Today, I was cleaning stalls, and I wasn't feeling top notch with the heat and all, but for once, we were getting the work done fast, and we were almost done, but I swore that I felt someone watching me. I looked around. The other guys were shoveling away. Nothing. I shrugged and started sweeping. Still, I knew that someone was watching me. I knew it, but I swept on, sweating away. Then I stopped and looked around again. Still nothing. So I continued with the mission, feeling weird.
Then I stopped quickly and turned around fast, and I glanced at the stall across from me. There was Rugby, the 16'3 bay thoroughbred gelding, staring at me. He was the one intently watching, and I realized that he'd probably been watching me sweep the entire aisle. Rugby is a horse that just got shipped in from another farm and weirdly enough, I used to work at the other barn, and I used to ride him, so he's new at this farm, but he remembers me, and I think he's thrilled to know someone at the new place. He's super talented, and I really like the guy, so sometimes I pretend he's mine. Well, I think he does the same thing; that is, he pretends that I'm his owner. So there he was intensely staring at me, and he continued to stare while I worked. And he was clearly smiling. Horses have this look, and it's an unmistakable grin. Sometimes it even gives the feel of a chuckle or a clear laugh. For some reason, Rugby is fascinated with me, and he also thinks I'm hilarious. Not only did he stare, but when I moved, he shifted around in his stall to make sure he still had a view of me.
So I laughed and waved at him.
He shook his head, smiled, and stared. He was so entertained by our "staring game" that he wasn't even eating his fresh hay.
It's the funniest thing. The other day, his possible new owner came to ride him, and I happened to be in the aisle sweeping when she was trying to put on the bridle. Every time she tried to tack him up, he moved around, looked at me, and I swear he laughed. The new possible owner was furious, because she was having a horrible time getting him ready, but he was just playing a game with her, and he was making sure that I saw his tricks. Just like people, some horses have a great sense of humor. Rugby likes to play games and watch me slave away cleaning aisles, ha.
But what has struck me is that when I get around horses, I immediately become more intuitive, and I'm often this way with people as well, just because I've lived most of my life in the horse world. There's this ability, or "horse sense," I like to call it. I wrote an article about it for Cincinnati Magazine and The Chronicle of the Horse some time back.
Any job/hobby/lifestyle will change a person's view of the world. My world with horses has taught me to see what is really there behind the silence. In Rugby's case, it's all laughter and love.
A good way to live life, Rugby. Thanks for the reminder. Laughter and love. Come join me,
C.A. MacConnell
