Jock Paget and Clifton Promise at Badminton. Photo by Jenni Autry.

So now that Jock Paget has officially thrown down the gauntlet for 2013, what’s next? Winning your very first Badminton is kind of a big deal, and winning Burghley in the same year is pretty great, and I guess winning both of them on the same horse that you’ve brought up the levels could be seen as almost impossible, but Jock’s gone and done it. Not only was he the first rider to win Badminton on his first attempt since Mark Todd in 1980, but Clifton Promise has become the first horse to win both Badminton and Burghley in the same year since Master Craftsman and Ginny Leng in 1989.

It seems only a short while ago we were speculating about a Grand Slam possibility for either William Fox Pitt or Andrew Nicholson, but sadly it was not to be, as Jock Paget crushed their hopes with his win at Badminton. So now, with these new results from Jock, we get to ponder two wonderful future possibilities: 1) The U.S. will be graced with the Kiwi Avenger himself (new official nickname) and 2) Eventers worldwide will get the thrill of another Grand Slam victory in Kentucky in 2014.

For a bit of background, the Rolex Grand Slam is a title for any rider who wins in succession the three premiere CCI4* events — the U.S.’s Rolex Kentucky and Britain’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. There is a $350,000 prize for the rider who is able to complete this feat. The Grand Slam has only been won once by Pippa Funnell in 2003 after she won Badminton, Kentucky and Burghley in one amazing year.

In 2006, Andrew Hoy almost did it when he won Kentucky and Badminton in the spring and led going into the show jumping at Burghley, but faults there dropped him to second. Oliver Townend got tantalizingly close in 2010, dodging the Icelandic ash cloud to get to Kentucky, only to suffer a crashing fall with Ashdale Cruise Master. And while both WFP and the Silver Fox had the chance this spring, neither were successful.

According to reports from HorseTalk NZ, Jock has already begun planning to attend Rolex 2014, because frankly, why not?!

The New Zealander said he was now looking to make a plan for Kentucky, and would “work back and try and go there and nail it. [Clifton Promise is] an incredible horse and always has been. He’s a full New Zealand thoroughbred, he does great dressage, he’s a lion cross-country and doesn’t want to touch a pole in the show jumping! He’s everything you could wish for in an event horse and he’s tough.”

Last November, Jock was lucky enough to enjoy some training from Michael Jung after his stellar performance at the London Olympics, and it looks like he may have learned a little too much from Ze Terminator about world domination. He also has been mentored by Andrew Nicholson, and the combined knowledge of those two riders would just about blow anybody’s mind, but it seems to have really sharpened Jock. Not only that, but the pair have already been to Rolex, as they placed 6th in 2012, so they are familiar with the course. The prospect of him returning to Kentucky in the spring is both formidable and enthralling, and I’m pretty sure that U.S. eventers will have to contain ourselves, lest we look like a bunch of Beliebers at the trot ups!

WFP winning Rolex 2012 on Parklane Hawk (photo by Samantha Clark)

While William Fox-Pitt couldn’t quite catch that blue ribbon this past weekend at Burghley, he’s about to catch a flight to the U.S. to impart upon us mere mortals how to win CCI4* events as casually as you would pull on your britches. What’s that, you say? How did we get so lucky as to have WFP visit us stateside before he hunkers down for the cold winter in England? Well, I’m about to tell you all about it.

William Fox-Pitt will be teaching an exclusive clinic at Morningside Training Farm Nov. 5 and 6 in The Plains, Va. Morningside is an incredible facility in the heart of Virginia horse country with a cross-country course, a gallop track and two arenas with the amazing Pinnacle footing that we find at all the top venues. It is, to say the least, a venue befitting the guest of honor.

The clinic will be a very select and competitive group of riders and horses, with only 16 combinations participating. There are four groups for which you can apply: Future Event Horses, Young Riders and Under 25s, Training/Preliminary, and 3*/4*. Only horses and riders who are currently successful and confirmed at the Training level and above will be selected. Both days will be jumping focused, so bring your sticky spray.

Think you’ve got what it takes to have WFP bestow his knowledge upon you? You need only apply! Send your application to Team EnGaged Clinics at [email protected]. You should include a brief biography of yourself as a rider and a quick summary of your horse’s achievements. If you would like to add any pertinent information that could help you become one of the lucky few, please do so. Applicants will be selected by a committee of knowledgeable equestrians who are integrally involved in the organization of the clinic.

