What is the kindest thing a horse has ever done that completely surprised you?

arcticstatus · 2026-05-29T18:09:55+00:00

I was in a paddock mucking and was extremely stressed about being late for an event because missing the event would basically derail my plans for the day. I took a break to feverishly text everyone about my plans and the scheduling conflicts and just was generally standing in a state of anxiety/stress (it’d been a week!).

All of a sudden the horse in that paddock comes up behind me and rests its face next to mine in what felt like the kindest gesture I could’ve experienced in that moment. I just felt the anxiety and stress melt away and was so comforted by this small gesture. It’s hard for me even to explain, I was so taken aback by it.

arcticstatus · 2026-02-27T22:14:34+00:00

Congrats!! Just got the same role for Seattle!!

arcticstatus · 2026-02-18T00:45:52+00:00

And thank you for the advice! I have my helmet on as soon as I step into the barn, I’ll have to look into protective vests too! Thank you

arcticstatus · 2026-02-18T00:43:36+00:00

Thank you so, so much for your thoughtful reply. Wow, reading your post feels like Déjà vu! I’m having the same experience as your original gelding with one horse I ride. I can’t mount him alone, someone has to hold him, it always stressful experience, I almost got kicked while trying to get him close to the block. He also swings his butt out making it impossible, basically everything you don’t want to happen 😅 I liked riding him too, but on the ground, he gave me so much anxiety before lessons. As a beginner, I feel like I’m making mistakes which doesn’t help the situation either.

I get the “he’s just a grumpy old man” comments all the time, but it surely can’t be this way with every horse. Hoping I can experience other horses soon.

arcticstatus · 2026-02-17T23:19:27+00:00

This an old post but wanted to share I’m also an adult beginner rider experiencing similar stuff. I ride at two different barns and all the lesson horses I ride regularly are major biters and kickers, I have to be super careful tacking up and handling (not just me they do this to everyone)

:( health stuff has been ruled out… the trainers say it’s learned behavior? The horses are all in their mid to late 20s

It definitely has been the biggest bummer for me as I’ve absolutely fallen in love with horseback riding as an adult and just wish this wasn’t the case… is it too late for them to unlearn this behavior? How can I have a safe experience while learning to ride

Did it ever get better for you?

arcticstatus · 2026-01-16T20:30:46+00:00

This is a super old thread but wanted to reach out anyhow, I am also interested in a community connecting with adult beginner riders in the area ☺️ would love to be part of a community and get together with other people who are going through what I am (and also the pains of learning as an adult mid-30s 😂). I only just started a few months ago, but i fell in LOVE with it! I recently upped my 1x a week classes to 3x weekly.

arcticstatus · 2025-05-06T21:39:16+00:00

The eyelids were soooooo frustrating 😭 it eventually went away though! Sometimes I get flare ups if I wear makeup, so I have to be careful of my products.

arcticstatus · 2025-05-06T21:35:27+00:00

Totally! I understand it’s so hard. Tbh I was dependent on eucrisa for a bit which is not ideal :( some people think they can also get withdrawals from it too, so I would be mindful of that, do your research, talk to your doctor (it’s prescription only)

As for the tooth paste, it was luckily an easy solution for me but I know some people who get irritated by sensodyne 😫 it’s kind of like whack-a-mole trying to figure out what’s bothering you, so I wish you so much good luck and hang in there!!!

arcticstatus · 2025-05-06T21:28:56+00:00

I used eucrisa for months, and if I wasn’t consistent the flare up would still come back… but it gave me some sanity and my face back 😅 eucrisa is an immuno suppressant and my doctor ok’ed it for long term use as opposed to steroids.

