Remington is not my horse; he is my mom's horse. I have worked with him, and ridden him on a few occasions, so I'm just sharing my perspective on him.
While I was on the hunt for my next horse, my parents had put in a request with a Thoroughbred rescue team for a rideable horse, and they had done it with the intention for it to be my next horse, however I had found Charlie before we heard back from them. Once we did hear back from them, and that they had found a Thoroughbred gelding that needed a new home, we all collectively agreed that we could find a place for him with someone in the family. My husband (boyfriend at the time), and my dad were horseless. Perhaps the new horse would bond with one of them.
The team of people who run this rescue hauled this horse straight to us from his previous owner’s property. We were told he was 15 years old, and that his previous owner had been calling him Dylan. We were told that he had raced for 5 years and then retired. I’m assuming that means he raced from about 2 years old to 7 years old, then was retired for the next 8 years, and lived wherever he lived until we got him. We were told that his previous owner had ridden him, but they didn’t know how long it had been since his last ride. We also noticed, once we got a good look at him, that he had one front hoof that was a whole size bigger than all of his other hooves! No idea how that happened, in fact there was no other clear information on him at all. Our regular vet checked for his lip tattoo while he had him sedated for having his teeth done, and all we could tell was that he DID have a lip tattoo. The ink was visible in some spots, but there was no way to make out his number since most of it was so badly faded. So there was no way to look up his real history. We didn’t know what he had been fed, if he needed supplements, how much training he’d had, or really anything else.
I was not there when they dropped him off at my parent’s place, but when I finally did get to see him, it was like meeting a wild horse. He had clearly been trained, because you could put a halter on him and lead him around, but he was quite scared. When we put him in the round pen for some safe rolling and light exercise, he never stopped looking for a way out. There’s no way for us to know the reason, but he did not get along with the round pen when we first got him. Since we didn’t know where he was in his training, or even how long it had been since he’d had a person on his back, we decided to start with simple groundwork.
Not long after he came to live with us, my parents decided that they wanted to give him a new name. After tossing around a few, they landed on Remington (aka Remi). He has such a long, sweet, sad looking face so he also got the nickname of Eeyore (from me). If he wasn’t in the round pen, he didn’t seem to have any issues with being around people.
Our go-to for start-up work with any horse, no matter where they are in training, is to do round work. Generally, we do this in a round pen, with a free horse (nothing on them besides their halter), and a long whip for guidance. Personally, I ask for simple movement, and I don’t push for more than a trot. If the horse has some jitters to get out and they choose to lope or buck for any amount of time, they are free to, but I don’t ask for that. I wait out their explosions, and once they calm back down, we work on getting them focused on us. Now, I was not the one that worked with him initially, my dad was the one that worked with him the most to start. Though I did watch, and suggested things from time to time. He seemed quite high strung, and we thought he just needed time to realize that we weren’t trying to harm him.
I noticed, after a few sessions, that my dad was not making much headway in getting Remi to calm down, so I decided to try my hand at it. I chose a very bad day to do this, as it was blazing hot out and I am prone to heat sensitivity. I got into the round pen with him, and with my usual whip aid I asked for forward movement. He promptly took off running, and for a while I just let him. I did not push, but he was frantic anyway. Looking back now, it didn't dawn on me that he might have a fear of the whip, or a trauma response to being in the pen itself. We had never experienced a horse with this behavior, and time was needed for sorting through it. I did my best to just remain calm in the center of this pen and wait for him to calm down. After a few frantic rounds, I tried to redirect him, and he blew right through my prompt. I waited a few more rounds and tried again. It did not work.
I quickly realized that he was not connecting to me at all, and I could not do anything to slow him down or stop him. I tried to be more stern in stopping his forward motion, by making big motions and moving my body to cut him off, and he still blew right by me. I was stuck in this round pen with a living breathing, terrified, freight train. I was starting to get overheated, and for a moment I began to panic. How do I get out? My dad heard me trying to stop Remi and must have heard the panic in my voice because he was there outside the pen pretty quick to try to help. My dad kept me focused, and I just stood still in the middle. I dropped the whip and just waited. It felt like an agonizing eternity, but it was probably only a few minutes until he slowed down.
After Remi finally slowed and stopped, I got his lead rope attached, led him to the wash rack, and tied him to the bar. My dad hosed him off while I went to get some ice water for myself so I could cool down enough to finish up by grooming and putting Remi out in pasture for the rest of the day. While cooling down I gathered my thoughts, and came to the conclusion that Remi did not seem to understand what it was we were asking him to do. It was likely he had never been properly trained in a round pen. I’d have to start from the VERY beginning with him. I just hoped that my plan would provide some sort of understanding of this horse, because I was starting to question just how much training he’d had, and if he’d be safe to ride at all.
