Blondie

Blondie was advertised as backed but it quickly became apparent that this wasn't the case. For her new lovely owner to get her home Blondie had to be herded onto a trailer as she couldn't be caught. I was called out to work on catching her and then to assess her as her new owner wasn't convinced! It was clear that she had never had any leading training let alone a rider on board. Thankfully the owner had the presence of mind to call me out to assess her and didn't just try to get on her. Blondie was very nervous to start with but soon became catchable and it was from there that I was able to work on her leading work and start to build her confidence. She had previously slipped on the tarmac when unloading so was now not confident to walk on it. I worked on gaining her trust and confidence walking over different surfaces on grass to begin with and then gradually was able to move the surfaces onto the tarmac. She gradually found the confidence to trust and then quickly became ok with this .

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  • Blondie tarp
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With more confidence about where to trust putting her feet I was then able to work on preparing her for the farrier. Blondie's owner had since found out that she had been impossible to trim and two farriers had both tried no to avail. Several people had tried to hold her and it only resulted in the farrier gettig injured. With calm, progressive training built around trust and introducing the leg holds and feel of the rasp gradually, I was then able to prepare her to accept her feet being trimmed. Eventually Blondie didn't need anybody to hold her at the head end and happily accepted Nick West trimming her feet as you can see in these photos.

Over my time that I worked with Blondie we progressed to walking out in hand whereby she encountered motorbikes in the forest, vehicles, dogs and people, all of which she showed confidence with. I then did all the pre backing training with her  which included introducing her to being girthed up and long lining, firstly off a roller and then a saddle and then introduced my rider dummy to her. All of which she accepted beautifully. The owner decided not to go ahead and ride her in the end though as she started to show some physical issues in her pelvis and fetlock.  All of this was great training for her though and helped her grow in confidence making her safe to handle. She became the leader of her herd and very much a part of the family. She was such a lovely horse to work with and loved by all.