John at stunning 17hh cross bred, can't remeber which breed but his sire is one of John Whitakers stallions. he is 5yrs old. He had an excellent start to life, but that all changed and he was sold to someone for £5k but they didn't' continue his training or look after him properly, the now current owner brought him off of them for £500 as he was emancipated and in no fit condition for anything.
I've been making friends win him whilst he's in the stable and have caught him a couple of times when he's broken out of his field, but he is very highly strung and flights at anything.
Two weekends ago he threw his rider very badly, scenario was they were in the indoor school with lots of other horses that were all working out at different paces, as his rider took him down the long stretch someone who's been in there a bit longer was already jumping and as John passed the jump the other rider cantered up to the jump from behind, this spooked john and he reared!, his rider sent him forward but he ended rearing again throwing her off and slammed her into the wall then reared and threw himself backwards landing on the saddle. he's not hurt physically but mentally he's struggling. I offered to help about a month ago and although they said yes, they then had a known trainer into to try and sort him out, unfortunately they've used force and it's not helped and they've been advised to put him down as dangerous :D
So....
first I showed him a couple of scary things, plastic bags, feather duster, a different kind of duster but not as light as the feather one and the lunge whip. in that order he showed panic, panic and terrified.
Join up in a 40x40m indoor school, went very well took about 10 mins as he kept napping to the corner, he actually buries his head into the corner of the wall as he does when he is in the stable if anyone new all roaches the stable. follow up achieved, then I went to feel him and the sensitive areas at that point I had to change the plan from going to get him used to the scary things to being just able to touch him all over. extremely headshy from the left and on the poll, his whole body quivered as soon as I thouched him, extremely sensitive one is left side from where someone must have either kneed him or put a foot in his side when mounting, terrified of my hand touching his rear.
Incremental training starts :D and it took over an hour before he was happy with me touching him all over. This was all done without a lead connected to the dually so he had freedom to leave me if he felt the need, which he only did twice, but came back to me when invited.
the feeling all over I call bonding, as all my focus goes into the horse as if mentally creating a bond as if we are one and nothing else around us exists. a bond starts to happen when the horse has a sudden change of thought and they focus fully on what my hands are doing to them? It took about 10ish mins for him to change his focus to communicate to me then a further 15 mins for me to complete this bonding on his good side. I then stepped back and allowed him to choose to stand or go, he walked away. I followed him around until he stood still for me again and worked on his bad side. It went well, still slow and incremental but he bonded much quicker. Each step is only progressed when I have licking and chewing.
the owner at first was all chatty then when I started the bonding she went all quiet and didn't speak until I finished bonding? I hooked the lead rein on and took him over to his owner and she said 'he really likes you' :D
action plan now is to work with him every day to build his trust in me even more, plus he has the farrier in Thursday and apparently he is a nightmare for.
My assessment of John is he's just a scared big boy, but lots to give, very intelligent and listens to my Equus really well. It's going to take time with him, but with his breeding I can't see any reason for him to be put down.
Lets watch this space :D
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Oh forgot to say the owner kept saying how the other trainer used a lot of force when he didn't respond as she wanted him too, so I showed her how I'll be using the dually to back him up and that's the only thing that will happen if he doesn't quite get it right. I demonstrated it and just with one tug on the dually he backed up then stood still and was rewarded.
she said is that all
My reply - that's all he needs :D
Wonderful Mel, good luck, he has clearly been very badly treated and will need time and patience and he deserves another chance. I would suggest though that he should not be ridden for quite some time - he has a lot to cope with! Keep us posted, looking forward to hearing his progress. Is it vital that he has the farrier on Thursday? Can that not be put back a couple of weeks? What do you think?