The next time I went to work with Remi, I got out the long lunge line and kept him on it as we went into the round pen. He was very tense as we entered the pen, and I could see his muscles jumping but he held himself in check. I closed the gate and latched it as I held on to the line. I took everything really slow and steady, and I spoke to him in low soothing tones. There was a lot of me saying, "Easy" and, "Good boy." as we walked to the center of the pen. I did not pick up a whip this time. My plan was to keep this as mellow as possible and show him that I just wanted him to walk. We started with him going to the left. I gave him a signal for forward motion. He jumped a little away from me, but he didn’t bolt out of my hold. He was jumpy, he was nervous, and I was afraid that he just wouldn’t understand. I guided him in a small circle, made him stop, and lavished him with praise. "I just want you to walk." I said to him, as I guided him into another small circle, made him stop, and praised him again. I let the line out a little more, asked for forward motion, and when he tried to trot, I pulled him back to a walk. He tried to trot a couple of times, but I just kept talking to him sweetly and pulling him back to a walk. I made him stop. PRAISE! The next time I asked for forward motion he was still tense, but he didn’t break the walk, and I let him walk a few rounds, let a little more of the line out, then stepped in front of him to stop him. He stopped. This time during the praise he let out a big release breath with some licking and chewing action (which is horse for 'I'm listening'), and I hoped I was on the right track.
The next time I asked him to walk forward he just walked, and I slowly let the line out further. I saw him visibly relax at this point, and I knew that he was finally understanding me.
THEN we had to start all over again going to the right! Horses have two brains, and they’re linked to each eyeball. Whichever eye is facing you; that’s the side of the brain you’re working with. So, we started all over with the other side, but things progressed a little quicker. He started this side a little ahead of the game, so he was not as tense. After a few rounds he finally relaxed into the walk to the right, and when I asked him to stop, he did so very well. He faced me, waiting for his praise and boy did he get it. I remained calm, quiet, and soft spoken. I rubbed all over his face, and he loved every minute of it. I also realized that this horse REQUIRED a gentle person and was not likely to bond with someone who was rough or heavy-handed.
After working with him, seeing others work with him, my mom and I noticed that he was not a fan of whips. If you got one out, he would pout. Yes, pout. He wouldn’t bolt, or freak out anymore, but his head would lower, his ears would droop, and his facial expression would change. So, we just stopped picking one up. Note: I’ve mentioned this in another of my posts, but I absolutely abhor hitting horses with whips (or really anything to be very honest), and I NEVER use one to hit a horse. Visual aid only! This didn’t matter to Remi, and though I think he realized we didn’t mean to hit him with it, he let us know he didn’t appreciate it. We listened.
I only had to use the long line for training one more time. This time I used it at the full length needed for him to use the entire round pen. He walked, very happily, for me the whole session. He stopped when asked with simple body language, faced me for turning the other way, and did all of the things he was supposed to do. Do I have any clue what this all means with regards to his past? Nope! I do not know what he went through, and there isn’t a way for me to. I saw a pattern of behavior, trusted my gut feeling about what he needed, and the result was good. Ever since then we have not had any ‘hot’ horse behavior from Remi. Under saddle he is incredibly happy to just walk, take his time, and enjoy the attention. On the ground he is a gentleman, he loves to be pampered, and he volunteers for cuddles.
Remi officially became my mom’s boy after a few months of trying to get him to bond with someone completely horseless. Mom has a pony, but he’s mostly retired now. My husband (boyfriend at the time) did give horses a good try, but they just aren’t his thing. My dad ended up with a Hanoverian that we all decided to rescue, very suddenly. A family friend was frantically looking for someone to take her in and we felt we could. The Hanoverian bonded to my dad almost immediately, and that was that. My mom has the kind nature Remi needs, and she can appreciate the big, comfy, sofa of a horse that he is. She really fell in love with him after our first trail ride up at Camanche, where she didn’t have to deal with any jigging, or with him being ‘trailer sour’. We went with just our 3 rescue horses, and it was the best trail ride any of us had in a long time.
After having Remi for a little while, getting our hands all over him, grooming and seeing his summer coat, we have noticed that his whole body is pretty scarred up. He doesn't have anything that looks like major damage, but he's got a ton of small scars all over. There's no way to know where those came from, I mean it could have been anything from whips to choosing a bad place to roll. In any case, I am so glad we took the chance on him, and it really warms my heart that he and my mom have bonded. The OTTBs aren’t perfect, but they have been wonderful additions to our family.
Thank you for reading, and may God bless you.
A.W.
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