RETRAININGCASE STUDIES - straight from the owners mouth !
I have had the fortune to start and work with some very talented horses who have gone on to great things in a variety of disciplines, but some of the greatest success stories for me have had humbler beginnings. Here are two stories of horses who I started, told by their owners! Both horses had a very bad start to life and were tricky to handle, but are now happy, useful horses enjoying their ridden work and bringing much pleasure to their owners! Tale of a different kind of Wizard! , Frosthill Welsh Wizard I bought Wizard on 4 th November 2006. The story I was given went something like this. Wizard had been returned to the stud who bred him as being wild and no-one could handle him. We think he had just been abandoned in a field with no company. He had no headcollar on and had no idea how to communicate with humans or horses. He basically feared humans and ignored horses. A friend told me about him and how, as the stud had lost most of their grazing, they needed to sell several of their stock, Wizard being one of them. I was told he just needed to learn to trust humans. I have my own yard and thought, well, I do have the time and have never had easy horses anyway so he will be an interesting little project, and so he has been! To cut a very long story short, the not wearing of a headcollar was the first hurdle. All the expert horse handlers I know came to try, each being as frustrated as the first not to be able to get near him when holding a headcollar, trust me we tried every trick in the book. Handle him without anything in your hand and he was fine. He just used to follow me to and from the field so I guess that is some sort of join up. I’m afraid that in the end I tried once to often with the headcollar and he double barrelled me in the leg, luckily without breaking it. The first time in 25 years of working with horses that this has ever happened to me. I felt that Wizard had gone from defensive to attack. This meant some serious thinking as I didn’t want a dangerous horse on the yard. I decided that I had two options.
I had sent a couple of horses to Jason over the years so I knew he was Wizard’s only hope. I did feel a bit of a failure, after all at that time he was only 14.2hh, how hard can it be to put a headcollar on a pony!!! After a quick chat with Jason I herded him into my lorry and herded him out of the lorry into a barn at Jason’s yard in Goudhurst. After approximately one month Wizard came home, complete with headcollar. I followed Jason’s instructions to the letter and have never had another problem with a headcollar. Wizard wintered out for 2007 with my retired horse and another very bossy pony and learnt a lot about herd respect and hierarchy. On Thursday 13 th March 2008 I took Wizard over to Jason to be backed. Although not quite 3 years old I felt he was strong enough and was looking a bit bored! After six weeks, Jason was confident enough to use Wizard in his Open Day with over 120 people watching! I must admit to having a lot of nerves, but was a very proud ‘mum’ as he was foot perfect, walk trotting and cantering in the arena in a nice, soft outline. I took him home that day for a well earned rest chilling out with his pals. He returned to Jason to be put back into work and three weeks later he was off to his new home with a young rider to start his competitive career.
Chancer’s Lad, owned by Louise Hutchinson To begin, I will give a brief background to how I arrived at Ricebridge Farm and what I hoped Jason and his team would be able to do with my horse Chancers Lad, a French Trotter/Welsh cross. I will then give my thoughts and experiences regarding the time we spent there - NB this turned out to be a considerable amount of time (2 years) to be precise! but I must hastily add that this was because of MY reluctance to leave as I enjoyed my weekly visits so much and NOT because Lad my horse needed to be there and so I turned it into a livery arrangement instead! Bearing in mind that I live near Brighton in East Sussex and there was considerable travel involved each week I think this alone speaks volumes in itself about Jason, Penny and the team. I bought Chancers Lad from a dealer who informed me that he had come from Gypsys who had used him for trotting racing. I had been working up at her stables helping out and had fallen totally for Lad who by this time was 4 and was extremely green and nervy - For someone who had not had a horse for 10 years due to children, back injuries and lack of finances Lad would have been considered by many not to have been a wise choice! However, in my eyes Lad eminated a rawness and beauty of spirit that I had not seen often and there was no way back! I had been interested for some time in natural horsemanship ie. the Parellis, Dr Robert M Miller, a veterinarian and expert on equine behaviour, and other natural horseman from different countries and started to use some of the techniques to do some ground work with Lad - this had some positive results but because he was an extremely nervous character, I felt that when I had reached, the stage of actually thinking about getting on him, SELF PRESERVATION kicked into action and I decided (also having a child to consider) that, I was not the best person to do this. I then sought the help of an acquaintance who had a number of horses himself and had turned out some excellent horses from a young age. He spent some time with Lad and to cut a long story short mounted Lad gently on several occasions but on the third occasion Lad highly nervous of men in particular reared up and threw him off the back end! This gentleman who prided himself on very rarely coming off decided to leave it at that having hurt his wrist and having a hedgecutting business to think of too. By this time Lad was going on 6 my having had him for some 20 months and in my eyes still not rideable. On another occasion I recall one of the top equine dentists in the South coming to file Lads' teeth. he also taught equine dentistry and trained polo ponies, rode in competitions at a high level and him having been so highly recommended to me I trusted his way of doing things. I explained that Lad was an extremely nervous horse and to tread very carefully - he insisted that after all the hundreds of horses he had handled there would not be a problem and a no