21st March, 2012 Brinks-man-ship

Horses and ponies can be taken to the brink mentally by deliberate, inadvertent, reckless, careless or accidental events in their life. Some may get there on their own because of their instinctive or natural behaviour but most are helped on their way by humans. Whether they can be brought back from the brink or just how easily they can be retrieved having gone over it, especially if they have been pushed over it many times, will depend on the same factors - the humans in their life and their own nature. I don't believe that it is possible to turn every horse in to a quiet riding horse but it is possible to come to some quiet compromise, either with yourself or the horse (!) about what is achievable and over what time period. Time and patience help, time patience and technique help even more.