when the reliable ones get spooked

leading during exceptional times

How many hands high are you? How many knots can you walk? People are weird eh? We have feet, yards, inches, miles, centimeters, hectares, bushels, cups, pecks and spoons filled with tea and tables. Horses are measured by hands.

I have no idea what a hand is. Nor, apparently do I know what a pony is. Well, a pony is a kind of horse, but smaller. They tend to have a maximum number of hands. Me? when it comes to hands, I only count to two. Any more than that, I call 'applause’.

So, when it comes to working with horses, I call ponies ‘golf clapping. Clydesdales? They’re a standing ovation. In that way, working at a barn is no different than life in a theatre, you’re always working with applause.

I started with ponies. I’d lead them into the barn one at a time. After proving that I could handle the little willful arseholes that look like horses but are actually furry four legged hunger motivated sociopaths, I progressed to larger beasts.

Some were docile despite their size. One Ms. Roosevelt w…