Early in 2007 I bought my new boy 5 year old ‘Little Joe’, who at 16.3hh wasn’t so little at all. After a very promising start to our partnership bit by bit his character started to change, resulting in increasingly violent rearing and broncing episodes. Following a couple of lucky injury escapes a friend suggested I give Melanie a call for help and assistance.
Melanie paid Joe a visit and concluded that many of his problems stemmed from remembered pain from his past. Melanie worked with Joe to overcome his psychological problems and fears and excellent progress was made, his usual friendly, willing character returned and he happily accepted being ridden and we began to plan when he could come home. Unfortunately out of the blue his behaviour became extremely unpredictable and dangerous which led us to believe he has suffering from a brain tumour. Ultimately after many discussions with both Melanie and my vet I had the difficult decision made to have him put to sleep.
Despite the sad ending in relation to Joe the knowledge I gained from Melanie has proved invaluable. I learnt so much from her, she has a vast understanding of how a horse’s mind works and how they react to situations.
I now have a new mare and have put the knowledge I gained from Melanie to good use with Moonlight. She’s a big girl and knows how to use her weight and size against me. By using the techniques that Melanie taught me, Moonlight’s behaviour on the ground is now as good as her ridden behaviour is.
Melanie – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, many many thanks.
This blog was posted on Saturday, January 10th, 2009
