Luc likes to stick his tongue out, and he really loves to lick people!
Today, Luc licked my ear – and my neck, and my back, and my head. He even left a lovely streak of green slime across my boobs, something that has become a regular occurrence (he is male after all!). I’ve come to terms with the fact that if I’m heading to the barn, even if I’m not riding, I better be prepared with a change of clothes. No one within a 10-foot radius of Luc can escape the inevitable sliming. Believe me, I’ve tried. But his affinity for sticking his tongue out doesn’t just extend to slobbering on everyone he can get close to. I have photo after photo of him with his tongue out while we’re riding, while he’s standing in the field, even while he’s getting a bath – which usually also gets him all riled up. He just seems to like to let it all hang out there.
He’s been this way for as long as I can remember. Even as a foal he would lick your hand and then thrust his whole tongue into it. He loves it when I grab hold of it. We call it the tongue game, and it is most definitely one of the reasons he can be a little mouthy at times.
As far as we know there’s no medical reason for his love of sticking his tongue out, and he doesn’t do it to evade the bit while under saddle. I’ve come to terms with the fact that he’s just one of those horses. You know, the kind who are completely adorable, but well, just a little odd. I love him for it, and I think it makes him who he is. I also think it’s why he and I get along so well. Kindred odd spirits and all that.
But today was the first time that I can recall him ever licking my ear. And it wasn’t just a friendly little peck either. It was a full on French kiss as far as I can tell. I was wiping bits of carrot out of there for the rest of the day. He always seems to like to lick me right after he’s eaten something. All the better to get me extra dirty I presume. While having a horse’s tongue invade your ear is admittedly a very unusual sensation, and one I’m not planning on having repeated anytime in the near future, that’s not what struck me as odd about it.
My mom’s dog Bernie, who also has an obsession with licking my ears. He loves sticking his tongue out too!
The thing is, my mom’s dog Bernie also seems to really enjoy licking my ears. I’m beginning to develop a bit of a complex about it actually. When he greets me at the door when I come to visit, the first thing he tries to do is jump up and lick them. He doesn’t seem to do it with anyone else, it’s just me who’s the lucky one who gets ear kisses. And just so we’re all clear on the issue, I do wash them regularly!
What is it about my ears that animals seem to enjoy so much? Maybe I have really great tasting earwax. I’m not about to try it myself, so unfortunately we’re not going to get an answer to that one. Has anyone else ever had animals obsessed with their ears? I’d love to know if it happens to other people as well.
I guess I should also mention our ride, seeing as how this is a blog about getting back into the saddle after all. Today we didn’t ride, we sauntered. Neither Luc nor I were in a working mood. I refused to ride in the indoor arena despite the ominous looking clouds overhead and the extremely wet footing in the sand ring. That meant we were restricted in what we could do.
I know I’m supposed to be getting down to business and actually riding now, but I have to admit it was nice just to enjoy the gentle sway of Luc’s stride. He as usual didn’t mind one iota that we didn’t really do any hard work. I sure got a whole lot of nickers when I got off. I’ll get back to work next week (unless of course the weather doesn’t cooperate again). I do want to continue to make progress and I know sauntering around on a loose rein isn’t really the way to accomplish that, but it sure is relaxing!
