Horse Behavior Specialist
Licensed 2 Star Parelli Professional
www.nancyslater.com
42 / Sport and Trail Magazine
Miss Jewels Bar was born a Left Brained Introvert. What this means is, genetically speaking, her personality or 'horsenality’ if you will, is one that is naturally confident, calm, and thinking.
She naturally is prone to reserve her energy, preferring to not over exert herself to the point of perspiration. She enjoys standing in the shade, pinning her ears and squealing at herd mates when they come to invade her space.
She is a well bred Quarter Horse, solid red, and shiny like a copper penny. Cow horse through and through, her owner bought her to work cattle on a ranch and compete as a roping horse. He paid good money for her and thought she'd do him proud.
A sensitive mare, she thought he was a bit pushy and demanding. He thought she was disrespectful, with the glare in her eye, ear pinning, and swishing tail. It didn't take long before the two of them were strong in their opinion of the other's negatively, and it was on like Donkey Kong!
She got nasty and he got angry. He lunged her to get the buck out, but she fought him. He rode her and spurred her, and she fought him more. When he had had enough of the nasty, red mare dominance toward him, he got so angry and aggressive, that he frightened her. So much so, she suddenly believed her life was in danger!
Progress to Problems
No longer feeling safe, Jewels began to dance and prance under saddle. She wanted to run back to the barn, the trailer, the pasture, to safety. Her owner was happy; the nasty behavior was finally gone! He kicked her up into a canter and she moved out. Hooray!!
But something had flipped in her brain. Yes, she no longer had a fight to give. And she no longer balked or bucked. Instead, she ran. Trouble was, there no longer was a slow or a stop. And, she would twist her face in a distorted way; her feet nervously searching for a way to escape.
Her owner now saw there was a new problem. No matter what he tried, pulling on her bit didn't work, nor did just allowing her to run to exhaustion in deep sand in the orange groves. She could spin and spin in circles till he felt like he was in a washing machine stuck on the spin cycle! He lunged her till she was dripping in sweat, but she never slowed. And there, always present, the twisted, distorted face.
Why Was She so Difficult?
He was not a mean man. He had bought Jewels with no intention of harming her. The problem lied with not knowing how to work with a horse like her. He was confused by her behavior. Why was she so difficult? What was wrong with her? She acted so crazy!
He tried and tried to figure the twisted puzzle out to no avail. She just never stopped and finally, he gave up on her. He called my husband, and told him to have me come get her.
Of course, I said no at first. I have plenty of horses to feed, I noted. But I knew I needed to go pick her up. To my surprise, he had two horses standing ready to load up in my trailer when I arrived! I felt bad leaving the young bay Cracker Horse…only Jewels would be leaving with me.