Due to Sue's patience and understanding my mare is far more confident out hacking, with various obstacles that appear spooky, she teaches me now! Our relationship is so close. She responds to words and actions and we are now starting to bring all that Sue has taught us into free schooling
Due to Sue's patience and understanding my mare is far more confident out hacking, with various obstacles that appear spooky, she teaches me now! Our relationship is so close. She responds to words and actions and we are now starting to bring all that Sue has taught us into free schooling
I have the privilege of owning a 15 year old skewbald mare who in the past has had the reputation of being very spooky and nervous. She was used in a riding school many years ago and had the title of being a "marmite" horse - you either loved or hated her as she was unpredictable!
I contacted Sue Gardner over a year ago as my mare was prone to a good spook and could be very docile one minute and a bit of a liability the next.
I have always been interested in horse behaviour and the "natural" way of talking to them and wanted to bond with her better. She also hated to be lunged more than once a month so I decided that I wanted to learn natural horsemanship with her so we could learn something new together that no one else had done with her, develop our relationship and eventually learn to do liberty schooling.
After the first couple of lessons I found out that my mare is exceedingly clever and very willing to respond once she understood clearly what she was being asked to do. I also learnt that due to being brought on too quickly when she was younger she couldn't cope with too much pressure and when it became too much for her she would "blow".
The last year has been the most amazing year, she can now do various lateral movements and she is no longer the "fruitcake" of the yard! The compliments I have about her make me so proud. Due to Sue's patience and understanding my mare is far more confident out hacking, with various obstacles that appear spooky, she teaches me now! Our relationship is so close. She responds to words and actions and we are now starting to bring all that Sue has taught us into free schooling (no whips or shouting required). We love just doing various moves for fun and to enjoy the close bond that now exists between me and my mare.
She loves Sue and as soon as the halter goes on she knows straight away its games time! She loves her one to one time with Sue in the middle of the lesson to try new different moves - the only challenge I have now is that my mare learns faster than me!!!!
I would recommend all horse owners see Sue as there is far more to horses than the normal riding skill and the joy that you feel when you can talk to horse and they talk back to you is indescribable.