Jerry's 3 day Adventure

i took Jerry on a 3 day course with Rachel Moreland, in Derbyshire. I purposely went with no expectations, just the mindset of "how interesting it will be to see what happens." Jerry stayed over at Jenny's farm with Paris and a couple of other horses, whilst Helen and I travelled daily. Well my boy was a superstar and showed me so much of himself it was an amazing feeling. I donlt know how else to put it, but I adored having 3 days just to be with him and i think he really enjoyed it too.

His anxiety levels increased immediately on entering the school on day 1, but giving my RBI the time he needed paid off, and even when another horse got free and charged around panicking, he stayed with me without going catatonic. His nervous tick is a really good indicator of his emotional state, and although i haven't seen it for a while at home, it was back. As his confidence increased over the days it became less and less evident. However, what astonished me was that when Rachel took his rope and he moved 6 feet away from me it immediately came back. althougn I knew he associated safety and comfort with me, i didn't really acknoweldge the depth of this feeling in him. He is quite a sociable horse now, but realising just how much the thought of being asked to do something- especially by someone else, can cause him stress was an eye-opener. How I wish every horse had a natural start, and never had to suffer at the hands of humans. Ignorance can be cruel, whether deliberate or not, and human priorities when inflicted on a horse can cause mental and spiritual damage which is so so difficult to repair and rebuild.

Working with Rachel was great, she seemed to have a good understanding of his behaviour, and was prepared to help me as the only non-rider in the group. I used blue barrels as a place of comfort, and got to the point where relaxation for Jerry was me laid across his back. He started looking for the barrels - very leftbrain!

Following Dave's advice I have worked on Jerry's left side. however i took note of something I heard Karen Rohlf say in a demo I watched. she talked about "rocks in the river" when the horse has blocks in their necks and top line. I guess Linda and Pat would say thresholds or brace. Anyway I decided to work from his nose all the way to his tail, as I knew some blocks were present. The time spent doing this paid off. On day 2 and 3 I was laid over Jerry squiggling around whilst he walked, and he was even able to relax. when he did wow- what a huge stride he has - it took effort to stay on!! so very very different from Maestro. It was a dream come true to feel him relax under me, such a special moment as i know how hard this is for him.

Now I'm repeating the same process on the right as he is not as confident on that side. He is a sensitive guy, and learns quickly when he understands the pattern (thanks Pat) and me in zone 3 is fast becoming a signal to relax.

I realised many things over the 3 days. Firstly I thank my lucky stars that this horse is still willing to speak to me.
I can send him sideways, slow, stop etc etc just using my energy, I have been bellowing not just shouting. When he's focussed on me, everything i do means something to him. He is an expert at subtly moving to put me where he feels most confident.
When my leadership is not good enough, he politely leaves, but is willing to come back when I get my act together.
He is a big powerful horse who needs to feel secure to be able to function.
What I percieve as a massive strength and presence means nothing to him in his unconfident moments.
Everything needs to be as good on both sides, and although I may think i'm working on just one thing, e.g. leading from a leg, the lessons learnt affect the whole relationship, and show in other areas. -Jerry was anxious about the c/s lapping from side to side in Z1, and could only relax when it was over 22' away, and i was walking awayfrom him. Day 3 we did this again and he walked right up to my shoulder unprompted, no anxious twitch!
Everything we do has to be good for both of us, (esp LBI!)
Focus on the positives, and reward the try's. Ignore the negatives.
Have a plan, walk confidently when your horse is "lost".
Read Jerry's breathing - very subtle changes.
Get him confident with his own energy.

I love this horse so much - what a teacher he is. He is so complex and interesting, challenging and changable. The mixture of dominance and unconfidence, arrogance and disprespect, what i see in him in different circumstances, it all quite blows me away at the moment. I feel that now I'm beinning to really get who he is, and to understand him. It's a fab feeling and worth every moment of everything we've gone through!