Flaunt It - a story of love, devotion, setbacks and perseverance
This is a very long story which I will try and keep short, about doom, gloom, tears, very difficult decisions and in the end a breakthrough with great odds of hope and positive prospects.
Before I started working on Flaunt It (FI) a Warmblood mare, she was known to be a very difficult horse. One could not peacefully walk past the stable without her trying to take a chunk out of you. She was difficult to handle on the ground. She has a very strong character and has no problem showing you when she does not want you to touch her or to be near her, regardless the reason and expressively do so.
In the ring she was just as unpredictable. She would unexpectedly duck in front of a jump, dumping the rider into the jumps. It was decided to take them back to 80cm jumping for safety reasons.
Many of the previous instructors and professionals said to the parents:
When she was bought she did not come cheap so none of the aforementioned was really an option and the family had to make do with her so the challenges continued. Besides the financial aspect, they all fell in love with this mare, sending her away was NOT an option.
The saddle fitters were there every so often in an attempt to see if the saddle was the cause. A bit fitter came out to do an analysis of her mouth and fitted a special bit in an attempt to resolve the issues. Various vets were called in an attempt to get to the bottom of the unwanted behaviour.
During all of this, the parents constantly asked my opinion in an attempt to see if the behaviour was psychological. Sometimes changes were made in the environment that helped but never lasted very long before the unwanted behaviour would return.
A couple of years before they owned Flaunt IT, the rider was in an accident whilst leading a horse (not this mare) in hand. It was rather serious where the rider was in hospital in a coma with a fractured skull. Even though it was not a riding accident it took away some of the rider’s confidence. It has been a long walk and to try and build on confidence again with a difficult horse like this did not contribute much. However, as you will see further down it is a story of hope for both rider and horse.
In November 2014 the parents asked me to do a treatment on Flaunt It in an attempt to see if we can get to the bottom of this behavioural issue, as from the onset they thought maybe it is pain related or discomfort.
Due to my therapy sessions involving the entire horse as a whole, it is difficult to always pinpoint an exact problem. Horses are all about compensation and the entire horse is always affected. In the beginning it was evident that she had a problem with her poll, I cannot say if it was the primary or secondary cause/effect, nonetheless the entire horse was done. From the first treatment there was a marked improvement in her general attitude on the ground and under saddle.
On my recommendation we decided on bi-weekly treatments to start with, and when we reached the stage of satisfactory improvement we will down scale to one session a month and then take it from there.
At a specific time the right instructor came along understanding the horse and rider as a team and all of a sudden there was a total turnaround under saddle and performance wise, more so than ever before.
We tried scaling down to once a month, but the minute we did that it became apparent in the mare's behaviour that there were still unresolved issues and the difficulty in handling started escalating.
This is by no means the easiest horse for me to work on. She has no problem ramming me into walls, attempting to kick the living daylights out of me or meeting her eager teeth.
During all my studies it was drilled into me:
Have NO expectations
When a horse resists, go slower and softer
And that's what I do regardless of how difficult this is. it is the only way to win with a horse.
At times it feels as if I am getting nowhere with her during a session yet I do not stop, I have to push through slowly and softly. Mostly her releases are very small but one has to recognize them and appreciate that's just how she is and move on. No two horses are the same and they surely do not express themselves in the same manner. Flaunt It has taught me a lot and I am so grateful for that.
During this last couple of months the rider started riding her bareback, which was impossible to do at first due to her explosive and unpredictable temperament. When I go away on business for more than a week, I have to slot Flaunt It in as my first horse upon arrival back in the Western Cape. This is just how it is.
Last week Wednesday I saw Flaunt It upon my return from Johannesburg and for the first time in all these months she gave me releases uncharacteristic of her. Due to the rider being at school and the mother at work, the father was the only one present. After the session I said to the dad: “This was the best session she has ever given me. Please don't tell the other family members but Flaunt It is going to give the best ride ever”. Then on Saturday it was an ordinary day at the stables, the riding Flaunt It bareback now and popping over small jumps bareback. Then the unexpected extraordinary thing happened, a fence of 1.30 faced them, relaxed without complications or hesitation, just another ordinary stride and jump! This is such a breakthrough for both horse and rider and the entire team. Although it was only one fence and not a course I do feel very positive about this team.
I am so blessed to be part of team Flaunt It and more so being part of the family. Since it is ingrained in me, I really do not want to make any predictions about the future or have any expectations, we take every day as it comes and are thankful for the results.
We have our times when things go well and we do have some setbacks, but never do we give up. All for the love of the horse.