Yes agree Vicci about noone riding him for a while. Unfortunately he's lost a shoe so does need the farrier. I'm going to suggest he goes barefoot for a while though until I'm confident he is safe to ride again. So if he can get the shoes of and trim that would be a much better way forward for him.
x
Yes, i agree mel, he's VERY frightened!! I was going to say the same as vicci re the farrier, good plan, get the shoes off, he can't cope with being shod just now, it's asking way too much, poor boy.
you do good work girl! xx
thanks Beryl
second join up yesterday, hardly any napping to the corners and he followed up with head nice and relaxed behind me. I videoed the session so I could see what he does when my back is to him.
Feather dusters, soft fluffy one still not sure about, different material white one after desensitising all over the body, I out it in my mouth and offered it to him, he took it into his mouth tossed it in play then threw it away :D
started working on his legs for the farrier and continuing that this morning.
X
Yahooooo :D
speaking with John's owner tonight and he was telling me how after my first session with John, they went to feed him in the evening and he was standing with his bottom to the door and his head hung low, the man thought something was wrong with him, but when they checked he was just standing relaxed. He said they've never seen him in that relaxed position since they rescued him some 2 years ago. :D My heart gave a little leap and it's such a wonderful feeling knowing how much can be done with knowledge of a language :D
Join up and farrier work today, John is very mistrusting on his back legs and hind end, so it took quite a lot of time today before he offered his feet to me. Each time I'd been around his back legs he had to walk away and you could see him thinking about it, before I asked him to return and we repeated it all over again.
with the farrier tonight he was extremely skittish, rearing and backing up. The owner was holding John whist I observed. so they put the one shoe that had come off back on, so it was only one foot that needed work. the owners are going to consider bare foot when all shoes need removing, so that will give me more time to work with Johnbefore he has to see the farrier again.
found out today also that this previous trainer took John out for a hack, after he'd thrown his rider but on the way out he napped just 50 yards from the main gate, the trainer used the whip to move him forwards and he completely lost it, rearing spinning backing up that she couldn't control him and had to dismount ( or fell off) and walk him back into the yard.
Before I knew about this,the trainer came to nose what training I was doing with John this morning, she came just as I was working on his back legs, she offered to help me pick up his legs as she thought I was struggling and said he always picks his foot up for her. I told her I'm waiting for John to give me his foot as he is too heavy for me to lift his foot, so using his language with head movements and body guesture I'm asking him and when he's ready he'll lift his leg and hold it for me. I then added that my training is force free, no whips and no punishments. she then went away saying if you need help call me. Then I find out tonight she'd whipped him, I wonder what she must have been thinking all day.
I'll be quite glad when the warmer weather comes and I build a round pen so I can work away from those who think I'm a nutter lol
Well done Mel. They are such a challenge when they have been this badly treated. I know you will take him slowly which is so important. He sounds a little bit like the really spooked out thoroughbred ex race horse I voluntarily helped out with about a year ago. He was such a gentle boy once he accepted me and bonded so well with the help of Monty's methods. Too well as this made the lady who had befriended him jealous of our relationship. She also became frustrated as she thought I was too slow with his progress. Can't believe some people as in 6 months I changed him from a spooked out terrified horse to a horse that would follow you willingly, would lunge beautifully after initially just panicking - the dually made the difference as I had no adequate space to train him so it was mostly in his paddock - and one who willingly accepted me as a rider with no nonsense. I had only ridden him in walk and trot as I wanted to build up his confidence and give him time before introducing cantering given his past bad experiences on the race track. I was sacked from my voluntary training position when this lady decided I was getting too fond of him and she wanted to do more herself. I had tried to include her as much as possible but it was difficult given her limited experience. Still give Cash a cuddle over the fence as he lives next door to where I have two of mine agisted but he has seemed more worried lately and then the other day I noticed his back legs were badly injured. He was very miserable and sore. I have been pleased to know that the lady has been riding him under guidance from a professional trainer instructor, even taking him out to an adult riding area but I fear they have pushed him too quickly. His injured legs were a result of him panicking and crashing through rails at the riding club. I e-mailed the lady as I was worried that he may have been caught in the dividing fence when playing with my mares and I was ready to put up an electric fence but no. The response to my e-mail was "silly boy he spooked and crashed through some rails". Tempted to say not "silly boy" but "silly you" for pushing him beyond his confidence limits but I refrained. Some people are so dumb when it comes to horses so I do hope you have more success than I did. I did everything I could to get this lady to join Monty's Uni. so that she could understand what I was trying to achieve and the methods I was using but she wanted a different approach which I guess she now has. Perhaps you could convince John's owner to join as I am sure that would help. At least I can still love Cash over the fence and commiserate with him. All the very best with this challenge you have taken on. Stay safe and keep us posted. I re joined the Uni this week so that I can enjoy posts like this one!
