Wearing Cranky Pants

A photo of Storm and I working on the long lines from a much better day! Photo Credit: Raw Photography

I don’t know about you, but some days it just seems like I’m wearing the cranky pants and it feels like there isn’t much to be done about it. The other day was one of those days, and I think Storm woke up on the wrong side of the barn, too, which didn’t help either one of us!

I headed to the barn to work him for the first time in a week due to #allthethings. It was a beautiful day for the first time in almost a week and I was looking forward to getting back to it. The bugs were bad (the con to getting a lot of rain) and so I put his fly mask on hoping that it would help him feel better.

We got set up to work and I started the timer for 10 minutes working to the right on the long lines. By the end of the 10 minutes he was fussing, but I knew the bugs were bad (they were bothering me, too!) and so we changed directions and I set the timer for another 10 minutes.

At the end of that 10 minutes he was down right mad. He’s almost never acted like that before, pawing his feet, tossing his head and almost rear/bucking. I thought maybe the bugs got under the mask, so I took it off before I put his bridle on. He was still standing there dancing and acting mad. I was getting frustrated at this point because I didn’t know what the issue was and he’s never been this upset when we’ve worked before. I even undid the girth to check and readjust the saddle thinking something might have been off about that.

Finding nothing that gave me any answers, and with him still being irritable, I just decided to quit. My frustration was growing, and I was in no condition to keep working through it, let alone fork a leg over him since he was also obviously just as cranky as I was.

Back to the barn we went, untacked and he got turned out. Whatever was bothering him was still bothering him to some degree because he ran around for a bit before going to eat hay with the rest of the horses.

In that moment I wasn’t clear enough to hear what was happening, I just knew both of us weren’t in the right space to keep working together. My frustration was starting to be difficult to manage and that’s not fair to him or myself.

There are going to be Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days, Even in Australia (to quote Judith Viorst). And they happen with our pets, and to our pets, too. The better part of valor is to recognize what is happening, and if you can’t change course and get back into the head space of a wiser self, then throw in the towel and come back later. There’s no shame in that, it’s really the smartest, and probably kindest, thing you can do for yourself and your pets.

Take a break, cool off, find your wiser self, and find more information that will help you do better next time. Come back ready to reconnect and keep moving.