The Green Horseman

Early this year we were setting on a course to get Stanley exposed to the world. We took him to schooling shows, clinics, trail rides.

Between the weather, family health, and other factors we didn’t get him out a TON before the accident; we were just beginning to get to the good riding season. Since we had only been out a handful of times, our adventures often had him pretty tense. Our dressage tests were very tense. He relaxed with the jumping portions. He also always traveled with Tiger, so he began to get very clingy and buddy-sour. My goal was to begin taking him on small local trips often so he could learn to relax while away. Small local trail rides, off-farm lessons, and play dates.

Obviously, we had to take a pause.

In late winter/early spring, Stanley went through a phase where he would act worse under saddle if Tiger was present at home…but act wonderfully without Tiger around. My analysis is that he ranks Tiger over me in leadership (professionals please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). He lives with Tiger, gets turned out with him, and sees him 24/7. I, on the other hand, see him 4 times a week. I’m not surprised if he’s slower to trust my leadership. In time the ring tension went away and he’s now the same with or without Tiger. I have every confidence that we can overcome the same away from home in time.

Since I’m now allowed to stand on my foot in the walking boot, I was presented with an amazing opportunity to bring Stanley along to a local schooling horse show last week (October 1st). The showgrounds are only 15 minutes away and we were not planning to take Tiger. Stanley often gets frazzled when Tiger leaves to go work so this was a chance to have him learn to look towards me and also learn to self-soothe in an environment without the additional pressures of riding and showing. He just had to show up and mow the lawn a bit.

My friend brought her trainer’s mare to the show and Stanley tagged along as a non-showing horse. We arrived on the grounds and the two were very contentedly grazing. As more horses and trailers arrived he started getting distracted. My friend tacked up and got on to warm up. Stanley was pretty upset so I brought him to a lunging ring far away from his new friend.

As I lunged Stanley away from his new girlfriend he changed from looking outside the circle for her to begin to look inward to me. He softened through his topline, his cadence slowed, his trot became more rhythmical, and he stretched down through his back. I lunged him for a few minutes in each direction. Asked him to yield his hindquarters. Cantered him both ways. Finished with a relaxed trot into a walk. He wasn’t by any means totally changed but the lunging got his mind working and helped him process.

We walked to the arena where I could graze him while watching everyone ride. It was a small show but I had him grazing in the middle of where all the action was happening. We walked to the dressage ring to watch his girlfriend. We gave them time to return to the trailer without him and made our way back. I tied him to the opposite side of the trailer while the two stood waiting for the jumping round.

Stanley whinnied a lot but wasn’t completely overwhelmed; not hot and dancing…just calling. I stayed within sight but didn’t react to his calls. Soon enough he began to nibble on his hay net. The whinnying because less frequent. He stood with his leg cocked and started to relax. I walked over, gave him cookies and some scratches, and let him go back to self-coping.

For the jump round, we walked away again without his girlfriend to maintain that he was on my schedule, not on the other horses. He went back to grazing in the busiest area of the showgrounds. We watched ringside while horses jumped their courses.

By the end of the day, he seemed to be much more relaxed. We still have many “fun” outings to go before I feel his tension is really gone but this was an amazing time out. He was never overwhelmed to the extent he was at Larkin Hill when our accident happened. We worked through his feelings slowly and he’s learning tools to make himself more content and more confident on his own.

I don’t know how many more opportunities I will have before winter begins…I won’t haul on my own until my screws are fully removed. If this was our last shot for the year I’m very happy we got to do this, and I’m optimistic about our next adventure.