberg with these two. More stories to come!

Life Happens

Things change, people move, college ends, and yet I still have Murphy.
I will go back to recounting my exploits as if someone cares.