If you are unable to ride in the clinic, you should consider auditing. Auditing is only $20 a day and well worth it to see the master in his element. In fact, stay tuned to EN for a possible ticket contest and some hat signings.

Go WFP, and Go Awesome Clinics!

The International Olympic Committee announced yesterday that Tokyo will be the host city for the 2020 Olympics yesterday, beating out both Madrid and Istanbul, and quelling concerns about a possible Fukushima nuclear crisis. Tokyo had been on the defensive in the final days of the campaign because of mounting concerns over the leak of radioactive water from the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant. Tokyo unsuccessfully applied for the position for the 2016 Olympics but ultimately lost to Rio de Janeiro. The city has only hosted the Summer Olympics once before, in 1964.

Tokyo has allotted $4.5 billion to the construction of “the most compact and efficient Olympic Games ever”. They are developing a rundown area in Tokyo Bay, directly on the waterfront. The equestrian portion will be held on Yumenoshima, or “Dream Island”, which is an artificial island built upon a landfill. The island is now covered with a layer of top soil and contains several sports facilities. Tokyo does have an active racing industry, and perhaps some of the equestrian housing will be hosted at the race track, but thus far no more is known.

An involuntary dismount at Pine Top. Photo by Kate Samuels.

As equestrians, we face a certain amount of inherent risk due to the fact that we understand we are dealing with one-ton animals with minds of their own. As eventers of varying levels, we take a little more risk than some others because we are traveling at speed over solid objects for part of our competition. In recent years, there have been many wonderful safety enhancements, namely air vests and frangible pins, and I feel that our sport has really made a huge effort to move in the right direction with these precautions. However, one can never assume that eventing is categorically safe.

A recent report from BBC Sport speaks to the concerns that plague riders, spectators and course designers on the eve of a big competition such as Burghley. While Capt. Mark Phillips has received his fair share of critics in this year alone, you must admit that designing a CCI4* course that will be challenging enough for the likes of Andrew Nicholson and yet safe enough that four-star first-timers will reasonably be able to complete is an unenviable position. “When the first horse gets round safely there’s a sigh of relief, but you never relax ’til the last horse has finished,” Phillips said in the BBC report.

Frangible pins have greatly reduced the likelihood of rotational falls such as the ones suffered by Tom Gadsby and Laura Collett recently, but even when combined with air vests, they cannot completely rule out accidents. Our technological advances and increasing comprehension of how to help horses understand questions are not racing toward a fixed goal, as our sport itself is ever-evolving, and the best are getting better every day. This makes safety a very tough job indeed.

From BBC Sport:

“We cannot make this sport, any more than you can racing or skiing, categorically safe. All we can do is make it as safe as we possibly can,” Capt Phillips, who has designed the course for this weekend’s Burghley Horse Trials, tells BBC Sport. “An awful lot of thought goes into the design of a course and individual fences, in terms of profile, the materials you use, take-offs, landings, the horse’s understanding of the question, light and dark, colour, contrast.

“There are a multitude of factors that go into every fence, all of which are designed to give the horse every opportunity to get its feet out of the way of a fence, and to jump it clearly and safely. “But it doesn’t matter how safe you make a track for racing cars or a cross-country course for horses – there’s always that possibility for accidents to happen when human beings are traveling at speed.”

“It’s finding that line between making it an exciting competition, a bit of a test for the horses and riders, but not going too far. That’s hugely difficult and why there are not so many of us designing four-star courses around the world. We work very hard to stay the right side of the line.

“If everybody just goes galloping around the cross-country, clear inside the time, and it’s a dressage and show jumping competition, nobody thanks you for that. Spectators, viewers, everybody goes, ‘Well, that wasn’t very exciting’. It’s a very fine line.”

Read the full BBC Sport report HERE.

After winning a team gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, Ben Maher went on to snag an individual silver and another team gold at the European Championships, and now has officially been ranked the World Number One Showjumper, which pretty much tells you how good of a year he’s had. “British Showjumping is on a high and is back where it should be, at the top and winning,” said world class show jumping performance manager Rob Hoekstra. “The gold medal win at the London olympics was purely a start, we now find ourselves twelve months later with another team gold under our belts along with two individual medals.” Despite the fact that this isn’t strictly an Eventing video, I still think it’s fascinating to get the perspective of somebody who is currently so unbelievably successful at the top levels of their sport, and besides, I’m sure we could all stand to learn a little something from Mr. Maher!

