starbar
Well-Known Member
OK, so I've been meaning to post this for a while now, but a lovely winter hack, cantering across the top of the Jack Mytton way with 2 little black ears pricked in front of me has finally prompted me to get on with it 
I'll start at the beginning and keep it as brief as it can be
....those of you who have seen my posts before may know that back in April I bought a horse of a not very reputable dealer ( you live and learn), if you want to know who it was and avoid then like the plague you can probably work it out from previous posts. The horse in question at the time was very poor, thin as a rake and covered in rain scald and only had one shoe on....yes, I know at this point I probably should have walked away but I didn't as there was something about this boy I really liked. I rode him, he was fine, so I bought him, with the intention of feeding him up, giving him some much needed tlc and hopefully having a horse at the end of it I could go out and have some fune with
Cue problems starting. As soon as he started to out on weight and feel a bit better it became apparent as to why they had kept him so poor. . He became tenser and tenser, was incredibly headshy and hunched for England as soon as I got on board. This all culminated in a massive broncing session on about the fourth time I rode him. He wasn't going to stop until he got me off so I bailed before we hit an electric fence. When we caught him, he was a mess, sweating and shaking and obviously expecting some kind of beating. I had on my hands a horse that had at some point been abused.
At this point, about 2 weeks into having him, I got the back lady out who found that he was sore, so this, coupled with the fact that he needed some time to trust me and chill out lead to the decision to turn him away for 2 months to just be a horse for a while. The dealer at this point didn't want to know and tbh, I wouldn't have sent him back there anyway.
After a couple of months, I got him back in and started to do a few bits and pieces with him, got some tack back on him, started to lunge him a bit but it became clear that my little horse had problems to sort out which were beyond my capabilities.
Enter Janet George and her fabulous team. I had seen a bit of Janet's work before on here, namely with Clyde 'the unbreakable spotty horse'. I am very lucky to be only a few miles from Janet and a couple of phone calls later, my boy was installed in her yard. Janet and Olivier worked for 3 weeks on the ground with Star before they sat on him, he was missing big chunks of education in groundwork and had lost all trust in his rider. I went to see him regularly and could see him coming on in leaps and bounds everytime I visited. Oliviers quiet riding and persuasion gradually turned my little horse from a hunching nervous wreck into a horse with a twinkle in his eye and on his way to becoming a lovely riding horse. It wasn't without its moments, hacking out alone was a bit of an issue for a while, but this was sorted out quietly and calmly as well with out the use of any gadgets.
Then there was me...My confidence had taken a bit of a battering too. Star was with Janet for about 8 weeks altogether....I think it is fair to say that the last 2 weeks were fixing me rather than the horse, and it is full marks to Janet and her team for making sure I was ready to bring him home as well as him being ready to come home.
Roll forward to today....Star has been home for a couple of months now.... cantering along that track with a horse I can stop with my voice and a neck strap thanks to Oliviers schooling, made me feel very lucky and privileged today. I'm so glad I didn't give up on him....I think we are going to be OK now
Thank you Janet!
I'll start at the beginning and keep it as brief as it can be
....those of you who have seen my posts before may know that back in April I bought a horse of a not very reputable dealer ( you live and learn), if you want to know who it was and avoid then like the plague you can probably work it out from previous posts. The horse in question at the time was very poor, thin as a rake and covered in rain scald and only had one shoe on....yes, I know at this point I probably should have walked away but I didn't as there was something about this boy I really liked. I rode him, he was fine, so I bought him, with the intention of feeding him up, giving him some much needed tlc and hopefully having a horse at the end of it I could go out and have some fune with Cue problems starting. As soon as he started to out on weight and feel a bit better it became apparent as to why they had kept him so poor. . He became tenser and tenser, was incredibly headshy and hunched for England as soon as I got on board. This all culminated in a massive broncing session on about the fourth time I rode him. He wasn't going to stop until he got me off so I bailed before we hit an electric fence. When we caught him, he was a mess, sweating and shaking and obviously expecting some kind of beating. I had on my hands a horse that had at some point been abused.
At this point, about 2 weeks into having him, I got the back lady out who found that he was sore, so this, coupled with the fact that he needed some time to trust me and chill out lead to the decision to turn him away for 2 months to just be a horse for a while. The dealer at this point didn't want to know and tbh, I wouldn't have sent him back there anyway.
After a couple of months, I got him back in and started to do a few bits and pieces with him, got some tack back on him, started to lunge him a bit but it became clear that my little horse had problems to sort out which were beyond my capabilities.
Enter Janet George and her fabulous team. I had seen a bit of Janet's work before on here, namely with Clyde 'the unbreakable spotty horse'. I am very lucky to be only a few miles from Janet and a couple of phone calls later, my boy was installed in her yard. Janet and Olivier worked for 3 weeks on the ground with Star before they sat on him, he was missing big chunks of education in groundwork and had lost all trust in his rider. I went to see him regularly and could see him coming on in leaps and bounds everytime I visited. Oliviers quiet riding and persuasion gradually turned my little horse from a hunching nervous wreck into a horse with a twinkle in his eye and on his way to becoming a lovely riding horse. It wasn't without its moments, hacking out alone was a bit of an issue for a while, but this was sorted out quietly and calmly as well with out the use of any gadgets.
Then there was me...My confidence had taken a bit of a battering too. Star was with Janet for about 8 weeks altogether....I think it is fair to say that the last 2 weeks were fixing me rather than the horse, and it is full marks to Janet and her team for making sure I was ready to bring him home as well as him being ready to come home.
Roll forward to today....Star has been home for a couple of months now.... cantering along that track with a horse I can stop with my voice and a neck strap thanks to Oliviers schooling, made me feel very lucky and privileged today. I'm so glad I didn't give up on him....I think we are going to be OK now
Thank you Janet!
). I just wish she lived nearer our neck of the woods. 
)