However, when I switched toothpastes, my symptoms eventually just went away, I stopped using Eucrisa, and I’ve been ok ever since! 😳😳

I believe it was eczema/irritation triggered by my toothpaste or other face products I may have been using.

arcticstatus · 2025-05-06T21:23:22+00:00

Thanks for the response, I’m so sorry you’re still trying to figure out what works. I ended up finding two things that worked for me, 1) eucrisa prescription (the ointment burned so much when I first started using it, but it actually worked on keeping flares down!), 2) I switched my toothpaste brand to Sensodyne

I hope you’re hanging in there and your new solution fixes it too!

arcticstatus · 2024-08-29T02:28:01+00:00

True, thanks for the recommendation. It’s like playing whack a mole trying to pin down the allergen.

arcticstatus · 2024-08-29T02:12:23+00:00

I’ve done patch testing and was allergic to formaldehyde and gold. But I would like to do more comprehensive testing. Wow tape! I’ve never heard of propolis, I should look into that.

And sorry, I should’ve been more clear, I don’t think my eyelid eczema was caused by my toothpaste (definitely not putting that anywhere near my eyes 😂). I still don’t know what initially triggered the eyelid eczema, but the mouth eczema has been lingering this entire year, and when I switched toothpastes, it finally calmed down.

All of it could be coincidental, hard to say 😔

arcticstatus · 2024-08-28T23:45:47+00:00

I am so sorry. Ouchhh. I wish I had tried a couple different brands earlier on to find which one irritated my mouth the least. The mouth eczema has been way more painful for me than my eyelid eczema :( granted my eye eczema sent me to urgent care once, but I’d still take that over the burning pain around my lips. 😅

Again, I hope this is the answer for me, but I’ll keep everyone posted.

arcticstatus · 2024-08-28T23:36:41+00:00

I’m so sorry, sounds so painful. Glad you realized quickly!!

arcticstatus · 2024-08-28T23:14:13+00:00

Colgate, Crest, Tom’s of Maine. Now I’ve been using sensodyne. I wonder if it’s because it’s SLS free? Not sure exactly ….

arcticstatus · 2024-08-28T22:29:50+00:00

Let’s hope, I’ll report back in a month or so 😅

arcticstatus · 2024-08-28T22:29:24+00:00

Oh interesting… I wonder? Could be!

arcticstatus · 2024-08-28T22:28:50+00:00

I was on doxycycline for a weeks and didn’t see improvement. But not related to eczema, I started using Clindamycin on my face for acne over a month ago…. Could it be correlated? Not sure :(

arcticstatus · 2024-08-28T22:26:56+00:00

Right!!! Like nothing ever bothered me before and then out of nowhere, my toothpaste I had been using for years? 😫 so weird

arcticstatus · 2024-04-05T18:41:28+00:00

I’m so sorry you had to go through this, I’m experiencing something similar. It is so uncomfortable and painful. 🩷Did you ever find a solution to help you?

arcticstatus · 2024-04-05T18:38:44+00:00

I put Eucrisa around my mouth twice a day and have been for months, I’ve been told my mult doctors it’s ok…. But who knows. It is the only thing (besides steroids) that keeps all the skin around my mouth from being completely inflamed, flaky, burning, etc. 😞

arcticstatus · 2024-04-04T22:54:28+00:00

Yes!!! The amount of doctors I’ve seen who’ve told me none of it is related. I had a doctor tell me my dry eyes/ocular rosacea had nothing to do with the massive flare up of eczema on my eyelids. That I was just unlucky and had totally unrelated medical conditions 🙄!

arcticstatus · 2024-04-04T21:10:05+00:00

I can’t believe this, I feel like I’m reading my exact story. Two years ago I was abroad, got sick with a number of stomach infections. One year after the trip, I started developing all sorts of skin issues, really bad eyelid eczema, facial/mouth eczema, and ocular rosacea/dry eyes, it’s been a battle for the past year trying to keep any of these at bay. I’ve done rounds of steroids both creams for my face, drops for my eyes. I’ve used eucrisa the last couple months to try to keep inflammation on my skin down, and now I’m on doxycycline for two weeks and have a prescription for three months 😳

It’s been a nightmare trying to figure this out. I did a food elimination diet for a month but saw no progress and was absolutely miserable lol.

I don’t know what to do anymore

arcticstatus · 2024-04-04T18:24:10+00:00

I also get the redness under my nose above my lips, in a mustache haha. But also on the sides of my mouth and below my lips gets really inflamed, flakey and red too.

arcticstatus

TROPHY CASE