The Eventing Show is a really cool new TV program, available through the HorseHub app or for viewing on Vimeo, that hosts different guest stars from various positions in the eventing world to talk about current issues and happenings within our sport. This is the very first episode, which is hosted by Spencer Sturmey, and features Paul Tapner, Jonty Evans, Jesse Campbell & Charlie Unwin, who are discussing the very interesting topic of the domination of Andrew Nicholson & William Fox Pitt in the upper levels internationally. Want to find out some of the secrets to their magic? Check out this video!

Thoroughbred racehorses that go on to second careers are unique in that they have two retirements in their lifetimes: the first from the track and the second from the show ring. Thoroughbred Legends, a new EN series presented by Cosequin, seeks to honor off-track Thoroughbreds that went on to accomplish great things as upper-level eventers and now enjoy a second retirement in their golden years. If you know of a great Thoroughbred for this series, email [email protected].

Trusty at Rolex in 1997. Photo by Brant Gamma.

When Joan Goswell realized she needed a horse for her newly discovered sport of eventing, she surely was not expecting to buy an Olympic caliber competitor. However, when she saw the skinny bay gelding in a dark stall, she fell in love with his intelligent eye and thought she might be able to make him into into a nice partner.

Standing at only 15.3 hands, Worth The Trust, known as “Trusty,” had not been a very successful racehorse. He raced for three years at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia running in claiming races and only winning a single race, with total earnings of $3,838. Foaled in 1985 in Lexington, Ky., Trust was by Wind and Wuthering, a champion 2-year-old in England in 1981, and out of Stop Over Station, by Stage Door Johnny, a Preakness winner. His royal bloodlines did nothing to help his racing career, and so he found himself at age 5 in search of a new job.

Joan started Trusty very slowly, building his weight and muscle along with their partnership by going on long hacks together over the Pennsylvania countryside. They began working on some dressage, which Trusty easily adapted to due to his natural good movement and athleticism. Joan was very careful to start him very slowly and build a good foundation of basics before anything else. “I decided to take a very long time with him in the beginning, because I think it really pays off in the end,” Joan said. “We didn’t do an event until the fall of 1992, where we competed at our first Novice together.”

Trusty at Rolex. Photo by Tim Delgado.

“Trusty always placed in the ribbons, and when I bumped him up to Training level, he continued to do so,” Joan said. “He jumped with his knees up to his chin!” In 1993, just as Trusty was about to move up to Preliminary, the two participated in a clinic with Karen O’Connor. Karen was quite taken with the small bay gelding, and approached Joan about purchasing him. “She asked to buy him, and I said ‘No, I really like him, I don’t want to sell him,” Joan said. “But then she asked if she could ride him anyway, and I thought, ‘Well, let’s give this a try.’”

Karen was based in England at that time, so Trusty went across the pond to compete at Preliminary and Intermediate, placing in the ribbons every time and even winning a horse trials at Burnham Beeches. They returned to the U.S. in the fall of 1994, and Karen received special permission from the USEF to run Trusty at Fair Hill CCI3* as his very first competition at the Advanced level. All three-days were long format at that time, with roads and tracks and steeplechase in addition to a mandatory weight of 165 pounds per horse. Trusty placed seventh that year at Fair Hill CCI3*.

Trusty retired at Joan's farm in Pennsylvania at age 28. Photo by Joan Goswell.

In 1996, Karen and Trusty ran at Rolex CCI3*, where he finished fifth on his dressage score of 60. This performance led them to be chosen as the first alternate to the Olympic team for the Games in Atlanta, Ga., that year. In 1997, Trusty returned to Rolex CCI3* and  won the long format while carrying 165 pounds on his dressage score of 47.8.

“When Trusty went double clean in show jumping that day, and I realized that my horse had just won Rolex, it was a really surreal experience,” Joan said. “Here was my first experience in ownership of a top-level horse, and it was so successful! I was so lucky.  And to have Karen as my rider and trainer was incredible. There was no other rider who could have done those things with Trusty. She was, and still is, amazing,” Joan said.

