We all know the saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. Most people, I suspect, think this applies to anything old. I am going to prove this is not the case and with Sandra Williams’ support we have most certainly taught an old horse many new tricks.
This is Murphy’s story
Murphy came to me in March 2006.I knew as soon as I set eyes on him I was going to take him home.His 20 years of age didn’t bother me one bit.The thoroughbred waiting at home for a new friend was 20 himself and had just lost his long time companion at the grand old age of 32.
For the first few months Murphy seemed to be exactly what I had been looking for, a quiet, steady chap who would look after his novice and nervous riders.However, as time went on I was proved wrong and little chinks in his armour started to appear, culminating in him cantering off down the rode with only the most marginal of excuses. Of course, this was unacceptable and potentially dangerous behaviour and something had to be done.By this time I had grown very attached to the little chap and moving him on was not an option, apart from anything else it didn’t seem fair to him, so in January 2007 I called Sandra in to help.
On her first visit (and when I could catch him!) Sandra started by asking me to walk Murphy in figures of eight, halt and walk on.We had to teach him to follow, listen and not get ahead of me.Then came walking through the L-shape and backing up on command.Sandra’s biggest concern at the end of our first session was that Murphy didn’t seem to have any of a horse’s natural instinct to be inquisitive and suggested that this had been taken away from him by the humans he had lived with before he came to me and indeed very likely right from his formative years in Ireland.I cried at the end of this session – writing about it now makes me want to cry.
We had our homework, as we did after every session with Sandra, which we worked on religiously and looked forward to our next visit.
Subsequent sessions covered walking over poles in a fan shape and grid and walking over plastic sheeting.Then we introduced him to ‘things on sticks’, umbrellas and feather dusters – anything we could think of really.Initially, Murphy found some of these things hard and didn’t want to stay with me, preferring instead to back away. Over the next few weeks gentle perseverance successfully proved to him that these objects were not going to kill him and pretty soon I was rubbing him all over with a bag on a stick and making as much noise as I could with it.By this time Murphy’s fear of dying had been replaced with inquisitiveness to the point he was now actively ‘playing’ with these toys and anything else I could think of.One has to be extremely creative in this process!Sandra whooped with glee the day she saw Murphy stopping, by choice, at each and every stick with a plastic bag tied to it and stood there pinging the sticks and nuzzling the bags to make them rustle – ears pricked and eyes shining – what a different picture.
When Sandra was completely happy with Murphy’s progress in hand we introduced him to long lining starting with the winding game.This proved a bit of a challenge to begin with as he didn’t like the feel of the long line around his bottom.Once again, gentle perseverance won the day and by the time we actually attached the long lines Murphy was completely unphased by their presence around his body.By this time he was also much more accepting of new things in general and took to this new challenge quite easily and it wasn’t long before he was long lining through school figures and over and around the obstacles.That is until the day I long lined him without support for the first time and he had a bit of a blow up.Thankfully Sandra was with us on this occasion.Indeed, Sandra is always with us when we try something new for the first time.Something, best known to Murphy, spooked him and it took us a while and a serious amount of concentration on my part to ‘get him back’.At the end of the session we were very aware that, as he stood in the yard being untacked, he was waiting to be punished.The penny finally dropped.Murphy was telling us in no uncertain terms that he had been punished (and by punished I mean hit, or worse, beaten) for being ‘naughty’ in the past and he was waiting for it to happen again.It took several minutes of comforting words and quiet stroking to show him it wasn’t.
This incident really was a defining moment in our relationship.Thank God I didn’t miss it.I felt extremely privileged that Murphy now had the trust in me to be able to let down the barriers that he had been using for so long to protect himself from the world.From this point on our relationship deepened and I was able to really begin to understand him.At Sandra’s recommendation I took him back to in hand work, doing the things he could do well, enjoy and succeed at and which put me in a position to give him lots of praise for being such a clever boy.
Within six months Murphy was being long lined with no support in the field, long lined on the roads with a leader, led out in hand and being schooled under saddle.Most of the time he was perfectly relaxed and happy and enjoying the varied stimulation in his life.At this time Sandra commented that he was no longer ‘waiting’ for something to happen.He had lost his withdrawn, shy and wary persona and instead had become inquisitive, relaxed and much more confident, both in himself and with the humans he came into contact with.He started to meet me at the gate, put his head in his headcollar and say,”OK, what are we doing today?”What a turn around.
Then, one day in the autumn, we decided it was time to ride him out again.As always every attention was paid to the safety of all concerned, so I tacked him up with his Dually on as well as his bridle and Sandra was on the end of the lead rein – just in case.We didn’t go far, but he was a star, just not too sure about the BT crane going up the telegraph pole by the road, but although he lifted his life he stayed with us.We were both very proud of him on our return to the yard.We repeated the exercise on Sandra’s following visit when he got a bit worried about ‘something that was happening behind a hedge’.Again, although he lifted his life, he stayed with us and we just kept going until he relaxed.
We ended the year, Sandra’s fifteen visit, working on some more advanced ground exercises which Murphy responded to extremely well, requiring more subtle aids and exhibiting more immediate responses.
Now I look back on Murphy’s ‘journey’ and realise just what a long way he’s come.I’m now riding him out regularly, still with a ‘foot follower’, but no longer on the leading rein.For the last month he has not put a foot wrong, remained quiet and relaxed from the time he walks off the yard to when we return.We’ve met all sorts of traffic from tractors (his nemesis in the old days) to cement lorries and he’s stayed calm and relaxed.We’ve passed loading muck lorries and children riding toy tractors and other plastic toys that make a right racket on the road and even a bonfire with no signs of any panic or worry.Murphy really seems to have turned a corner and I’m now actually enjoying riding out as much as he’s enjoying being ridden out.I would just like to say here that throughout this whole journey, as we’ve peeled back the layers of the onion that is Murphy (Sandra’s fantastic phrase) he has been supported with Reiki (I am a Reiki Master), homeopathy from the wonderful Ainsworth’s Homeopathic Pharmacy in London and Bach flowers from Sandra.
So there we are, I think this proves without a shadow of a doubt that you can most definitely teach an old horse a new way of life; a life in which humans can be trusted and a loving relationship developed and enjoyed even after a lifetime of being misunderstood and, by default, mistreated.They may come to you with a suitcase full of baggage – in Murphy’s case it was a trunk load, but they are special people and deserve the time, patience and understanding to let go of the skeletons in their cupboards.Murphy learnt very quickly that he was allowed to ‘tell’ me how he felt and that he would always be heard and listened to and never told ‘don’t be stupid’ as no emotion any of us feel is stupid, be it human or horse.Through staying open and aware at all times I have been able to help Murphy find a way through his fears and consequently his trust has grown constantly and we now have a harmonious, understanding relationship. If in doubt he knows he can look to me for direction and confidence and he responds to my guidance.Murphy still makes me want to cry, but now with pride.So my message to you all is: please don’t discount old horses.
Finally, I will be eternally grateful to Sandra Williams for her help, support and knowledge and for travelling a long way to come and work with us.