oh Mqggie, I'm so sorry it must be breaking your heart seeing what's happening. you can still make a difference for him over the fence. Keep being his friend it will help him if he knows you're still there.
you've just helped me solve a problem. It seems the full liveries do not like me in the indoor riding school. .they've just had a sign put up in the school stating that only riding lessons can book the space in the school.
small minds never move forward, makes you wonder why they're so scared of a little nobody that's helping horses.
seeing your post has convinced me to take John's training outside in our fields. He can make friends with our boys too which will be of benefit for him. I must remember to get a photo of our Barney with John, 9.3hh against 17hh :D
A good idea to get John's owners onto the online university, Monty is in Essex for a demonstration in March, I'll see if I can get them to go. Thanks for the suggestion.
I took John for a walk today to the field that they want him to be in, the other two geldings they own were in one half of the field, so I thought with the fence down the middle of the two fields was ok! what I didn't realise that the owners had opened up a section of the field so their two greys had access to both parts of the field. whilst I was taking john around the the fence line to show him his boundary line! the two greys were cantering over to see us, poor John's tail went higher than an Arabs and he tried to flee, they have bullied John before when the owners tried to get him in the field. . The dually was fantastic at controlling John and I'd gone out with the lunge line not a lead rope, so used the long end to send away the two greys and the other end to control John. they listened and stood their distance, then one of them motioned me to come forwards, I strongly believe from my observations that when a horse is saying no he does shake his head, I shook my head and again this grey motioned to come forwards, i shook my head again then did an upwards motion with my head that I 've seen Barney do when he wants BamBam to go away? the greys listened and started to move away. John relaxed next to me and I let him graze whilst we carried on our walking. It wasn't until I turned my back on the greys when I was heading to the gate! that they started cantering up again! they were only interested! but John was spooking at it. I got him out the gate then turned eye on eye with the lead gelding, with my head forwards like a horse would do and they stopped straight away. I must look like a complete nutter to anyone who's watching :D
I took John for a little graze then when he'd settled headed back. Although it wasn't planned, it actually did some good, it showed John that I had control of a situation that frightened him and I sent the bullies away. the walk back through the village was much calmer than when we first came through, his head was now down by my side slightly In front of me that I could see his eyes even with my eyes. He's trusting me :D
Maggie on the head movements, when your in the field try asking Cash over to you, stand submissive and 45% like join up! then nod your head down to the ground just once and as your head goes down blink your eyes at the same time. Think of it as a head bow. If he doesn't respond on the first one, keep your stance as it is and look directly in his eyes then straight back to the head bow. He might not come over the first few times, but he will soon realise you're still trying to communicate with him. only do the head bow twice at any given time, this is all the horses do between themselves. I hope you can still make a difference in his life and that somehow you'll manage to be his trainer once more. You'll be in my prayers that circumstances will change for the better for Cash., I'm sure the rest of the Uni will do so too. we've been given a unique gift to care for such wonderful, intelligent creatures.