Trusty went back to Rolex in 1998, this time for the inaugural CCI4*. Karen had four horses in the competition, and Trusty was her last mount. Unfortunately, after a great dressage test, the pair fell at the Jenny Lane Crossing, and Trusty badly injured his knees. He recovered and returned to the Advanced level, even competing at Fair Hill in the CCI3* again. It was there, for the first time in his career, that he had a cross country disobedience. Joan started to think that his knee injuries and old racehorse wear and tear were catching up to him. He was retired the next spring and returned to Joan’s farm in 1999.

Trusty went on to become Joan’s hacking partner and educated her, as well as numerous Pony Clubbers and adult riders, on the finer points of jumping and dressage at the lower levels. He took a liking to fox hunting, and Joan whipped in with him for several years despite his incurable fear of cattle. He was finally fully retired in the spring of 2009 at the age of 24 and now lives a life of luxury at home on the farm. He is a grand old gentleman and the epitome of a Thoroughbred legend.

As horse people, we can’t just get away with knowing how to sit on our horses and complete a series of movements in the arena. We also have to have a pretty firm grasp on the health and well being of our equine counterparts, and due to the fact that they can’t tell us if they are feeling ill, we have to use our observation and diagnostic skills to help them. Knowing how to check your horse’s vital signs can mean the difference between a healthy horse and a giant vet bill, so listen up!

This original article was written on HorseTalk, and you can view the full piece here. [Know Your Vital Signs]

• Pulse

• Breathing Rate

• Temperature

• Hydration Levels

• Intestinal Sounds

Yes, even famous EN writers take shameless horse smooching selfies

To piddle: to spend (one’s time) aimlessly; fritter. My mother used to use this phrase a lot when I would dawdle behind her as a child in the grocery store, as in, “Quit piddling around back there and hurry up!!”. While I am one of the equestrian elite who gets to spend my time fully ensconced in the glory of all things horses (mucking, grooming, riding, turning out, bringing in, feeding, cold hosing, tacking up, and bathing to name a few), I must admit that I do my fair share of piddling around. I prefer, however, to think of this as my particular ability to lavish unnecessary and unusual attentions upon my equine partners.

Let’s start at the beginning of my predilection for piddling. I’ve always had what one could call “difficult” horses, as those have always been the ones I can afford. I’ve also enjoyed farm life with my horses living at my house, and a rather loose set of rules set by my parents as to how I can interact with my equine partners. These things combined have led to some….experimental tendencies on my part. I remember in Elementary school spending hours simply sitting in my field, trying to figure out how this whole “pecking order” thing worked. I learned subtle horse body language, and experimented with being the boss mare myself. I also spent countless hours running wild through the countryside bareback with a halter and lead shank with no particular goal or destination, but ultimately teaching me how to solve problems and stick on anything. All my feral younger days were not filled with structured lessons or even competition of any kind, but pure unadulterated piddling around and experimenting with my own abilities.

All this disorganized learning has had to be tamed in order for me to be any type of successful at the upper levels, but I still harbor a love for my 10 year old self. I teach all my horses to let me lead them around by the mane right behind their ears, and stand free in the aisle at home while they are groomed and tacked up. I still try to hone my skills for the launching mount from the ground to the back, although that is significantly harder now that 2/3 of my horses stand over 17 hands. I give each of my horses a bare minimum of one day a week where we go on an adventure over an hour through the wilderness with no particular goal. Nyls, who has been with me for 8 years now, has a repertoire of random tricks that are both absurd and impressive, and he loves showing them off for visitors. They do hard work, but they also have more than a little play time incorporated into each day, which means I spend more time than strictly necessary piddling around.

Bareback training! Note: Leo's weird smile

So what’s the point, you ask? I’m interested in not only creating a horse that can perform certain movements in the arena or clear a height of obstacle, but a horse that engages with it’s human counterpart. Eventing isn’t just any sport, and it takes a lot more than a perfectly trained horse to be successful. If you’ve ever for a moment doubted the value of the bond between horse and rider, think for a minute about the performances of Totilas before and after Edward Gal. Yeah.

Due in a small part to all the “extracurricular activities” that I create for my horses, they are engaged with humans from the moment you step into the barn. They are curious, confident, and ready for any weird thing that I might ask them to do. Ride around bareback one day? Sure. Cross this freaky looking bank into a river? Alright. Chase this herd of cattle? If you say so… When it comes to new experiences, they adopt an attitude of, “Let’s try it!” more than resorting to fear and flight.

