Yay, Cimman!
November 9, 2014 6:12 AM Subscribe
Just your Sunday morning dose of cute from a horse and her little girl.
If you don't like fluffy SLYT posts, you can just mosey right along there, pardner.
If you don't like fluffy SLYT posts, you can just mosey right along there, pardner.
I like how Cinnamon was nosing at the reins on the ground when the girl was trying to pick them up, like it was trying to help.
Very cute.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:29 AM on November 9, 2014
Very cute.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:29 AM on November 9, 2014
I think I got a cavity from the amount of sweet in that.
posted by COD at 6:48 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by COD at 6:48 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
Wow. This could have been my eldest kid who's now 22 and studying to be a veterinarian. When a person finds a horse who loves them deeply it's an extraordinary thing.
When she was 16, my daughter bought Pony, a retired Australian racehorse destined for the horsemeat factory for $1. She worked tirelessly, juggling school and work and time in the barn to give Pony a good life.
She and Pony have the deepest, most ridiculously harmonious and loving relationship I've ever seen. Her girlfriend is jealous of how much Pony loves my daughter.
We'll go to the barn and Pony will be hanging out in the paddock and as soon as she sees the car, she perks her head up to see if Kinetic Jr. is there. When she spies her, she comes tearing over to the paddock fence and pushes her nuzzle into her face and her shoulder and can't stop kissing her. Her giant horse legs pick themselves up and down, doing The Happy Pony Dance.
When we take her to the barn for grooming, she leans against my daughter, trying to sit on her for cuddles.
Over the years we've had dogs and guinea pigs and hamsters and cats, but I've never in my life seen the connection like my daughter (who like the girl in the video is also an Em) has with this horse.
Horse/kid love for the win.
posted by kinetic at 7:24 AM on November 9, 2014 [27 favorites]
When she was 16, my daughter bought Pony, a retired Australian racehorse destined for the horsemeat factory for $1. She worked tirelessly, juggling school and work and time in the barn to give Pony a good life.
She and Pony have the deepest, most ridiculously harmonious and loving relationship I've ever seen. Her girlfriend is jealous of how much Pony loves my daughter.
We'll go to the barn and Pony will be hanging out in the paddock and as soon as she sees the car, she perks her head up to see if Kinetic Jr. is there. When she spies her, she comes tearing over to the paddock fence and pushes her nuzzle into her face and her shoulder and can't stop kissing her. Her giant horse legs pick themselves up and down, doing The Happy Pony Dance.
When we take her to the barn for grooming, she leans against my daughter, trying to sit on her for cuddles.
Over the years we've had dogs and guinea pigs and hamsters and cats, but I've never in my life seen the connection like my daughter (who like the girl in the video is also an Em) has with this horse.
Horse/kid love for the win.
posted by kinetic at 7:24 AM on November 9, 2014 [27 favorites]
Unbelievably cute! Thanks for this.
posted by arcticseal at 7:32 AM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by arcticseal at 7:32 AM on November 9, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ok, I haven't spent much time around horses so my experience viewing this video was "Oh, how sweet/GET OUT FROM UNDER THAT HORSE'S FEET LITTLE GIRRRRRRL". Was she perfectly safe the whole time? /anxiety
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 7:59 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 7:59 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
Omg does she say thank you to Cinnamon when she/he starts walking? That's the best part if so!
posted by Hermione Granger at 8:16 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Hermione Granger at 8:16 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
My daughter's horse recognized the sound of our truck. As we pulled into the farm Skip would start whinnying and head for the paddock gate. I know horses don't love, but damn if that horse wasn't happy to see his human. We had to find him a new home a few months ago when my daughter headed out of state for college. She made the riding team as a freshman. I'm pretty sure she'll never go more than a few weeks without being around horses for the rest of her life.
posted by COD at 8:26 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by COD at 8:26 AM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
That's what I hear, Hermione Granger. S O C U T E
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:41 AM on November 9, 2014
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:41 AM on November 9, 2014
I don't thing there's such a thing as "perfectly safe" around horses, but there's also no such thing as "perfectly safe" in a fully-lived life.
