Dear Reader,
This is a success story I would like to share with those of you who have just about given up and sold a horse out of sheer frustration.
We had a paint filly born on our ranch about 3 years ago. My husband went out one day to trim the horses hooves and tied this filly to our horse trailer. Something spooked her and she started pulling back. This really scared her and the situation went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. The filly jumped forward, smashing her head into the trailer and then really sat back on the rope. Blood was pouring out of her nostrils and mouth. Our daughter was given this filly as a present and happened to come out to the barn about that time. The filly had gone down and came back up underneath the lead rope. She had a lot of pressure on her neck and wasn't giving up the fight. Heather, our daughter, grabbed a knife and cut her free. The filly ran around the barn, came back and put her head in Heather's chest. The short of the story is that the filly ended up with several loose teeth and a great fear of all horse trailers. Tying also became a big issue. We worked with her and tried to get her over these fears. Sometimes she was fine and other times she would blow up. Her escape mechanism was to run backwards. It came to the point where we either had to get the problems solved or sell the horse.
The answers to our prayers came in the form of a local horse trainer, Larry Levrets. He had lots of success with troubled horses in our area. We didn't want to have to sell this horse because she had lots of sentimental value to our daughter.
Larry took the filly and started working with her. It was amazing what he was doing within a matter of days! No fighting, no blow-ups, just consistent knowledgeable training and this horse was doing everything he asked. She jumps into a horse trailer with him sitting on the fender, she ties with no fuss, and our Heather is riding her over a bridge, through water, and through a trail course Larry has set up. He has done an amazing job. I recommend him for starting your young horse and his trail riding techniques.
-Diana Hartwell