before I even heard of Valdemar btw

[untonuggan]

MOM: did you ever want a pony growing up? was that just me? is that a British thing?
ME: I wanted to have a psychic connection to a horse. we would be BFFs and fight evil together, probably. also once people realized we were soul-bonded, it wouldn't matter if I "owned" the horse because capitalism and concepts of ownership and property would not be able to keep us apart.
MOM: ... ... ...
ME: does that mean yes?

Comments

[untonuggan]

I think mine is why I was very disappointed for the brief period when I actually had horseback riding lessons, and I did not learn anything about how to communicate with my horse (not even "what do ears in X position mean") and it was basically all competitive horse riding stuff and it was bad and I quit because nope.

Though I do really love horse smell, and being around horses. Just not the school of riding them that treats horses like machines?

Fortunately I kiiiiind of got my wish in terms of how I relate to dogs and cats. Not actual mind reading, but good enough at reading animal behavior that I can usually tell what the heck is going on etc.

[green_knight]

The people who communicate are out there. If you're ever tempted again, look for a classical dressage trainer (really hard to find in a riding school, sigh) - it's all about subtle communication and small changes and working together and getting to know your horse really, really well.

There are also some alternative trainers out there who are into communication and body language, but they are as much hit and miss as the competitive lot.

I want a _horse_. Right now, I'd settle for a place to ride, but even that is damn hard to find :-(

[untonuggan]

I kind of just want to learn to speak horse but do not necessarily feel the need to ride myself? Like in the way that I'm like "can I learn how to read seal body language, and also squirrels, and and and"

[green_knight]

Save up and visit dancinghorse? She's doing a horse camp for writers and people who just want to meet horses; including yoga sessions and body language and general communication/herd behaviour stuff.

I'm sure there must be other people doing this kind of thing, but it sounds as if this is the kind of thing you're looking for.

I have no advice for seals or squirrels. Some of the squirrels in London are known for waylaying innocent passers-by and extorting treats with menace...

[redsixwing]

Aw, that's a bummer. I took riding lessons for a short time, and most of it was mechanics (foot goes here? horse gets poked in ribs; use with consideration) but there was plenty of How To Speak Horse in there as well.

They do have a unique smell, and it's comforting.

>> Just not the school of riding them that treats horses like machines?

Yyyyyeah. They aren't, and treating them as replaceable and unimportant is lousy and can be dangerous.

I'm glad you got your wish at least a little bit. :D

[untonuggan]

Definitely. Plus Lovely Woman from Baltimore has SUPER SHY cats (like, her bff has only seen some of them) and I have been totally sucking up to them and I am now at the stage of like, they line up for pets and skritches and one of them was like "omg, more than one human knows how to skritch?" and also we are working up to clipping claws but it not being scary. IT IS THE BESTEST.

maramcreates also gets to see the cats, LWfB thinks we are some kind of cat mages or something I think.

[redsixwing]

So. cute.

Speaking Cat does kind of make you a cat mage. *grin*