I do think her dad's teaching her valuable lessons about safe horsemanship; you need not look further than youtube or your local Craigslist farm ads to see there are a lot of idiot parents who let their kids do idiot things around horses, but this parent is not one of them. What I see is a kid who is going to grow up to both respect horses AND feel confident around them, and I think you need both components to really work safely around horses. You need the respect part to remember that it IS a 1,000 lb unpredictable animal, and the confidence part to tell that 1,000 lb animal: I may be smaller, but you're gonna respect ME too, dammit. You can tell that the horse in question has been taught to respect its handler (and you can achieve that without cruelty, fwiw), and that's why dad feels ok letting his daughter lead it around. There's just a lot of win all around.
(My own horse is kind of...non demonstrative. He usually moves off in the opposite direction when I go to bring him in from the field, and when every other horse in his barn aisle hears the lid of my treat bucket slide off, they're all heads out and nickering for a cookie while he's still got his head down in his hay, all "whatevs." He shows me he likes me by not being an asshole and trying to do what I ask him to do most of the time. He's still the best horse.)
posted by drlith at 8:44 AM on November 9, 2014 [16 favorites]
I do think her dad's teaching her valuable lessons about safe horsemanship; you need not look further than youtube or your local Craigslist farm ads to see there are a lot of idiot parents who let their kids do idiot things around horses, but this parent is not one of them. What I see is a kid who is going to grow up to both respect horses AND feel confident around them, and I think you need both components to really work safely around horses. You need the respect part to remember that it IS a 1,000 lb unpredictable animal, and the confidence part to tell that 1,000 lb animal: I may be smaller, but you're gonna respect ME too, dammit. You can tell that the horse in question has been taught to respect its handler (and you can achieve that without cruelty, fwiw), and that's why dad feels ok letting his daughter lead it around. There's just a lot of win all around.
(My own horse is kind of...non demonstrative. He usually moves off in the opposite direction when I go to bring him in from the field, and when every other horse in his barn aisle hears the lid of my treat bucket slide off, they're all heads out and nickering for a cookie while he's still got his head down in his hay, all "whatevs." He shows me he likes me by not being an asshole and trying to do what I ask him to do most of the time. He's still the best horse.)
posted by drlith at 8:44 AM on November 9, 2014 [16 favorites]
OK, this is adorable but a little thin...I think we need more "little girl and her horse" videos to round this out. Awwww.
posted by limeonaire at 9:11 AM on November 9, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by limeonaire at 9:11 AM on November 9, 2014 [4 favorites]
Yeah, she shouldn't have been up in front of that horse so much, but it seemed safe enough; the horse was sweet and quiet, and horses will do their best not to step on you, honestly. The horse was very aware of the kid and her whereabouts. Am assuming the dad knew the horse was bomb-proof enough to trust her with the child.
So cute.
posted by OolooKitty at 11:19 AM on November 9, 2014
So cute.
posted by OolooKitty at 11:19 AM on November 9, 2014
I... need a pony.
posted by allthinky at 4:24 PM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by allthinky at 4:24 PM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thanks drlith, great info. I will re-watch the video with more of my brain freed up to properly appreciate the adorableness.
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 5:16 PM on November 9, 2014
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 5:16 PM on November 9, 2014
I thought this was really cute, but I have to say, as a parent and someone who's spent some time around horses, that there is no such thing as a bombproof horse (and no such thing as an unloaded gun), and watching that little girl stand there with that rein wrapped around her leg while her dad just kept filming made me feel the way I feel when I see a video where someone with a gun sweeps someone else with the barrel. Really, really, really uncomfortable.
posted by bricoleur at 8:18 PM on November 9, 2014
posted by bricoleur at 8:18 PM on November 9, 2014
I know horses don't love,
I think "love" is a difficult concept to quantify in humans but especially in animals. However, I feel like the deepest connection I've experienced is with my horse. (Granted, I've never had children.)
