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Joe, his "after" shot |
This is My Game, or as he is known by his barn name, “Joe,” joined our family in the fall of 2011 as a “husband horse” that would enjoy a job as a trail partner and generally relax with the 3 other horses at our home farm. Joe had been rescued by a friend and was in desperate need of a new home—he came off the track with abscesses in all four feet, a back covered with rain rot and about 200 plus pounds underweight. Nevertheless, there was a look of potential greatness in his eyes: that this 16.2 hh, dark bay gelding was a survivor and deserved a chance to have a new life and career. From the beginning, Joe had comfortable gaits, showed no tendency to want to bolt, spook or run, and in fact, seemed very content to trot and walk. He self-loaded onto trailers, arrived at new indoor arenas where we rode during the winter and never gave anything a second look. He clipped without fuss and all early indications suggested he was making a transition to pleasure mount easily.
As my husband’s lessons progressed, we had learned that Joe preferred the lightest contact on his mouth and no leg contact at all. This was not a big issue until it was time to start work at the canter. Then Joe told us that he was not happy and that cantering was not an option: he bucked. Quite spectacularly.
So, having read all the articles about horsemanship and figuring out the cause (and fix) for behavioral issues, we started with his physical condition:
· Teeth were checked: status good
· Feet were checked: status good
· Back was checked: put on Robaxin, drugs to deal with arthritis, joint supplements, ulcer supplements and chiropractice treatment; Legend and Adequan injections monthly; depo shots to help with “marish” mood swings
· Saddle was checked: fit okay
· Husband was checked: well, enough said.
The resistance to go forward at the canter persisted, and in fact, Joe was now showing anxiety about being asked to go forward at all from the walk. Joe had improved physically, gained weight, and frankly, looked amazing. But he was less and less happy. Really perplexed, I realized I needed professional help, but not many trainers who are committed and busy with barns of horse-show bound clients have the time or inclination to fix a bucking OTTB whose life is destined to be a trail partner. Until I found Nikki Roshon.
Nikki agreed to take on Joe to help him work through his issues and find happiness in his new life. Her blog will detail her approach to identifying the issues Joe presented, and how, rather than try to overpower those issues, get inside Joe’s head to find a solution that grows organically from Joe himself: what and how to ask Joe to work under saddle and to help Joe establish confidence in himself to respond to a rider’s aids.
The lesson I have learned: listen to the horse and with patience, a willingness to try many paths to a solution and with kindness, a horse like Joe can find his place in life.
Enjoy his journey.
What a wonderful prelude to the rest of the story! I look forward to reading more about Joe!
ReplyDeleteHahahaha nice story, good sharing !
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