19th July, 2014 Gifted Children

Final working day of the week and a lovely Arabian non-loader to work with called Kiki. When I arrived at the yard he was being busy, busy, busy so I spent some time working with him just helping him to relax. There is no doubt that he is afraid of being loaded and possibly of travelling so I needed to just ask him to engage with me, give everything a go, and not be busy, busy, busy. He progressed really well and although I had the panels in place to ask him not to go off to one side, that was about it. Little by little he grew more confident about going on, standing still and then coming back out again.

There is no doubt that Arabs are gifted children - very sensitive and sometimes well ahead of the people handling them physically and mentally. The joy of working with him today was that the whole family is involved, wants the best for their pony and really wants to work with no violence. And, even better than all of that, Kiki's little rider, is pretty gifted herself. Not only did she pick up the techniques herself but she really demonstrated the underlying philosophy, principles and attitude needed.

"I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your help today. It was fascinating, neither of the girls have stopped talking about you both all afternoon! We will practice every day and keep you updated." WR