Change of office this week, staying at Jo's
lovely cottage at the far end of the Isle of Wight. A total of seven different
horses to see starting with four year old coloured cob Indy. Despite a lovely
open face and a youthful air, Indy has arrived with plenty of baggage. He is
just so strong and has redesigned gates and posts by pushing them or pulling
them. Although he is only 13.2 hh he feels like a much bigger draft horse. This
instinct coupled with a natural power has been reinforced somewhere along the
line where it has worked for him to get him out of something he didn't want to
do and to get him somewhere he wanted to be. I seemed to spend the first ten
minutes with him saying no more often than yes but the when the penny dropped
it dropped completely and he started to listen intently. After that I asked him
to move forwards, backwards and sideways, step by step, all very gently and he
proved to be light and agile. On day two he showed once again that a horse's
disadvantages are his advantages and was absolutely bombproof in the face of
plastic bags, umbrellas, the tarpaulin on the ground and on his back. We also
set him up for long reining so that he can learn some direction without having
to do lots of circles since he has a tendency towards locking stifles. By the end we felt that he has earned the right to wear a rosette (although I am sure he would have preferred something edible).
It's always a delight to see Debbie and
Dillon. Debbie because she is always beaming these days and Dillon because he's
started to enjoy his life instead of resenting everything that he is asked to
do. It just proves that all he needed was to be asked the right way. When I
first met Dillon he was sick, sick, sick of saddles (which had hurt), sick,
sick, sick of schooling and really sick, sick, sick of people. Debbie will
admit that she was ambivalent about whether to keep him and wondered what she
had taken on. She has done everything within her power to make him comfortable
including having a back therapist out to him and I can remember last summer
lining up saddles for Dillon to try on as if it were a shoe shop. He was so
clear that he did not want an English saddle anywhere near him and the only
saddle he didn't react to was a little Western that we had at the time. Even
that saddle wasn't ideal but he was so adamant that that was the one he wanted,
demonstrated by a willingness to have it on his back and to go forward when
ridden that we knew it was the answer. Debbie got him one of his own, beautifully fitted, and they
have not looked back since. From those early rides with me on foot, she has
ventured out with great friend Annie on a bike, and overcome his fear of
everything he saw.
This time round, Dillon was happy to be
schooled in the field and we kept him engrossed by changing the exercise every
five minutes so that each task became a holiday from the one before. In this way
we got him to give a 100% walk, even away from the gate, to start giving the
bit for a few strides at a time, to turn on the forehand and rein back without
running back as he is prone to do, and to accept directions around barrels on
the ground. Even so, the real highlight for me was to accompany Annie and
Debbie on their respective horses out on a hack and to see Dillon negotiate a
boardwalk, cows, endless bicycles, bridges and roadworks without a murmur. He
looked and felt happy and relaxed; engaged with life.
It's always fun to visit Jane and her three
characterful Shetlands. I'm not really sure I should be paid to do this since
it takes me back to my childhood when my friends and I would set up jumps
around my grandparents' garden and 'canter' around them on our own two feet
until one of us fell over and scabbed up our knees. Jane has been happily
painting coloured poles and road signs in between constant bed changes and
greeting the guests that turn up at her hotel. Outside in the hotel grounds there
is now a veritable agility course.
Magnus, Annie's posh New Forest pony, knows
more about dressage and showing that we will ever know but he is still game for
some fun. Bright colours, streamers and ribbons are all old hat to him and he
was happy to humour us.
Jan's new horse is what you might call a
full up New Forest pony. In fact he has been X rated because he grew oversize.
He is all in proportion and looks magnificent. Little wonder then that he needs
a wide saddle and can take an extra inch along his back too. Saddles are not
easy to get hold of on the Island as they inevitably need a saddle fitter to
come over from the mainland which limits choice. Still, it is not Kenya (!) and
therefore not impossible.
Because of an injury Jan needs to be able
to get on and off Merlin from the right, something that he is very happy to
accept in principle. I was asked to train him to 'park' himself and stand very
still at the mounting block. We made a good start on this, using clickered
treats which he thought was marvellous. However, we limited the session so that
the saddle didn't undermine what we were trying to achieve and I've left Jan
with an easy pattern of training that she can continue once we know for certain
that he is comfortable.
There are always some key points that came
out this week:
1.
Instinctive, defensive,
behaviour which is reinforced by humans will have THREE times the power.
2.
Show a horse something clearly
THREE times and we will have got it for life.
3.
A FREE horse is never a free
horse – they are always on the liability side of the accounts.
"Thank you so much for the
last few training days it has been so rewarding and such fun...We have achieved a lot of
different things this week, a huge thank you."JB
"Thanks for a lovely week, both participating & spectating. As always, wonderful to see you - you're like a huge in breath of fresh air. Time spent in your company is like having cataracts removed! (well that's how I imagine the clarity of sight you bring with you)." AD
"Thanks again for a fantastic week of sessions they have opened up my eyes yet again some things are so simple yet so effective and it is such a great feeling to feel Dillon's reactions, the releasing of my tight areas and him stretching out was quite amazing, I felt we came along in leaps and bounds this week and I now have a variety of tasks to work on. He is having the weekend off he looked sooo tired this morning but again as always after we have a session with you I feel so much closer to him and our bond always feels much stronger." DW
"Thank you for the photos and notes (which I have read twice) my family loved seeing what we have been up to! Indy was very good for the farrier on Wednesday afternoon despite being a little stiff. I asked him to remove his back shoes and he seems happier for me to lift those back legs now. He is calm in the field and comes to greet me, not entirely respecting my personal space yet but I am training myself to respond appropriately!! Many thanks again, hope to see you on your next visit to the Isle of Wight!" NW
"Thanks for a lovely week, both participating & spectating. As always, wonderful to see you - you're like a huge in breath of fresh air. Time spent in your company is like having cataracts removed! (well that's how I imagine the clarity of sight you bring with you)." AD
"Thanks again for a fantastic week of sessions they have opened up my eyes yet again some things are so simple yet so effective and it is such a great feeling to feel Dillon's reactions, the releasing of my tight areas and him stretching out was quite amazing, I felt we came along in leaps and bounds this week and I now have a variety of tasks to work on. He is having the weekend off he looked sooo tired this morning but again as always after we have a session with you I feel so much closer to him and our bond always feels much stronger." DW
"Thank you for the photos and notes (which I have read twice) my family loved seeing what we have been up to! Indy was very good for the farrier on Wednesday afternoon despite being a little stiff. I asked him to remove his back shoes and he seems happier for me to lift those back legs now. He is calm in the field and comes to greet me, not entirely respecting my personal space yet but I am training myself to respond appropriately!! Many thanks again, hope to see you on your next visit to the Isle of Wight!" NW
