Ten Things About TC

I record a lot of what TC and I do on this blog. Like, that's the point of this blog. But I realized that there are a few things I don't mention often, if at all, that are actually things that I do want written down at some point.

So here are ten things about TC that I find interesting or cute or whatever. Just wanted to write them down.


1) I really love TC's weird facial expressions. At first I really didn't think he was a very attractive horse, but his adorable personality really has taken over and convinced me that he's the cutest animal. Well, behind Rico and Jade, sorry TC. He sometimes has this look on his face of bewilderment, and he definitely knows how to be adorable when begging.

When he saw sprinklers (that he's seen before)

2) TC and I have this weird little banter when we walk back to his stall. I have his grain in my hands and then just drape the lead rope over my shoulder and he kind of follows me. The rule is that if I stop, he has to stop, but other than that he can do whatever. Except steal grain. But he definitely begs when we're walking. If he's feeling quiet he'll just look at me with big sad eyes and I always give him a cookie. If he's sassy, he'll get a bit close and I'll poke his nose with my finger to get him to stop. Sometimes this results in him snaking his neck and very occasionally he'll strike out. It's all very controlled but it's sassy and I think it's hilarious.


3) For the most part, TC is really social. He always hated it when he got left in the arena and always screams at other horses even during our ride. He'd be a terrible coworker. I've really felt bad for him that he has been pretty much not allowed to get close to his neighbors since the end of 2015. But it's been super good for him. He is now as close as he's been, and he's still separated by an electric fence. He has two neighbors who I thought he'd be attached to. One of them definitely gets a whinny if he sees him out and about, but the other one is OBSESSED with TC and it cracks me up because TC thinks he's too clingy and doesn't give two fucks about him. TC, do you realize that this is how everyone else feels about you?

Now I'm more his person, we even wear the same scarves

4) TC has two vices that drive me nuts in the cross ties. One, he chews on the cross ties themselves, which are chains, and two, he wants to stand in front of the railroad tie that encloses the cross ties, despite this looking very uncomfortable. He knows that I will tell him to stop every time and he still does it. So rude.


5) I've mentioned this in several posts before, but it's worth mentioning again. TC is really enthusiastic about his job. This usually makes him SUPER fun to ride. He's super game for everything and as long as you really take the time to explain what it is that you're asking, he tries his heart out. SOMETIMES this makes him super ANNOYING to ride because he will really tell you when you unlock something... by squealing... and leaping through the air. For a while I couldn't even get my sitting trot in the right place because he'd immediately squeal and canter when I got it. But it's such a good canter like... what are you going to do? He also squeals and does changes sometimes, and again, what am I going to do? So I just mostly ignore it.

Please be faster at tacking me up

6) It's well documented on this blog that TC is a spooky horse. He's actually spookier at home than he is in new places. I think he's just mostly pretty observant of his world and likes things to be the same. It really doesn't seem to affect him elsewhere. Like out on the trails he doesn't care about anything (except other horses but that's a different problem). One of my favorite spooks was when TC saw a cat walking across the lawn. The cat decided to run up the tree nearby. TC slammed himself to a halt and was like WHAT THE FUCK. I mean, to him it probably looked like a crazy demon tree sucked that cat right up into it. He's been very cautious of the lawn ever since.


7) This horse loves people. I mean he loves them. All last year I was so grateful that we had lots of people coming up to him after shows, because he now knows that shows are where he gets to go show off for people who then come up to him and give him pets afterward. It definitely helped with his confidence. The downside though, is that he seems to be ready to ditch me for just about anyone. We'll be out on the trails and if I'm not careful, he'll deposit himself in someone's backpack and leave with them. He thinks Kate is the best person ever, and would probably like to go home with her instead. Definitely not the most loyal animal in the world.

Wants to know where his bffs are after finishing his test

8) TC hates being ridden bareback. He's fine at the walk, but every time I ask him to trot you can just see it in the look on his face. It goes from happiness to the look that a half dead unamused lesson horse wears. He's just like "oh god why, why this" whenever I flop around on him. He will NOT go on the bit and will barely jog a few steps before being like "fuck off man" and slamming himself into the walk. The one time I made him canter bareback he was okay until we broke to trot and I flopped around, then he decided that I wasn't allowed to canter him anymore. Oh well. We'll stick to walking then.


9) Ground tying has never been a problem for TC. He likes to be the center of attention in general so why would he leave me when I'm there giving him attention? Watching him in the cross ties I always thought he'd never ground tie because he stands there like he wants to leave the whole time. He paws and stretches and bows and chews on the ties and wiggles around. But the moment he's not tied, he's totally fine hanging out.


10) TC loves to be groomed and scratched. I know I can always give him a big reward by leaning forward and scratching his chest and neck, he thinks that's great. He really likes the insides of his hind legs (basically up between his butt cheeks) scratched. Sometimes he'll pick up his hind leg to give me better access to his cheeks. He's also a big fan of having his belly scratched too.

Loves scratches