Relaxation is the first step to progress

Bluey (Hear the Blues) is a new addition to our farm. He is an 11-year-old quarter-horse. I knew when we went to go look at him that he needed some work and that he would be a project horse on the ground. What was his issue? I was told “He was a bit explosive” and “He knows better, but you have to make him do it.” I definitely understand where people are coming from, but all of this stems from nervousness, insecurity, and confusion. I knew I would have my work cut out for me. It is not a simple fix but a process of helping the horse understand his place and learn how to solve problems. I knew this would be a long road, but I was pretty confident I could do it.

The past couple of weeks have been going pretty well with this horse. I took him to Aiken the first week I had him, and he was great with Margaret. He is a pretty chill dude when in a relaxed setting. He has amazing breeding out of Sky’s Blue Boy. He jumps and goes great when he is relaxed. The problem was that nervousness would sneak up while on the ground. He would have moments where his giant 16.3-hand body would somehow get the speed of a cheetah, and generally, he would shy toward me or someone else. He also tends to be a free spirit with his hind end, and I wasn’t sure when he would react.

Since everything else was going well I should take him up to Harmon Fields in Tryon. That’s where everything went downhill. A ton was going on during the warm-up on Friday, and horses and kids were everywhere. For the seasoned show horse, it’s nothing. But for Bluey, he about lost his mind. I should have taken more time initially to settle him in and work on relaxation, but I didn’t. While trying to get on, I attempted to walk him toward the mounting block, and he reared up and actually fell back on his hips when I put pressure on him to move forward. I should have taken him back to the stall when he was getting nervous and worked on relaxation, but instead, I attempted to get on him and walk him around. Big Mistake.

His neck kept going up and up even though I was trying to talk to him and let him walk it out. Big mistake. We almost cleared an area in the warmup ring where he exploded when a horse came from behind. All the signs were there, but I ignored them, and I paid for it. I decided he needed to start back at the beginning. I pulled him from all his classes and made a plan for the weekend.

Most people would have then implemented drugs, a chain, and a lot of force. We just don’t believe in that.

We went back and just tried to stand still and relax. And that’s what I worked on all day Saturday and Sunday. The heart of the issue is buddy sour with insecurity/confusion. When horses are insecure, they want to be near their friends and the farther they get from them, the more nervous they get. So we work in an area where they are ok with the distance, then when they relax, we move a little farther. We keep doing this until we can gain relaxation throughout the entire grounds of the show. I think each day we spent an average of 4-5 hours of time going back and forth to the stall and achieving relaxation each time. The first few sessions were pretty rough. Someone complained about me to the show steward that I was “lunging my horse too much.” This was interesting because we believe that a horse should be allowed to move their feet to gain relaxation. His feet just couldn’t stop moving, so I allowed him to keep walking. The walking helped him ultimately achieve relaxation. I find most people to be really uneducated when it comes to teaching horses on the ground.

Jamie Grant Rowland was so kind to help me some, and one of her points was, “I’ve found some of the lazier horses under saddle tend to want to move their feet more on the ground.” I would say this is 100% true about this horse. As quiet as he is under saddle, it’s surprising how much he wants to move his feet on the ground. He takes quite a bit to get there to final relaxation.

We ended the weekend being able to walk the grounds with ease which I decided was a huge milestone met. Getting in the show ring isn’t the main goal. Getting the horse relaxed and comfortable in his job and able to confidently problem solve is the challenge.

Bluey Loading easily on the trailer