Leo, as it transpires, is enamored of the idea that he doesn’t have to be the big bad guy in charge anymore. He found himself in this position in the herd that he didn’t really like, as the scary broncing monster, and he didn’t know how to get back to being a good boy. Because he is new to me, I probably spend more time piddling around with him than actually practicing “real” things. We maybe ride in the ring twice a week, but the rest of the time I pretend that I’m 10 again and we run around in the countryside and play games in the barn. I started riding him bareback, which he thought was a really weird request, but there were lots of cookies involved so he decided it wasn’t all bad. He’s not a rocket scientist, but he really enjoys learning how we do things around here. He likes the personal involvement, and wants somebody to tell him where to go and what to do, it’s quite comforting to him.

I have yet to meet a horse who doesn’t flourish under this unorthodox approach. I also understand that most people don’t have the time or space to do these types of things, so I figure that if I get these horses started like this, they can only be better citizens in the future. Maybe this is my thing: taking the naughty horses, the unengaged horses, the uninterested horses and treating them like ponies (in a good way). Their brains click to the “on” setting, their bodies grow from the cross country gallivants, and they discover the confidence and happiness that can be had from a fun relationship with a human. For now, I’m happy to spend my time piddling around.

We all know CANTER (The Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses) as the bookmark on our computers that we click on at least weekly to effectively waste time drooling over beautiful ex-racehorses. Many success stories have been made through the hard and diligent work of CANTER programs throughout the United States. As they continue to match Thoroughbreds who need a second chance with riders and trainers who are willing and able, the CANTER programs have become an amazing resource for finding and re-homing ex-racehorses.

This spring, the Colorado chapter of CANTER launched a new aftercare program for retiring racehorses and was generously rewarded for doing so. Arapahoe Park and the Colorado Horseracing Association cut a check for $10,000 to CANTER Colorado to assist in their future work towards re-homing and rehabilitating ex-racehorses, specifically those that have raced at Arapahoe Park.

“CANTER Colorado has shown real dedication to helping our horses find new homes once their racing careers are finished,” Bruce Seymore, General Manager at Arapahoe Park, said. “We’re excited to be able to support CANTER Colorado in their ‘recycled racehorse’ retraining program and think this will be a real benefit to the horsemen at Arapahoe Park and the horses that run here.”

“We are extremely grateful to Arapahoe Park and the Colorado Horseracing Association,” Jamie Girouard, executive director of CANTER Colorado, said. “This wonderful donation will allow us to enhance our CANTER-owned program and further extend our services to the trainers and owners who race at Arapahoe Park.”

As with all CANTER programs, the Colorado chapter strives to help trainers and owners find good second homes for their horses through free sales listings and promotions on their website. CANTER promotes the retiring Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, Arabians, Paints, Appaloosas and working track ponies of any breed. Volunteers work with the racetracks throughout the year with regular visits to take photos and gather information that will help with the re-homing effort.

While CANTER does receive donations from other tracks around the U.S. regularly, this gesture from Arapahoe Park and the Colorado Horseracing Association is particularly wonderful. I think that close relationships between CANTER officials and race track workers is extremely important, and to see the whole racing industry in this area make such a big move to support the welfare of these horses is beautiful. Go CANTER, and go OTTBs!

Tina Konyot & Calecto V (photo from Calecto's FB page)

Earlier this month, we reported that a prominent European sport horse breeder, John Byrialson, was accused of gross neglect at two enormous breeding operations in both Poland and Denmark. In short, over 300 horses in Poland and a yet unreleased amount of horses in Denmark were found in extremely neglected situations, some starved to the point of death and others not as lucky as those. The case was originally brought to public awareness due to the bravery of one employee who took a video of the horses and their current lives and released it onto the internet.

[Original EN Report]

Now, after seeing the plight of these animals, three American dressage riders are attempting to take the rescue into their own hands and save these horses from Mr. Byrialson. Tina Konyot, who rode in the 2012 Olympic Games on a horse that is technically still partially owned by Mr Byrialson (although Tina no longer has a professional relationship with him and he has not funded the horse in any way for many years) has decided that she would like to save these horses. Tina, Shawna Harding & Karen Lipp are attempting to purchase all of the horses from the breeding operations and deliver them to owners in Europe that will appreciate and care for them in the way that they deserve.

