@funcountess Yes, mini horses can have house manners. There is a group called Gentle Carousel that takes mini horses into hospitals and nursing homes for patient visits and bedside visits and they are house broken, trained in walking on slick floors and to receive attention and hugs. They also wear fun costumes sometimes. Horses can be very therapeutic.

When I saw my horse on Sunday, I saddled him and got onboard and walked him around in the arena. That is therapy for my back and hips because it's the same walking motion, and I compensate for the bigger hip movement of the horse. It builds core strength. I also rode my horse when rehabbing from my spine surgery a few years ago. There are therapeutic riding programs that provide this service to people. OK, now for everyone who just gasped and said wow, only 115 days after ankle surgery, are you crazy to get back on a horse.....you should know that I didn't get hurt with my own horse. He's an older calm guy that is "broke to death" so he doesn't spook at dogs, cats, mailboxes, traffic, etc. He's got enough experience to know those things won't eat him, and he trusts me and knows that I won't ask him to do something that is unsafe. He also knows how to unzip my jacket with his teeth just in case I stashed some carrots inside. I trained him to stop and stand still when I would be returning from a ride, and he would get rewarded with a carrot. That is for safety because you can't let a horse hurry home like they want. They are herd animals and prefer not to be out alone, but back home where they eat and have their horse friends. So when we were out on a trail, he would look back at me in the saddle just to check and see if it was time for a carrot. He follows me around like a big dog and he comes to the gate when he sees me or I call him.

I took the precautions of using a 3 step mounting block and had my husband hold him so he wouldn't move, and I tested stepping up into the stirrup with the good leg and then I swung the healing leg over and sat in the saddle. Same procedure for the dismount, so I didn't drop onto my foot. Some of the time I just had him stand and we walked around the arena. I got off after 15 minutes and untacked him, then cleaned each hoof. I had my husband stand right behind me with his hand on the horse's side to prevent him from side stepping and I made sure my feet were a foot away when I picked up his hoof. One time before, he started to step on my toe when I was working on his hoof and I pulled it out before he could get his weight on it, so I learned my lesson and stand as far away as I can.

Thanks for your kind words. You can find me on social media and online. I am feeling well enough to get back to painting again and it will be good for my spirit.