There's something so special about horses. They're flight animals by nature, and yet very willing to trust. They are big enough that they could run you right over, and yet they don't.
It was love at first sight with my girl. She was owned by someone else at the barn, and she was frankly really crazy: scared of her own shadow, prone to bolting at the sound of a twig snapping, and just about as high strung as can be. She was terrified of everything, way too tightly wound, but also the sweetest, most beautiful horse I've ever seen with a great heart. (I'm biased, yeah, whatever.) The thing is, I really don't think she could control her reactions because they were just so automatic, and she never was one to misbehave on purpose. She would jump anything you put in front of her, always willing to be pushed harder, and so well mannered on the ground.
I was friends with her owner, and I got to ride her whenever her owner was out of town, and I doted on her even though she wasn't mine. Fortunately, her owner gave up after a while, and that's how I finally came to be the caretaker (I hate "owner") for the best horse ever.
I feel like my relationship with my horse is part child, part pet, part best friend, and part soul mate. (Although "pet" feels down right offensive...and she's better behaved then any dog I've ever owned.) We just got each other, from the moment we met. Maybe it's because I'm also high strung myself, who knows. What I can say is that I feel like I know her moods and emotions better than I know my own. I can tell when something that would set her off one day isn't going to set her off on another. I've never once thought to myself, "I wish we spoke the same language," because it feels like we already do.
She's not quite as flashy with her affection as some horses, but for a horse that can be so on edge, I know that our bond is real because she trusts me. There are times when I've spent an hour or more just standing there while she has her head pressed up against my body so that her nose is nestled in my chest and I can rest my forehead on hers, and she'll just close her eyes, and it's the most relaxed I ever see her. It's just the best feeling to be on the receiving end of horse cuddles.
Unfortunately, for financial and logistical reasons, I have to board her with a very close family friend out of state. It's the only way I could manage not to sell her. When I got her, I was her fifth owner, and she was only six at the time, and I plan on doing everything in my power to keep her for the rest of her life. There's not much of a market for high strung twenty year old horses, and aside from that, I don't think I would ever recover from having to let her go like that. I'm just so thankful to have someone who I trust completely with a private stable and many acres of land and a nice little herd of horses who is willing to keep her and only charge me the basic costs of food, hay, vet bills, etc.
It breaks my heart not to be able to see her every day, but I know that she's safe and happy and healthy. She's super attached to her horse friends, and she finally has the space she needs to get all her pent up energy out. I visit her as often as I can, and I miss her every single day, but it's the best I can do for her, and she deserves the best, because she was the one bright spot during my toughest years, and having her in my life will always be one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me.
Truly, I wish everyone had the chance to experience the love of a horse. It is unlike anything else.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:00 PM on November 9, 2014 [6 favorites]
I think "love" is a difficult concept to quantify in humans but especially in animals. However, I feel like the deepest connection I've experienced is with my horse. (Granted, I've never had children.)
There's something so special about horses. They're flight animals by nature, and yet very willing to trust. They are big enough that they could run you right over, and yet they don't.
It was love at first sight with my girl. She was owned by someone else at the barn, and she was frankly really crazy: scared of her own shadow, prone to bolting at the sound of a twig snapping, and just about as high strung as can be. She was terrified of everything, way too tightly wound, but also the sweetest, most beautiful horse I've ever seen with a great heart. (I'm biased, yeah, whatever.) The thing is, I really don't think she could control her reactions because they were just so automatic, and she never was one to misbehave on purpose. She would jump anything you put in front of her, always willing to be pushed harder, and so well mannered on the ground.
I was friends with her owner, and I got to ride her whenever her owner was out of town, and I doted on her even though she wasn't mine. Fortunately, her owner gave up after a while, and that's how I finally came to be the caretaker (I hate "owner") for the best horse ever.