[Full Horse & Hound Report]

From H&H:

After seeing the video the 3 women were determined to do something to prevent any further suffering to the horses. “I was horrified by what I saw on the video,” Karen Lipp told H&H. “We want to buy all the horses and then distribute them to owners in Europe who will be able to take care of them properly,”

In an interview on a Danish local TV station earlier this month (16 August) Byrialsen admitted that he had fallen on hard times. “There is no excuse. It’s my own fault. I should have stayed there. I should have spent more time there,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of work to make ends meet. “Times have been hard for the past 4 years.”

Byrialsen claimed that he had not visited the farm in Poland for 3 months. However, the video footage released on YouTube was taken more than 3 months ago.

Thus far, Byrialson has ignored all attempts by the three riders to contact him on the matter. They are considering a rescue attempt through the Polish government, as Byrialson will not face a trial until January of 2014 at the earliest, and the vast majority of his horses will not receive assistance until that is resolved.

Michael Jung & Halunke FBW in 2011 (photo courtesy of Michael's FB page)

Got a lazy Saturday planned ahead of you? Did you feel like waking up early anyway? If you are a true Eventing fanatic, you’ll be delighted to hear that there are a few ways to enjoy the European Eventing Championships coverage of the cross country action tomorrow.

If you are anywhere in the world, you can watch everything via FEI TV, which is a paid subscription, but, in my humble opinion, totally worth it. It comes out to about $50 a year, and you can enjoy watching almost every international competition, and all the big ones that you wish you could attend. All rides will be available through FEI TV tomorrow, starting at 3:55 am EST.

[FEI TV]

If you are in England, BBC Sport is where you want to go to see all the action. The program will be available from 8:30 am until 3pm, and on red button replay from 6 pm to midnight. This is only available to those in England.

[BBC Sport]

The old "snort-n-spook" move

“Oh, he’s just got the best temperament!” We’ve all heard this before, but what exactly does that mean? How do we define good temperaments? Does it mean that he’s a horse that puts up with all sorts of idiocy and tunes you out while you ride him (aka: “bombproof”) or does it mean that he’s a willing and generous learner despite the situation? Is it simply based on personality around the barn? Can you create a horse with a good temperament, or are you just stuck with the genetics available?

A new study from the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals suggests that one of the most consistent and effective indicators of equine temperament is the horse’s “novelty response.” A novelty response is how the horse handles new objects or situations, and what kind of reactions he has. The horse may do any of the following in response to a scary new object: he may startle and flee, avoid it, ignore it, or approach it. Some horses even do a fair combination of those reactions. The most interesting discovery of this study was the “novelty paradox.” It has been shown that the horses that startle the most at new objects are also the ones most likely to approach and explore the same object if they are not forced.

So what does this tell us, as horse riders and trainers? To me, it means that temperament can be influenced and improved heavily by early training. If for months or years you encourage your slightly spooky horse to approach and conquer the demons living inside the scary new objects, one could assume that you would be able to change the horse’s initial novelty response into something calmer and more confident. Could this mean that you could train a better temperament into your horse?

If you are out riding around and you are confronted with say, a trash can in an unusual place, and your horse has a good spook at it. Your options are to a) encourage the horse to go forward and check it out, b) be patient and wait for the horse to realize in his own time that it isn’t scary or c) avoid the risk and turn around, looking for a different way past it. What should you choose? Of course there is some inherent risk in this situation, as there is always the chance that your horse will react badly and you could fall off. However, regular habituation to new objects has been shown to reduce future risk of accidents.

If you constantly choose C, your horse is allowed to escape the object, and their avoidance behavior gets reinforced, thereby ensuring that they are more likely to repeat the spook and spin movement. However, prevention of the natural flight instinct can also create increased stress levels, so which decision is better for your horse? Studies have shown that choosing A consistently leads to temporarily increased stress in the horse, but in the long term creates horses with better novelty responses, and thereby better temperaments.

As a rider, I find that encouraging a horse to confront a fearful new item with a firm, but confident and rewarding manner not only helps them eliminate their fear for that object, but also for future situations. Every moment that you are on your horse, you are training him to do something. If you regularly avoid new situations because they bring about fear in you, then you are summarily training your horse to think the same way, and feeding into the vicious cycle of “I can’t”. In short, I believe that we as riders must take more responsibility for the way that our horses behave, and how their temperaments reflect back upon us.

Look at that bod! Building muscles is a rewarding game.