Mel
X
Thanks so much Mel for your helpful comments and your encouragement. I am resolved now to knowing I can't help Cash any more with his training but I can still be his friend. He comes trotting over to the fence when he sees me arrive and on these very hot 40+ days we are having I sponge him off with some cool water as I do for my girls.
he's blessed to have you there, I know it makes a difference to his life to have someone who understands him. X
What great stories and wodnerful achievements. I was with you all the way through the Cash issue Maggie and I know it hurt but sometimes we have to accept 'good enough for now', it is a great shame but you have made a difference to his life and he will not forget. Mel, you are right, about liveries - such pettiness sometimes and endless notices!!!! Do not do this, do not do that blah blah....hard work eh?! Keep going all...the revolution is coming :-)
Thanks for your kind words Vicci. At least he is a quieter happier horse in his paddock these days. He is being well cared for too and his legs are healing nicely. Hopefully a lesson has been learnt the hard way.
Vicci, I've worked out when the school is least used and adjusted my time accordingly :D had a lovely 2 hour session with John today, on the ground, In the indoor school it's really rattle today and normally they won't take John in as he spooks, so our lesson today was in the spooky noisy school. .worked him a lot on feet movement and responding to my movements that he completely relaxed even with the noises. after a bit of lunging to warm up I invited him in to me and he came close with his head down really low, eye level with my eyes. magical moment as we looked each other in the eyes so close and I was telling him I won't ever hurt him and that he's safe. then we stood heads together and relaxed. I could hear all the rattling going on around us, but it was if it didn't matter anymore. :D
X
Aww, how wonderful Mel, those moments are truly magical
Well done Mel, that's lovely :D
good news and not so good news.
Good news first, John has done amazingly several on the yard have said they've not seen him as relaxed as he is now. he had the farrier but with last minute changes I wasn't able to be there. So couldn't help out, John only did a mini rear then went around in circles until they could calm him then he was ok. lots more work to do on that, but the training to get him to move his hind legs more is working and he's stoping rearing when he thinks he's trapped or unsure. He is responding to everythingng I ask of him and had done fantastic on desensiting with scary objects especially the lung whip. When I first showed him the lunge whip he panicked, last week he stood perfectly still as I spun the lunge whip at each side of him and above his head, he's trusting me lots : -)
The bad news, there are 3 sections to the yard, full liveries, DIY liveries and DIY grass livery. John is of the DIY liveries and we are the DIY grass liveries, now the DIY liveries do not like the DIY grass liveries coming in their area, the same for the full liveries, but as I've been working with John, I've had too go into the DIY livery area to get him. A particular person in the DIY livery area, who tried to work with John but made him worse started slagging me off to others in that area, even suggesting that I'd been stealing from the tack room when I got John's rug out. Not only that peeps who have commented to me how relaxed John is looking have reported that this person has been going into John's stable and scaring him and another person who's friends with the trouble maker has been going past his stall wafting her hands in his face to make him back up, she has no reason to be near John's stable. So.... The owners have decided to put John into the full livery for a while, but because of what rumours are going around about me the full liveries do not want me to help with John and have asked the owners that I don't go near John so he can settle in the full livery side. they've even said they don't want me to see him in the field as he might jump out to be with me. So instead of having a couple hours training and bonding with John today, yesterday was the last day I saw him :-(
I know he's not my horse and I hadn't realised how close we had got in the last couple of weeks until today. So feeling a bit reactive about it all.
I had a good day with our boys in the end, Pye is letting me get on him without bolting or rearing, BamBam being his part Arab self decided to bite me on the face in a challenge today during training, the same as he does the other horses, quite interestingly I responded as lead mare would and did an imitation bite on his neck, grabbing his skin in my hand to the same pressure he had done to my face and holding it as the mare would do, immediately he conceded and hung his head like he does when he loses the fight with the other horses. After that he worked well and hung around after I'd taken the dually off for quality time. Not an act of violence, but Equus speaking and it achieve a milestone with him, let's hope it will stop him challenging me for a while
Barney decided to do his Normal thing when he thinks I'm not looking and broke out lol.
Hope everyone has some good stories to tell this week.
