Why Work is Complicated

 Today, Cox accused me of being afraid of my own horse, which is why I wasn't aggressive enough to help herd the cattle from the pasture into the arena. To be honest, I was thinking about the hill in the pasture, the squirrel holes and the rocks, and how riding at a lope or a decent trot, your horse could snap a leg from either one. Not to mention, Sawyer is unpredictable around cattle; he's seen them only a handful of times in his life. Who knows how he could react. But I guess thinking along those lines makes me overly timid. I don't have the fearlessness needed to make a great rider.

After that, minutes later, Sawyer spooks, for reasons I don't remember and which aren't important because he spooks at all sorts of sights, and jumps sideways. Cox starts yelling, "Sit down! Sit down! You're standing up in your stirrups!" 

I guess I don't like being screamed at or told I'm frightened of my own horse because I walked through the gate into the arena, dismounted (safely), and walked out. Clients were in the barn, not to mention Cox's girlfriend. I had to pretend everything was okay while I unsaddled my horse. The clients aren't talked to that way. He would never insult Betty, who has three horses in training with him. Kelly was there also, and he openly flirts with her. Me? He has a hard time being civil to, and the rest of the time, he ignores me. 

Yesterday was worse. I got out Lucy, my mother's mare, to exercise. Cox has not been riding at all since he injured himself over a month ago (closer to 2 months ago). I loped Lucy around for a while, and was just about to put her up when Cox flagged me down. He had a correction bit and a tie down in his hands. Surprisingly, he changed out the bits and climbed on her. He hasn't ridden her in months. He did some backing and some circles, and then went to work the flag. The poor mare. He jerked on her and spurred on her, and even slapped her in the head even though she hasn't worked the flag in weeks, and hasn't been ridden by him in over a month. He just beat her up for no good reason. By the time he handed her back to me, she was soaking in sweat from head to toe, and puffing so hard that even though I walked her for thirty minutes, she was still breathing heavy. I bathed her and kept the cool water on her until she came back down. If I told my mother this story, she would go and get Lucy tomorrow. Hell, I felt like saying something to Cox, but even if I did, it wouldn't make any difference. Maybe the good news is, Lucy is coming home anyway. How unusual are Cox's training methods? Not at all. Cutting horse trainers can be vicious and cruel at times, and it's one of the main reasons why I left the business because I couldn't stand what it did to the horses. What Cox did was not exceptional, but regardless, the mare didn't deserve it. Cox claimed that Lucy was giving him attitude, but even if that was the case, sometimes you have to be smarter than the horse.