Hi everyone!!
My friends Marilyn and Connie bought a quarterhorse- Tommy- about 2 months ago who had some issues about getting bridled. At first, it would take Marilyn about 15 minutes and a lot of frustration to bridle Tommy, I could also do it in about the same time and Connie would just give up out of frustration. We all would end up getting all worked up especially Tommy throughout the ordeal!! It's amazing how tall a horse can be when he lifts his head to get away from something and how fast he can move backwards!! Soon none of us could get him bridled and he started resisting saddling too! I told my friends to call Tony because I knew he could help them. Well this past Monday we all went to Tony's for a 2 hour round pen session. First Tony got Tommy moving in the round pen making him turn his shoulder away and then his butt away and then bringing Tommy in to him. Tommy seemed responsive at first but then as Tony would ask for more new things for him to do Tommy got more resistant and would answer with BIG NO'S!!! Tony realized that Tommy had some head shying issues but also had major attitude issues. At this point Tony told us he had to work on the attitude and that would help with the bridling. Well that's when the fun really started. Tony would work with Tommy- side passing, circling,head down game,etc- and Tommy would do it at first but then he'd start kicking out, striking out or just running full out. Tony of course would remain perfectly calm throughout this whole thing always offering a "handshake" for the horse when he got the slightest Yes from him. No matter how many round pen sessions I've been to it is soooooo amazing to watch how a horse responds to Tony and how Tony teaches the horse and us to be good partners with each other. Anyway, now it's about 3 1/2 hours into our 2 hour round pen session and Tony feels that Tommy would be receptive to being bridled. Again, Tommy seems ok with the process- Tony asks him to drop his head and the horse responds well but then Tommy again says another big NO!!! Tony turns to us at this point and says he's hasn't seen a horse this stubborn in a long time but he has a bigger bag of tricks than Tommy! Again Tony works with Tommy and finally Tommy accepts the handshake he's offered. Now that Tommy will keep his head down to be bridled there are still the head shying issues to contend with. Tony figured out a way to bridle Tommy and keep the bridle and us from getting too close to his face or ears during the process so Tommy wouldn't freak out like he used to. So at 4 hours and 15 minutes into our 2 hour session Connie was able to bridle Tommy numerous times in a calm manner for both her and Tommy . Tony left off with us that we should try at home on Tuesday to bridle Tommy on our own. We then walked Tommy back home through the park. Tommy now would walk behind us and not pull ahead. YEA!!! Tuesday morning my friends get to the barn and Tommy won't drop his head and is getting upset again so they called Tony. He came right over and worked with Tommy and my friends and in about 30 minutes Tommy could be bridled calmly. Tony says he'll work with them again Wednesday morning. I took my horse Sundance out for a ride Wednesday am and Tommy got so upset that he wouldn't respond to either Marilyn or Connie so Tony came right over again. Tony taught them how to get Tommys attention focused on them and not worry about where his barn buddy is. Once Tommys attention was gotten it took less than 10 minutes of head down games to bridle him. Sorry this is so long but seeing a horse that was soooo headstrong, stubborn and headshy take the bit when he was soooooo against doing that a short time ago is truly amazing. Once again Tony you did a FANTASTIC and AMAZING job teaching both Tommy, my friends, and me to be partners with each other. THANK YOU!!!
Mike Steinzor