X
Oh Mel, i do so feel for you!!! Livery yards really are just the pits!!! It has nothing to do with the horses, the people are disgusting; I've been in many yards in 45 years, but have NOT been a livery in one for 20+ years cos i can't stand the pathetic politics!
Is it not possible for John to go into the grass livery section? He is a horse after all & has rugs.
Naughty BamBam - cheeky Arab took advantage of you feeling off your game didn't he, i hope he didn't hurt you too much, you got control back though so don't worry. Yep, lead mares rule by biting aright, I recently had to put up a higher row of stall chains between Libby & Ebony as Libby charges & bites Ebby hard - especially when I'm picking out Eb's feet, so I'm likely to get squashed under half a ton of Fell pony. She's now going round the front to "GET" her, so I'm tying her up while i do Eb - roll on some drier ground so i can ride her in the field to use some of her energy!!!!!
xx
Oh Mel I am so sorry and I feel for you and for Jack. Just can't understand the bitchiness and pettiness of some people. I know the bond that you must have built up with Jack and that feeling of frustration and total hurt when you are suddenly banned from helping a horse that you know needs your gentle approach and training for longer. It is so hard when you can't finish on your own terms and complete what you set out to do with these horses that have been so very badly treated by people. My situation with Cash was so similar to yours without the added complications of the Livery situation. The girl who befriended Cash saw me talking to him and rubbing his head and neck over the fence the other day so she sent me an e-mail to ask me not to interfere with him. I think she is just jealous of the bond Cash and I have. I didn't see him for six months as I brought my horses home but he seemed so pleased to see me and my two mares when I took them back in January. I I was really upset by the e-mail and all the previous hurt came back. I will continue to pat him when he comes to the fence to see me unless his owners to come ask me not to. Hope that does not happen. I am backing on the owners not minding as they know that I did all the hard work with him and that I used to catch him for the farrier prior to this girls arrival on the scene. Do hope there is some resolution for you and Jack and that his owners are smart enough to appreciate how much you have helped him. The situation just sounds so awful and so upsetting for both you and Jack. My thoughts are with you.
Thank you Beryl, that was a good point with BamBam that my emotions were not 100% right. A nice reminder :D he was better with me today and respected my space.
naughty Libby knowing that ebony is only standing on 3 legs and taking advantage.
Hi Maggie! I thought of you and Cash when it happened, it can only be jealousy that creates the bitchiness. it's made me realise I need to somehow get my own property, so wishing for a miracle now lol. and yes I do hope the owners can see I have a lot more to offer.
My bookkeeper pointed out that if any of my clients go round to the yard asking for me and they get to meet 'the jealous ones' they might cause issues with clients, so another good reason to start looking for my own place.
with Cash, remember you can still communicate even at a distance, a nod of the head, standing alert and imaginary 'ears' pricked when he's caught your attention and smiling, looking at his eyes with a soft look and he will know you care. I think of it with the softness that you would look at a baby.
thank you both for your thoughts much love! Xx
I'll post a photo of John in the FB group.
Mel x
"It's All About The Horse"
Thanks Mel. I do hope things turn out OK for you and Jack.
Best wishes on finding a place of your own, you are absolutely right, it is jealousy - you can & they can't!
Ebony likes to wind Libby up when i do her feet by poking her face at Lib, so i can't blame it all on Lib, but she does get jealous when I'm in with Eb. Never a dull moment!!!
What is the name of the FB group people keep mentioning?
Amberpony did you find out the FB group link?
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Update on John:
He settled well into full livery, but still kept escaping his field when put out so is now in his stable most of the day once again.
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I lunged him earlier this week and he did fantastic, I only had to adjust my eyes to different parts of the body and small verbal prompts and he went immediately into walk, trot, canter. asking him to stop I just had to turn and invite him and he'd stop and walk over to me and stand respectfully at my shoulder.
