Staying Aware...

From Jim: This is a serious blog. It relates to safety and staying safe. The simple truth is that being around large animals is dangerous. There is no such thing as a totally safe equine, unless it's dead. They are big, quick, and impulsive. If you have lulled yourself into the false sense of security that your beloved animal(s) would never ever hurt you, under any circumstances, you are courting disaster. That's the reality. Injuries that happen to horse owners all over this land are the consequences. I will acknowledge that some accidents are truly unavoidable, but most of the time it's the human's behavior led to the mishap. I've had too many experiences with getting banged up by these critters and I can say that every single one of them was my fault. Most were the result of my over-confidence and inattentiveness. The second I was hurt, I said, "I knew better than that". I've learned that my best protection is to be constantly aware of what is going on around me and to attend to what I'm doing. Horses are not sneaky. They'll generally let you know what's going on with them. Their sudden bolting should be accepted as a potential all of the time. It's hard wired genetic behavior. There are too many stories of folks that have been seriously injured or killed by the animal that has never acted out before. Ten years of perfect behavior is no guarantee of ten years plus one day of the same. Add more animals into the mix and it becomes even more important to stay tuned in. Situational awareness is described as relaxed alertness. It is not a state of fear or anxiety. It is not being complacent and unfocused. It is a habit of the mind that can really make a difference to being safe. I catch myself slipping into concentrating so much on what's in front of me that I ignore what's around me. That's not OK and will get me hurt. I know that from experience. Spending several months in a cast or waiting for the stitches to come out is no fun. I think I can say without any doubt in my mind, if you're around horses enough, you'll get hurt. The idea is to keep that to a minimum and keep the injuries small and manageable. That will always be on us, never on the animals. They can never be expected to be the safety factor. If you've been doing that, it's really at your own peril. I love equines. I have 80 of them. I have great respect for each and every one of them. I urge every horse person to practice situational awareness as part of good horsemanship.