nonsense approach was best - although that is true to a point, nothing is black and white! He told me that only one horse had ever got the better of him whilst on his rounds and not to worry. In short, Lad became the second horse to get the better of him as his method did not work and Lad escaped, turned on a sixpence and disappeared careering across the neighbouring fields old barbed wire fences with the twitch still on and his mouth wide open. Fortunately, he was unscathed but traumatised and upon leaving the dentist said 'get rid of that horse, he is really sharp'. It was in passing one day at Bodells Feed Merchants and the connected Saddlers that I over heard one of the staff talking about a man called Jason Webb who had sorted out her horses' boxloading problem within a morning - apparently, every method had been tried to load this horse with added help from many experienced horse people but to no avail. She went on to say Jasons' method was non confrontational, simple and amazingly effective - The lady then went on to talk about friends of hers who had used Jason to help with problem horses and how pleased they were with the results. Of course my ears immediately pricked up and, I asked for Jason's number Initially, I was very concerned about sending Lad away for further training but after speaking to Penny, Jason's wife for a very long time on the phone, I felt confident that this was the place to come. Penny understood where I was coming from as a mother and the need for self preservation whilst also recognising my worries concerning Lad. I remember putting the phone down and feeling good that Penny came across with a distinct LACK of ego which can be quite hard to find in the horse world. My first impressions were of a yard that was clean, calm and unpretentious. What you see is what you get, nothing is hidden unlike some yards. The stables were of good size and well managed and the pastures were well maintained. In all the time I was there I never saw any horse dealt with in any other way but fairly and non confrontationally. When it came to my horse Lad, Jason was on him within a week with the use of a round pen with Jason riding a horse beside Lad and gradually introducing his weight to Lad etc most IMPORTANTLY, without Lad becoming traumatised. I visited Lad after the first 10 days allowing him to settle and I was amazed to watch Jason ride him. Obviously, he was green but he was responding to Jason’s aids and as the weeks went by he became less nervous mainly, because of Jason’s calm approach to him, giving him clear messages that he could understand and not overfacing him, allowing space for Lad to work challenges out for himself allowing him to develop confidence and emotional maturity rather than forcing tasks on him as so often happens. It would be wrong to say that Lad was sorted out, ready for me to ride for a few months because as Jason once said, he is 'complicated' and he was not sure that Lad would 'turn the corner' enough for me, to feel safe hacking him out, endurance riding etc as the nervousness Lad has is only partly down to previous bad handling/abuse and also partly down to him being naturally of a nervous disposition. I started riding Lad by having a lesson on him once a week from Jason - initially, I was nervous but Jason from the outset created lessons with exercises that kept me focused not giving my mind any time to worry about coming off! This then led on to my riding Lad out on the lanes with Jason and my confidence started to really grow. I then started to learn polocrosse on Lad and again, because my focus was on the ball I lost my nervousness! This leads me to now and the present situation - I moved Lad last Tuesday to a small holding 1 mile from where I live to hang out with an old horse of 25 called Desmond and 2 llamas! It has to be said that on leaving Jason and the team, I felt very nervous of the reality that it was NOW Lad and me ALONE. On the second day I ventured forth out of the rickety old gate that because the post is not straight, swings out onto the lane with gusto. The first test being how to shut the gate on board as it meant asking Lad to move forward a step whilst I pushed it, but because of the weight of the gate I could only push it so far before, it crashed back at me and Lad. I sure wasn't getting off and after calming Lad who in these new surroundings was full of excitement repeated the exercise and, after some attempts we managed to shut it. Completing this in itself (the worst gate I'll come across) was amazing and the fact that Lad emotionally kept it together speaks volumes of Jason's training as I know the importance Jason puts into being able to open and shut gates. We then ventured into the unknown into miles and miles of woodland and the downs meeting along the way a viaduct (we just missed the train that went over the top!). Although Lad did not like the echo and danced his way through, again, he kept it together, the same when we had to cross the stream although he half jumped it I remembered to go back several times across it until he walked through it just as Jason advised. In short we have been out 3 times in this first week, passing many new things that Lad has not seen on the lanes around Risebridge Farm, doing some road work also, with trucks, cars, bicycles you name it we seem to be meeting it! On the most recent ride, my son who is 11 rode his mountain bike in front, followed by Lad, followed by our faithful dog and it was amazing! Lad does come back with a look of 'you should have seen the monsters I have seen today' but most importantly he keeps himself together and doesn't actually do anything serious when frightened - this is most definitely the best compliment I can give to Jason and the team. I ride him on a short but loose rein one handed and concentrate on relaxing and this too helps. I cannot recommend Jason's training methods enough and, his honesty. I am just one of many who pass through Jason's yard and if this recommendation can be of help to those who wish their horse trained in a kind, respectful and highly effective way than that is fantastic. Lad could have so easily gone the 'wrong way' in the wrong hands - thank you for making such a distant dream become a reality. Best Wishes Louise Hutchinson & Chancer's Lad, East Sussex
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