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Today I walked him over to our field, yesterday all he'd has was the livery peeps letting him have a free lunge session in the indoor school, so after being locked up all night then half the day he was a bit fresh by the time we got to the fields. reared a couple of times, but the dually brought him back down. Just a reminder John is approx 17h so when he rears his feet go higher than my head. he doesn't strike out though. I let him have a graze until his energy levels dropped, then took him into my field. We had about 3 ish hours of grazing, working,resting, then some scary work getting him to walk over new objects, picking up plastic sacks with stones in. The whole time he had to be on the lead rope as I didn't want him to think, ok I'll just jump the fence and go for a walk myself :D he did really well. Time to go back to the stables, I walk him past several horses, them back the route we came earlier.... Not even half way back he's started to pull, stop and graze, I'd wait till he had a mouth full then walked him on again. The closer we got to the village road I could feel his temperament changing then he started to cut across me to block the direction, when he did this I just continued in the direction he'd chosen and made him walk in a circle but make the circle end closer to the road. A lady walked by with a pony, which slightly spooked him, then we got a little bit closer to the village road, clever boy knew what I was doing with the circles, this time he went to block me, I started to circle and he went up! The lunge line slipped through my hands and although I let the dually do it's work to bring him back down, I couldn't stop the lunge line slipping. I had gloves on. John looked at me saw I didn't have hold, turned and bolted all the way back towards our field, one of the girls near there tried to catch him, but he ran faster till he got to the gate near the road and one of the girls there tempted him with food and caught him.
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I took him back another way through some fields that were empty. when I checked him over unfortunately he'd caught the wire fencing during his rush and got a couple of incisions , nothing too serious. Just need to keep an eye on it for a few days and germigel. I noticed as well that his stable partition has been kicked and broken.
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I need some thoughts on this please, I feel it is in John's best interest that he remains out in the fields with me, I'd have to make some changes to the fencing so he can't jump over maybe 6-7 feet high, make the shelter into a stable so he has to be put away at night, then only when I'm there can he come out, which is about 7/8 hours a day. The owners are at a point that they are thinking of putting him down because they don't understand him, how can I help them understand that I really can help John, they've been given so many different opinions I feel really sorry for them. Open to suggestions please?
Xx
Hi Mel,
He's a sensitive chap isn't he.
The blocking you, is cos he's frightened of going there, but he's also trying to protect you from harm by not letting you go there!
I have a good instance of this with Libby when she was a baby & i was leading her out; she was very scared of a stone wall & was giving signals like blowing with her nose etc, i went to go towards it to touch it & show her that it was just a wall, not a strange monster & she was trying to vocally ask me to stop by almost getting a whine out, when i did touch it, she totally shuddered through her whole body & exhaled fully. Another instance was after the hunt had been a pain in the backside the day before, she was scared of something in the next field, i tried to go across to see if i could see what it was, but she ran in front of me blocking my way, she'll do the same with other horses, she'll get between me & them.
I absolutely agree, his best interests would be to be in your fields with you as you describe.
Once they've started jumping out of fields, they are a real pain, my friend had a jumping pony who did that, hopped from field to field as he felt like it, it's obviously extremely dangerous!!!
He's scared of everything at the moment isn't he, I'd be more inclined to walk him out with another quiet horse to see more of the world personally as he's so big & powerful as i feel you'd be safer.
I's do a lot more groundwork / bonding within the confines of your field before walking him out.
He sounds like he should be worked by one person rather than be handled by several people in the livery yard at this stage. ThaT IS THE POINT I WOULD TRY TO PUSH IF I WERE YOU, sorry, hit the caps lock.
hi all have just been reading through this saga with john
would the owners sign him over to you if they are thinking of getting him PTS then they should be happy there is an alternative
jumping out of his paddock is a blessing and a pain these kind of horses generally go on to be excellent hunters or show jumpers I has a fantastic hunter who jumped out of his paddock on a regular basis but forgave him because he was a fantastic hunter
completely agree with beryl
I struggle with the whole livery thing as in NZ most people keep horses outside in a paddock as do I
we have 5 acres and I run two horses on the paradise paddock system and they are outside 24/7
my only advice is ground work ground work ground work
please keep us up to date with how you are going it is very affirming hearing your progress
I was thinking of that suggestion too - signing him over to you.
