I took Sue home 4/1/08. She’s been with Nichole all this time. Our bond has slipped since Sue and I haven’t been together for quite a time. My job is to get her trust again.
I took her to a clinic today. It’s called a Liberty Clinic. It’s all about building a relationship and language so strong that your horse will sidepass, back, turn on the forequarters and hindquarters and circle around you and walk beside you…all while “loose”. They have no halter no lead rope.. I learned that this is something that Ray Hunt refers to as feel! What an ideal clinic to restart our partnership.
Introductions were done and I explained that I had played with my horse a lot at Liberty since she was hard to catch. Jenny explained to the new people about Sue’s background.
We had a round pen up and no one else volunteered to go in it. So Sue and I started the clinic out inside the round pen. Two people/horses were supposed to be in the round pen. Jenny, the clinician, asked one of the participants why she didn’t go in there with Sue and I. She explained that it was SUE who would be scared. Jenny told her to go right on into the round pen. We did great. Sue and I practiced all the tasks with a halter and rope, but I just draped the rope over Sue’s shoulders and did most of the tasks without. We hardly knew another horse was in the round pen with us.
Another participant has had her new Morgan bay horse for two weeks. She and I ride together after work at night. Her former horse…also a bay Morgan, rode with us many an evening. A lot of the time, I was riding Sue.
Near the end of the clinic, the participant with the bay Morgan and I went into the round pen. Our horses were “at liberty” and we did the tasks…sidepassing, backing, circling, turning, walking with the horse at our side. Everything was great. Neither horse ran off. Near the end, both of us humans and horses were just standing in the round pen. My riding buddy sez to me, “Which horse of the nine is that?”. To me it sounded like she was asking who Sue was, so I decided I didn’t hear her correctly. “Huh”, I said. My riding buddy said, “WHICH OF THE NINE IS THAT?” Then I decided she must be making a joke and I didn’t get it. “What do you mean,” I said. Now my friend was exasperated. She said, “What is that horse’s name?” I said, “This horse?” My friend is now almost to the eye rolling phase and thinking I have lost my brain. She said again, “Who is That?” I said, “You don’t know who this horse is?” She said, “No”.
I said, This is SUE! My friend almost fainted. “NO!” She yelled. “That can’t be Sue. She is so calm. She’s not worried about other horses being close to her” I can’t see her brace when another horse comes close to her.”
“Good GAD!” I said, “You didn’t know this was Sue the entire clinic?” My riding buddy said “At first I thought she was Sue, but she acted so calm, I decided it couldn’t be. I thought you got another horse.”
And so Sue’s story continues. Thank you Nichole Copple for riding Sue and helping to make her full recovery.
Next report should be a riding report. The trail calls.