Before I started working on Flaunt It (FI) a Warmblood mare, she was known to be a very difficult horse. One could not peacefully walk past the stable without her trying to take a chunk out of you. She was difficult to handle on the ground. She has a very strong character and has no problem showing you when she does not want you to touch her or to be near her, regardless the reason and expressively do so.
In the ring she was just as unpredictable. She would unexpectedly duck in front of a jump, dumping the rider into the jumps. It was decided to take them back to 80cm jumping for safety reasons.
Many of the previous instructors and professionals said to the parents:
- Get rid of this horse she is going to kill your child.
- This horse is telling you she does not want to jump.
- Sell her!
- Retire her and put her into foal.All of this because she was such a difficult and unpredictable mare.
When she was bought she did not come cheap so none of the aforementioned was really an option and the family had to make do with her so the challenges continued. Besides the financial aspect, they all fell in love with this mare, sending her away was NOT an option.
The saddle fitters were there every so often in an attempt to see if the saddle was the cause. A bit fitter came out to do an analysis of her mouth and fitted a special bit in an attempt to resolve the issues. Various vets were called in an attempt to get to the bottom of the unwanted behaviour.
During all of this, the parents constantly asked my opinion in an attempt to see if the behaviour was psychological. Sometimes changes were made in the environment that helped but never lasted very long before the unwanted behaviour would return.
A couple of years before they owned Flaunt IT, the rider was in an accident whilst leading a horse (not this mare) in hand. It was rather serious where the rider was in hospital in a coma with a fractured skull. Even though it was not a riding accident it took away some of the rider’s confidence. It has been a long walk and to try and build on confidence again with a difficult horse like this did not contribute much. However, as you will see further down it is a story of hope for both rider and horse.
In November 2014 the parents asked me to do a treatment on Flaunt It in an attempt to see if we can get to the bottom of this behavioural issue, as from the onset they thought maybe it is pain related or discomfort.
Due to my therapy sessions involving the entire horse as a whole, it is difficult to always pinpoint an exact problem. Horses are all about compensation and the entire horse is always affected. In the beginning it was evident that she had a problem with her poll, I cannot say if it was the primary or secondary cause/effect, nonetheless the entire horse was done. From the first treatment there was a marked improvement in her general attitude on the ground and under saddle.
On my recommendation we decided on bi-weekly treatments to start with, and when we reached the stage of satisfactory improvement we will down scale to one session a month and then take it from there.
At a specific time the right instructor came along understanding the horse and rider as a team and all of a sudden there was a total turnaround under saddle and performance wise, more so than ever before.
We tried scaling down to once a month, but the minute we did that it became apparent in the mare's behaviour that there were still unresolved issues and the difficulty in handling started escalating.
This is by no means the easiest horse for me to work on. She has no problem ramming me into walls, attempting to kick the living daylights out of me or meeting her eager teeth.
During all my studies it was drilled into me:
Have NO expectations
When a horse resists, go slower and softer
And that's what I do regardless of how difficult this is. it is the only way to win with a horse.
At times it feels as if I am getting nowhere with her during a session yet I do not stop, I have to push through slowly and softly. Mostly her releases are very small but one has to recognize them and appreciate that's just how she is and move on. No two horses are the same and they surely do not express themselves in the same manner. Flaunt It has taught me a lot and I am so grateful for that.
During this last couple of months the rider started riding her bareback, which was impossible to do at first due to her explosive and unpredictable temperament. When I go away on business for more than a week, I have to slot Flaunt It in as my first horse upon arrival back in the Western Cape. This is just how it is.
Last week Wednesday I saw Flaunt It upon my return from Johannesburg and for the first time in all these months she gave me releases uncharacteristic of her. Due to the rider being at school and the mother at work, the father was the only one present. After the session I said to the dad: “This was the best session she has ever given me. Please don't tell the other family members but Flaunt It is going to give the best ride ever”. Then on Saturday it was an ordinary day at the stables, the riding Flaunt It bareback now and popping over small jumps bareback. Then the unexpected extraordinary thing happened, a fence of 1.30 faced them, relaxed without complications or hesitation, just another ordinary stride and jump! This is such a breakthrough for both horse and rider and the entire team. Although it was only one fence and not a course I do feel very positive about this team.
I am so blessed to be part of team Flaunt It and more so being part of the family. Since it is ingrained in me, I really do not want to make any predictions about the future or have any expectations, we take every day as it comes and are thankful for the results.
We have our times when things go well and we do have some setbacks, but never do we give up. All for the love of the horse.