I'm working on my next book, '100 Helpful Hints from Holistic Horse Help', and Simon asked if I wanted to dedicate the book to anyone. Happy memories instantly came flooding back of Donald, a coloured horse I once had the pleasure of spending 6 weeks with (I upgraded his name in my mind to 'Just Donald' because I felt he deserved a posher name than 'Donald'). If there is one horse who I believe should have been 'my horse', it was Donald. I was 18, and pretty tough really, I'd seen plenty of horses come and go, but Donald touched my heart and has stayed there ever since.
He arrived at the show jumping yard that I was working at because he'd thrown his previous rider off into the fence and broken the rider's leg - since that rider was employed by the dealer who owned Donald I don't think this made him a popular horse on the yard! He was deemed to be a very difficult horse to ride, and I can't actually remember what my remit was for him (except that I knew he was ultimately for sale), but I fell in love with him the moment he arrived. He was very spooky, particularly afraid of anything behind him, which included a rider on his back - not a helpful attribute for a riding horse! It meant that if and when you did manage to get on his back, you had to stay very, very still, or you wouldn't be on his back very long! In walk this isn't too difficult, but it's quite tricky in trot, as rising trot necessarily involves moving in relation to the horse, and sitting trot petrified him even more! His trick was to shoot off in a high speed panic, and not stop until whatever was terrifying him had gone away. I adored him, and did my very best to raise the £2000 needed to buy him, but failed miserably.
I would spend extra time mucking out and grooming him, I would sit in the stable and eat my lunch with him, and I spent a long time doing groundwork with him, particularly working on being able to mount safely (swinging my leg over his back was enough to set off the panic reaction). All of this was a long time before I'd heard of Monty Roberts or any form of 'natural horsemanship', so I was making it up as I went along. I think that Donald was really the first horse to get me thinking of how to work with a horse, rather than how to make him work for me. He just made me want to do things right by him. Although I didn't see it as thinking about things at the time (after all, I was only 18!), I just 'did' what felt right. Maybe there was an instinct there that I was tapping into, I'd ridden since I was 3 years old, but I'm pretty sure that I hadn't specifically been 'taught' to do the things I was doing. I can clearly remember glowing with pride the day I showed my boss that I could do sitting trot on Donald, and his surprised reaction that this was possible. To begin with we could only ride indoors, where there was less opportunity for him to take off in panic, and I can also remember the excitement (and nervousness!) of the first time I rode him in the paddock. I was so proud of that horse, and how hard he worked to overcome his fear, and I was sure it was because he was trying hard to do it 'for me'.
Imagine how thrilled I was when I was asked to take him to a show, where I'd have a chance to really show off how well he was coming along and how much he'd changed! The dealer he belonged to was a show jumper, who obviously wanted to sell him on as a show jumping horse (it's not easy to fold over a fence on a horse who can't cope with the rider moving on his back), so they asked me to ride him at an affiliated show jumping competition. It was his first show, and we jumped clear in the Discovery, with just the second part of the double down in the jump off. I was over the moon! I'll never forget the feeling as I came out of the indoor arena at Blewbury into the cold drizzle, bursting with pride and grinning from ear to ear... as I jumped off Donald to give him a hug, his owner took the reins out of my hands, and led him off to their lorry. I'd had no idea they were going to take him away from me, and I cried my eyes out. I never saw Donald again, and I've never forgotten him.
It was only years later that I looked back and realised that Donald was probably the first horse to set me on the path towards Intelligent Horsemanship. He had as big an impact on the way I work with horses as any I have met. And that's why '100 Helpful Hints from Holistic Horse Help' will be dedicated to Donald. I owe him a debt of gratitude, and only wish that he could be here with me now for me to repay it.
He arrived at the show jumping yard that I was working at because he'd thrown his previous rider off into the fence and broken the rider's leg - since that rider was employed by the dealer who owned Donald I don't think this made him a popular horse on the yard! He was deemed to be a very difficult horse to ride, and I can't actually remember what my remit was for him (except that I knew he was ultimately for sale), but I fell in love with him the moment he arrived. He was very spooky, particularly afraid of anything behind him, which included a rider on his back - not a helpful attribute for a riding horse! It meant that if and when you did manage to get on his back, you had to stay very, very still, or you wouldn't be on his back very long! In walk this isn't too difficult, but it's quite tricky in trot, as rising trot necessarily involves moving in relation to the horse, and sitting trot petrified him even more! His trick was to shoot off in a high speed panic, and not stop until whatever was terrifying him had gone away. I adored him, and did my very best to raise the £2000 needed to buy him, but failed miserably.
I would spend extra time mucking out and grooming him, I would sit in the stable and eat my lunch with him, and I spent a long time doing groundwork with him, particularly working on being able to mount safely (swinging my leg over his back was enough to set off the panic reaction). All of this was a long time before I'd heard of Monty Roberts or any form of 'natural horsemanship', so I was making it up as I went along. I think that Donald was really the first horse to get me thinking of how to work with a horse, rather than how to make him work for me. He just made me want to do things right by him. Although I didn't see it as thinking about things at the time (after all, I was only 18!), I just 'did' what felt right. Maybe there was an instinct there that I was tapping into, I'd ridden since I was 3 years old, but I'm pretty sure that I hadn't specifically been 'taught' to do the things I was doing. I can clearly remember glowing with pride the day I showed my boss that I could do sitting trot on Donald, and his surprised reaction that this was possible. To begin with we could only ride indoors, where there was less opportunity for him to take off in panic, and I can also remember the excitement (and nervousness!) of the first time I rode him in the paddock. I was so proud of that horse, and how hard he worked to overcome his fear, and I was sure it was because he was trying hard to do it 'for me'.
Imagine how thrilled I was when I was asked to take him to a show, where I'd have a chance to really show off how well he was coming along and how much he'd changed! The dealer he belonged to was a show jumper, who obviously wanted to sell him on as a show jumping horse (it's not easy to fold over a fence on a horse who can't cope with the rider moving on his back), so they asked me to ride him at an affiliated show jumping competition. It was his first show, and we jumped clear in the Discovery, with just the second part of the double down in the jump off. I was over the moon! I'll never forget the feeling as I came out of the indoor arena at Blewbury into the cold drizzle, bursting with pride and grinning from ear to ear... as I jumped off Donald to give him a hug, his owner took the reins out of my hands, and led him off to their lorry. I'd had no idea they were going to take him away from me, and I cried my eyes out. I never saw Donald again, and I've never forgotten him.
It was only years later that I looked back and realised that Donald was probably the first horse to set me on the path towards Intelligent Horsemanship. He had as big an impact on the way I work with horses as any I have met. And that's why '100 Helpful Hints from Holistic Horse Help' will be dedicated to Donald. I owe him a debt of gratitude, and only wish that he could be here with me now for me to repay it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.