There is one other thing i'd like to say; another friend of mine had a lovely part Arab pony for her daughter & he often jumped out of their field, once he'd been found on the edge of next doors swimming pool!!!! one day i saw a notice pinned up in the village saying a pony was missing with his description & their phone number - this was at the time when evil text messages were being sent round the country saying horses had gone missing etc - anyway, i rang them to say i wanted to help search for him, knowing he jumps out, but they had found him dead & hanging in a fence!!! It was heartbreaking, i'd known him for many years & he was in his twenty's i think but his joints weren't as agile as they once were.
Just have a very good think before taking this horse on Mel.
Mel, can the owners of John have a word with the livery yard owner to say that you are the only person allowed to actually WORK with John.And that he must be turned out, will he 've ok with other gentler horses not ones that will bully him! He sounds like given the time & Montys methods he'll be a lovely animal. Gotta be worth an ask they can but say no.
Ah Beryl, I hadn't thought about him protecting me, good point to ponder on, we had a little dog that used to do that, friendly thing with everyone and everything, then one day we were walking across a field when a dog with no owner present started coming to us, ours charged off growling and stood between us and this dog, I had the kids with me age 2 and 3. I took it that she'd sensed something was wrong and took the kids out of the field, once we were out I called her and she came. Can always trust the animals instinct when it comes to protection.
Johns little breakaway and run has unfortunately caused some lameness, it's not the best of mud paths to be racing down.
another good point taking him out with another horse, I'll suggest it to his owner tomorrow.
The poor peeps with the missing horse, I think that is one fear when they break out.
Thank you wine lover :-) I can't afford to take John on, wish I could I'd have him in an instant.
Yes to the groundwork, lots of and lots of spooky stuff to do with him so he becomes confident. I'm working on him picking his back feet up at the moment too, drags a bit.
Tiggy, it's a funny set up, each full livery horse has a very small turn out field, he goes out with one of their mares, but that still doesn't stop him from jumping out. They've just ordered some electric fencing posts and are going to attach it to the current posts to make the fencing upto his eye level. I thought if he can see it that high he might think twice before attempting to jump, so instead of approaching looking down on the fence it will be at eye height. I've no doubt that he could jump that high, but he's not had the experience to do so... Fingers crossed for him.
I've put a proposal to the owners quite a big one, not just for John but their 6 other horses too. if they accept it might take a while to set up but well worth it. All their horses are stunning and have so much potential.
have a good week ahead!! X
Mel I hope all goes well with the owners & your proposal to them. I've just read your Join up with Sammy post, you do a really good job from the sound of things, shame some people have such closed minds. My mate (Jenny) & I were chatting about this on Saturday evening when we went to get the Chinese , her mother (now 85) used to work for the Pullein-Thompsons (yes the pony book authors), but has a very closed mind to new ideas and her way is the only way, similar to the girl & her father in my post "please do as I ask"! Really when you actually know a different kinder way it's not rocket science for others to see the results surely. To be fair Jenny's other half seems to have realised that the ponies here are quieter since I've been doing them, he unfortunately has a rather loud & aggressive way with him, but he's getting better with them, they just react when they hear his voice sometimes, the heads go up & they all get uptight!
hi Tiggy, I've been following your post please do I ask. What puzzles me sometimes is that they want to be agressive with their horses their belief system is it's the only way. glad you're making a difference, keep up the good work!
I'm trying, but the minds are closed. Might try if I can stand the bullshit for a night to get them to go and see a demo next time Montys on tour! I got the DVD of him with Tight the otherday so it's interesting to review & remind how he worked with him.