I’ve had this recurring conversation lately. It goes like this, “I bought this horse a few months ago, and he was FABULOUS. Things went great until ALL OF A SUDDEN HE……..”

bucked me off, ran away with me, started refusing fences  <insert description of some kind of very bad behavior>

And now….. I can’t catch him, load him, ride him, jump him, saddle him………..etc………

…..he needs a new home.

There are so MANY things that could be going on in these situations, but there’s usually just one common denominator.

Many years ago I was dropping my horse off at a dressage trainer…. I was explaining that when I first bought the horse we were scoring in the 20s, top of the leader board after dressage, consistently.

But our dressage scores had taken a steady nose dive and now I was happy if we managed a 40.

She casually replied, “That’s because she’s not the horse you bought, now she’s the horse you have created.”

Those words have stuck with me.

For years.

Echoing in my head whenever things are going wrong.

I imagine that is why hunter/jumper barns and a lot of child riding programs have the “trainer” spending more rides per week on the horse than the owner.

There is a careful balance between keeping the horse schooled, well mannered & obedient, and someone riding the horse who may, possibly…. be undoing all of that training.

While I’ve been frustrated with these scenarios that keep being presented to me……I started looking a little closer to home.

I’ve got a horse I’ve been riding for a few months now………..

and he’s pretty scary.

That’s when it hit me.

Is this MY fault?

Did I make him crazy?

And since I had identified that he’s got some big issues……exactly what has been my plan to get him over them? And how is that working so far???

We had a particularly bad ride recently where my ever loyal and supportive helper mentioned it may be time to give up.

“He’s dangerous. Life is short. And there is no joy to be had by riding or being injured by this horse.”  She meant well, and I certainly appreciate her concern for my safety.

But then I had to consider my options. If I don’t keep this horse what happens to him? Does he go to a program where he gets reserpine monthly for the rest of his life? A trailer ride straight to Mexico? Or worse?

I keep a journal of every ride. We ride 6 or 7 days per week, so after 6+ months it’s a pretty long journal.

I started skimming his journal and taking notes of phrases like VERY VERY BAD <yes, there are plenty of those entries>, never calmed down, total meltdown, refused to bend, fell off, and then the other days…..GOOD, pretty good, MUCH BETTER, no problems……

I was looking for clues to what was going right and what was going wrong.

And it started slowly coming to me…………..

There were times this horse really responded and was a happy obedient pony. And then things seemed to unravel……… until I went back……. rather unconsciously to the type of exercises where he’d been happy and obedient.

A striking pattern emerged, and that’s when I decided I only had ONE OPTION.

I am responsible for this horse’s current behavior. I’ve had him long enough that he is “the horse I have created.” And regardless of where he ends up in his training, he is my responsibility.

But I have a new plan. And so far, it’s working.

………stay tuned for more on THE PLAN, and the results.