Trust, a two-way street

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Lots of things happened this week, to me and around me. Our local H/J trainer got bucked off and kicked in the face, fracturing her jaw and ribs on a young colt on his first ride. She was wearing a helmet and of course it could have been much worse. But we have all been a bit shaken by the event.

She doesn’t remember what happened or how it happened but the owner was holding the horse, she put her belly on his back and boom! Next thing she knows she is sitting in an ambulance. I saw her today and she is a true warrior.

Ive gotten to know her lately as Ive been helping her with her own 2 year old gorgeous Hanoverian colt in introducing the more difficult obstacles like the teeter totter and the waterbox, and helping her improve her groundwork skills to tackle the difficult obstacles. The colt is learning quickly, and she is building a new language of ask/release that is starting to work miracles.

So much so, that one of her clients asked me to help her with the teeter totter. I knew this was coming.

I told her that when she can get her (unruly, anxious, barging bully) 5 year old trakehner gelding to put all four feet on the pedestal and be immobile for 10 seconds I would help her do the rest. Lo and behold, said client wanted the shortcut instead.

Sorry, I cant help you.

It took me 2 years to get Q consistently on the pedestal. Granted I didn't work on it all the time. But it was a long tedious process of calm repetition and lots of ask/release. And these skills, and the two-way trust that we have built along the way, have become foundational.



True, we still haven’t “mastered” all the obstacles (Im looking at you teeter totter) but we have grown our partnership substantially in these last three years and Q is just about as dependable as they come.

There are no shortcuts to trust and I still fundamentally believe that much of it begins on the ground. I don’t believe in shortcuts although I recognize that Q has afforded me many. He trusts me to protect him, and I trust him too.

Morale of the story: dont ever back a (young) horse without doing the groundwork yourself. 

Comments

  1. TeresaASeptember 1, 2020 at 6:29 AM

    I am so sorry for that trainer. I hope she recovers without any lasting effects. I agree that trust is a two way street. And it’s not blind. It’s based on interactions and past experiences with others. It takes the time it takes. All this I wish I had known 20 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nat DSeptember 1, 2020 at 8:54 AM

      Oh yes! The factor of deposits and withdrawals is important! And that of course goes both ways. A bad incident, and we both need to make some deposits.

      Delete

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