This is Comet!

When you first look at this 16 year old Appaloosa gelding, your first thought is probably not along the lines of ‘Wow!  What a beautiful horse!’  Comet, being an Appaloosa, has a lot of trouble growing hair.  He has almost no main, tail, or forelock, and I blanket him extra heavy in the winter because he literally does not grow a winter coat.  I didn’t think that was possible, but his coat just doesn’t grow in thick, and he’ll start shivering if he gets too chilly. 

You might also notice that Comet has two different colored eyes.  One brown, calm and reassuring.  One blue, inquisitive and excitable.  I really do think that Comet’s different colored eyes give the perfect glimpse into his personality.  He can be the most calm, docile companion—after a long ride, he likes to rest his head on my chest and just stand there.  He loves to cuddle and have his forehead scratched.  He likes to rest his nose on my shoulder when I’m tacking him up, and when he looks at me with his brown eye, I see peace and love.  He was a rescue horse, and it’s almost like I can see his thankfulness in his gaze.  However, his blue eye reminds me of his, shall we say, spontaneous side?  He loves to spook first and look later.  He’s a big baby, and will start trembling at the sight of aisle guards that he has never seen before.  He is very unsure in new situations, and takes patience and persistence to be introduced to any type of new environment.  I love his curious wild side though.  It keeps me on my toes and reminds me not to take anything too seriously. 

I only recently started training with Comet, even though I’ve owned him for 2 years.  He was at my house before, and there were too many distractions and fences for him to run through that prevented us from actually working and training.  Now that we have an indoor arena to ride in, he has been exposed to many different situations including 4-wheelers, tractors, other horses, and dogs.  He now knows how to cross-tie, but we are still working on bathing and loading in the trailer.  I now ride him confidently in the arena and we are slowly working toward our barrel racing goals.  He is incredibly stiff in his right side and is very reluctant to turn or do circles to that side.  We have been working on stretching his muscles and encouraging him to become more supple. 

It’s a process, but I’m enjoying taking my time with him instead of rushing to meet a deadline or perform before he is ready.  He is the horse that I get to do my own thing with and use any approach I want to.  He’s fun to work with and he has taught me a great deal of patience and how to really care for a horse.  He came with bad hooves and urine scalding from his rescue environment and we have been battling skin and hoof issues ever since.  He’s doing much better now, but instead of pushing him to succeed and perform well, I’m enjoying watching him graze in the pasture after being locked up in a stall for 14 years.  I enjoy watching him roll in grass he never had the chance to before.  He’s crazy, sweet, and a little unpredictable, but I have been reminded that the animals I’m blessed with are not given to me only so I can succeed in my goals.  Sometimes we are given things to care for so we remember to have compassion in a world that tells us to only care for ourselves.  I like to think that I saved Comet from a miserable life and gave him something better, but really I’m the one who has benefitted from the most important lesson so far—gratitude.