Well where to start about my naughty horse...she’s a very well bred Irish Sports horse with a talented show jumping family history, she’s beautiful to look at and unfortunately for me, super smart and very willful!
I have found this out over the time I have owned her and has nearly cost me my horse, but Tony Simonetti has taught me new skills to use with her and slowly we are re-building out relationship both on the ground and while riding. And I am pleased to say in just 3 weeks since Tony’s visit we are out riding and having fun again, which brings a smile to my face and relief to my husband...!
“Lindsay’ as we affectionately call her at home (for those of you that know who Lindsay Lohan is you’ll know she’s a wild girl, who is constantly in trouble with the law and in and out of re-hab facilities and thus I see some similarities between her and my horse and hence the nick name. Lindsay developed a habit deciding whether she was going to work or not and would just stop while being ridden and the more you kicked, smacked, whipped or spurred her, the more she would fight by kicking out with her hind legs and at times rearing up. Her tack was checked and a vet called in, but no-one seemed to find the solution for me and her behavior was not improving. At this point I decided to give ‘Lindsay’ a year off and chill out, as I truly believed that she is a great horse with a big future.
I tried bringing her back into work in November 2010 and had a new vet look her over, as well as buying her a new saddle. My vet is wonderful and we found several sore areas, including an inflamed colon, so the appropriate medication was administrated and my vet checks her over on a regular basis, to ensure that she is in tip top condition and she cannot complain about her body! I still had the same issues with riding her (minus the rearing, phew) and luckily for me my friend Elizabeth, who also my Barn Manager, helped me with the ridden work and after about 4 months Lindsay settled down and back to work, with little or no attitude. During Spring, Summer and Fall of 2011, we had some great times and competed in the Jumper Divisions (2ft 6 and 3ft) at our local shows and she was always in the ribbons, normally either 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
Then in December 2011, ‘Lindsay’ decided to go back to her old ways...her saddle was checked and my vet called in and then I was given Tony’s name by my instructor, as he had worked with another horse last year with success. It was time to try another avenue and maybe I should have tried this road before, especially now I have seen the positive results we are having, but we all live and learn by making mistakes and being open enough to try new things and following through with the training, as that’s a very important part. I used my skills with my other mare, as I took her to another barn to jump last week and she became nervous and unfocused just as I was about to get on. So I used the stretching her nose to the ground and bending her head to her girth area, both left and right sides, which helped her to re-focus on me. I mounted up and we had a great jumping lesson, so I am delighted to have learnt these methods, that I can apply to any horse.
Thank you Tony for your help and advice, Nicolletta is hopefully going Eventing this year now!
Rachael and Nicolletta
‘Nicolletta’ (aka Lindsay Lohan)