So far in my life, I’ve experienced two kinds of “naughty” horses: 1) the horse that is naughty because he is a little arrogant and thinks he’s too smart or 2) the horse that is naughty because underneath it all, he has very little self confidence, and does not believe in himself in any way. Leo, it seems, falls into the second category, but I’m happy to report that after diligent work and long hours spent doing rather mundane tasks, I’ve suddenly seen a huge upswing in his self confidence. As a result of that, he’s becoming a different horse, and I’m liking it.

Last time I updated you on the progress of my gigantic new beast was about a month ago, and the going was slow and dull. I wasn’t really accomplishing anything exciting with him, and his learning curve was about two degrees above a horizontal line. However, since then he has mastered the following: ground tying, standing to be mounted from a variety of objects, cantering on both leads, cantering jumps (!!), the occasional flying change, walking and trotting down hills, crossing different rivers and creeks, walking through muddy footing without freaking out, jumping little logs, trotting with consistent contact in the open, and running through fields of cows (also included: getting licked by cows). Thats a lot of things to figure out in a month!

His sudden burst of new skills is not due to something magical that I’ve implemented recently, but rather that Leo has learned to learn. What do I mean when I say this? I mean that in the past, Leo has primarily responded to new situations with fear and then flight. If he got to throw a few bucks, spins or a little rear in there, all the better because it meant he would convince you to stop presenting scary new things to him, and he wouldn’t have to think. Every new situation is a puzzle for your horse, but they don’t believe they can solve, they blankly hit the flight button and don’t engage their brain. I want all my horses to view everything new or “scary” as an opportunity to learn, to build confidence by conquering the scary thing, and as a way to receive praise.

True story: Leo got licked by a cow....several times

Let’s take, for example, a situation I had a few weeks ago when I was out hacking on the road and there was a giant trash can filled with garbage and accompanied by some fluttering paper. “A horse eating monster!!” thought Leo. His response was to rear up a little and whip around, presumably to take off back to the safe barn. I pulled him up, and firmly popped him on the shoulder once. I faced him back towards the trash bin, and once he was standing, slackened the reins and sat like a sack of potatoes, like I had no cares in the world. I waited until he was more relaxed at this distance from the monster can, and then politely asked him to take a few steps forward. As soon as he responded with a forward motion, I praised him like he was the smartest horse in the world!  I was firm, and yet understanding in my insistence that he use his brain and approach the can. I repeated this until we were able to touch the garbage can from multiple different points, and petted him so many times he probably thought I was barking mad.

After 3 months of doing this procedure with every single thing that Leo was “scared” of, or responded naughtily to, he’s started to think differently. Instead of immediately saying “Hell no!!”, he stops now, and considers that it might not be such a bad idea to approach and use his cognitive skills. The bonus of this is that he’s learned that solving problems is actually fun! It helps his confidence because he is starting to believe that he has the mental and physical aptitude to conquer life. He’s feeling pretty good about himself, and he’s more likely to try something new each day.

I can’t possibly expect to have an event horse without starting with a confident horse, and that is why I’ve begun his training with this first, instead of technical skills like being able to execute a perfect dressage test or jumping higher jumps. I did, on a whim, take him to his first combined test last weekend with very small expectations. I had never cantered a jump on him, and he hadn’t really jumped off the farm except once, much less scary decorated show jumps. I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to figure out what his reactions were in a safe environment (read: if I stop at every single fence, nobody cares and I can just re-do my round until I’m happy).

He was a very good boy and tried very hard! He does get a little humpy-backed when warming up for dressage, and I think it’s a sign of being a little nervous when he’s in a new place, but he’s started to control his bucks a little, resorting to only two or three instead of 25 galloping ones. I got a friend to capture some of my SJ round, after my phone died, and as you can see, he’s still very green but very willing and will be super when he has the strength for bigger jumps. These are, in fact, beginner novice height, despite the fact that they look 18″….my horse is huge.

For now, I’m thrilled that he’s starting to build muscles in the right places, and started to “play the game” with me. I firmly believe that more than any other horse, Event horses have to have their mental capacities engaged in order to be successful in this challenging sport. I want him to come to believe that he is the king of the world, but also follow me when I give directions or encouragement. I hope that, a few months from now, our relationship and his confidence will take us to all new heights, and I’m very excited to see what we can accomplish next!