Meet John - A stunning 17 hh, one of my first 'big' horses I worked with that had behaviour issues.
I had only worked with Ponies up until this point, but with what I had learnt, the principles should have been the same. Plus the bigger they are, the more gentle they are.
John's owners spoke with me about the difficulty they were having with John. They purchased him just to get him out of the circumstances he was in, but he had issues especially with men. He love escaping fields easily clearing a 4 foot fence in a single bounce from standstill. Head shy, uptight, hates farriers, hates loading. He threw his rider really badly then reared and threw himself onto his saddle. Health checks were done before any training started.
Day 1 Nervous and unsure:
Moves straight to the back of the stable when entering. Jittery on leaving the stable and walking around to the indoor school.
After 2 weeks training, he's now staying in his own field. He's less spooky. He's relaxed! He listens!
John after 2 weeks. Relaxed and trusting. This horse has been a 'problem horse' for years.
He loves water anyway, this is to show his relaxed attitude to follow.
A beautiful horse.
Some who have tried to watch what I'm doing with the Horse Whispering, have not understood what I am doing, confused if I'm just walking with the horse but they're not fully looking at the communication going on between the horse and myself, it's non verbal and involved every movement of my body, head, ears and eyes.