I feel like my relationship with my horse is part child, part pet, part best friend, and part soul mate. (Although "pet" feels down right offensive...and she's better behaved then any dog I've ever owned.) We just got each other, from the moment we met. Maybe it's because I'm also high strung myself, who knows. What I can say is that I feel like I know her moods and emotions better than I know my own. I can tell when something that would set her off one day isn't going to set her off on another. I've never once thought to myself, "I wish we spoke the same language," because it feels like we already do.
She's not quite as flashy with her affection as some horses, but for a horse that can be so on edge, I know that our bond is real because she trusts me. There are times when I've spent an hour or more just standing there while she has her head pressed up against my body so that her nose is nestled in my chest and I can rest my forehead on hers, and she'll just close her eyes, and it's the most relaxed I ever see her. It's just the best feeling to be on the receiving end of horse cuddles.
Unfortunately, for financial and logistical reasons, I have to board her with a very close family friend out of state. It's the only way I could manage not to sell her. When I got her, I was her fifth owner, and she was only six at the time, and I plan on doing everything in my power to keep her for the rest of her life. There's not much of a market for high strung twenty year old horses, and aside from that, I don't think I would ever recover from having to let her go like that. I'm just so thankful to have someone who I trust completely with a private stable and many acres of land and a nice little herd of horses who is willing to keep her and only charge me the basic costs of food, hay, vet bills, etc.
It breaks my heart not to be able to see her every day, but I know that she's safe and happy and healthy. She's super attached to her horse friends, and she finally has the space she needs to get all her pent up energy out. I visit her as often as I can, and I miss her every single day, but it's the best I can do for her, and she deserves the best, because she was the one bright spot during my toughest years, and having her in my life will always be one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me.
Truly, I wish everyone had the chance to experience the love of a horse. It is unlike anything else.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:00 PM on November 9, 2014 [6 favorites]
Horses can love. But mules will still respect you in the morning.
I spent almost 30 years trying to keep ropes (attached to various equines) from wrapping around any of my body parts, so I was uncomfortable watching that (admittedly sweet and careful) horse walking on ice while the kid blissfully wound that rein here and there about her limbs. On ice, mind you. I loved the way the animal gave to the rein in the kid's hand, as if the kid was actually doing anything on purpose except trying to not fall down.
I don't dream of flying. I smell horse, sweet breath, reins between my fingers, balanced on stirrups, soft rope half dallied and held loosely in gloved hand, the business end laid across the off-side thigh and brushing the mare's flank on the way back....the saddle creaks when I look back to check the mules. The forest eats sound. I come awake listening for the flubber of soft muzzles.
But now I have cats.
posted by mule98J at 11:40 PM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
I spent almost 30 years trying to keep ropes (attached to various equines) from wrapping around any of my body parts, so I was uncomfortable watching that (admittedly sweet and careful) horse walking on ice while the kid blissfully wound that rein here and there about her limbs. On ice, mind you. I loved the way the animal gave to the rein in the kid's hand, as if the kid was actually doing anything on purpose except trying to not fall down.
I don't dream of flying. I smell horse, sweet breath, reins between my fingers, balanced on stirrups, soft rope half dallied and held loosely in gloved hand, the business end laid across the off-side thigh and brushing the mare's flank on the way back....the saddle creaks when I look back to check the mules. The forest eats sound. I come awake listening for the flubber of soft muzzles.
But now I have cats.
posted by mule98J at 11:40 PM on November 9, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't know...the way that little girl slung that rein over her shoulder makes me think she'll be all right.
posted by carping demon at 12:29 AM on November 10, 2014
posted by carping demon at 12:29 AM on November 10, 2014
Visiting grandkids in a state miles away from home and Max the Wonder Horse, so I can't put toddler BlueHorse up on an equine yet. We will be petting noses only. But her big sissy and I will be renting horses and riding down by the river!
posted by BlueHorse at 7:21 AM on November 10, 2014
posted by BlueHorse at 7:21 AM on November 10, 2014
« Older Written with nightbird quills and... | Get e-stonianshiped Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by XMLicious at 6:17 AM on November 9, 2014