This is a "thank you" to Tony for helping me with a horse he never worked with. Five years or so ago, he helped me immensely with a big draft cross, Rugby who'd gotten the better of me and really shook my confidence even with well over 30 years of experience working with, training and showing horses. He gave me new tools to add to everything I knew already and it began to open doors with this challenging new horse. Unfortunately, just as I started clicking with the horse, I lost him to a serious case of colic.
After taking some time off from owning and just half boarding a friend's trained show horse, I wanted my own horse again and began looking. After getting hurt by one sale prospect, wouldn't you know while I was still rehabbing from that, the horse I have now entered the picture. I was still in a knee brace when I tried riding him. He tolerated my fear, I was literally shaking as I sat on him. I bought him after the 3rd ride when he passed the vet exam.
So here I was, he was young, obviously started well but still very green. I had had my confidence knocked again by getting hurt before buying him. So I decided to use the skills Tony gave me to build trust and confidence for myself and with this horse. As I worked with him, I noticed that the horse understood almost all the cues already! Somewhere in this horses' training was enough natural horsemanship that I could connect with him immediately - because we spoke the same language! This horse always had a blank, aloof look in his eye. As we worked together, it was as if a spark ignited and he started to show his personality (a sweet goofball). I can't thank Tony enough for the time he spent with me. What he gave me for one horse, was the key to this horse!
Almost a year later, I learned about this horse's history before me. He was started with a Natural Horsemanship trainer with methods similar to Tony (hence my ability to connect very quickly). He was a promising young horse that had been sold well started but green and then gotten into a bad situation with the new owner that scared him pretty badly. To this day there is a fear response that shows up occasionally in him that I have worked through and while I wouldn't call him brave, I will say he trusts me enough that we can settle the response very quickly and work past it. Some of the skills Tony gave me for getting a horse to keep his mind with you in that moment have helped me greatly with this.
Fast forward to almost four years later and it was and still is a joy to work with and ride this horse. We continue connecting on all levels of trust and he's a really wonderful horse. We still have many things to try and test our skills but even if all he is, is a good friend to relax with after a day of work, I'm happy with that! So thank you Tony, you never met my Joey but you have a part in the making of this lovely horse!
Brigitte
Huntington