Chapter Three - Finding Jane

About a month after we moved to CastleRock, a new trainer arrived at the barn: Jane Armour, a three-day eventing trainer from Scotland who had come to the U.S. on a "Trainer of Trainers" visa. Jane was offering conformation evaluations, so I made an appointment for her to check out Harley, and for us to check out Jane. Five minutes into the evaluation, I knew I wanted to train with her. What makes Jane so great? In addition to her outstanding background in classical dressage, she just plain gets horses. And their owners.

On September 3, 2009, we had our first lesson. Calling it "not great" is putting it mildly. Harley charged ahead when walking or trotting, could not relax, threw his head in the air, swerved unexpectedly away from the rail and tried to run back to the gate. Jane was totally calm, telling me not to fight him, and then, to my amazement, she complimented Harley, telling me that she loved that he had the confidence to do that. Never in a million years would I have been able to find anything positive in that lesson, but Jane did. I went home that night feeling hopeful. But we had our work cut out for us. Harley is a strong soul who stands up for himself and resists any kind of aggressive or forced training.  Gentleness and patience were the only methods that would work with him.  Fortunately, that is how Jane works.

In the meantime, Harley's goofball personality began to shine through.  He's really a happy horse who has just had some horrible human interaction, but he is very forgiving.  He also loves to dress up, and was in fine form at Halloween and Christmas.

Chapter Two - CastleRock Farms

After less than a month at the first barn I boarded him at, I realized that neither Harley nor I were happy there, he in a tiny 12'x12' stall, and me restricted by a lot of stifling rules and regulations. I visited many boarding facilities and found CastleRock Farms, a facility for horses and riders of all disciplines. I liked the numerous amenities, and the horses there seemed very happy. I chose a 12'x24' malibu stall for Harley where he could stretch his legs, lie down and get up safely, and not feel confined. Harley moved into his new digs on June 11, 2009 and was immediately happy and at home.

However, as I rode Harley, issues from his past appeared in erratic behavior, insecurity, fear and mistrust.  He could not relax, spooked at everything, and was only really safe at a walk.

We needed help...

Chapter One - Finding Harley

This is the story of Harley, a Hanoverian/Thoroughbred cross gelding. I bought Harley in May of 2009, when he was 9. This is what he looked like when I first got him. He was advertised as a hunter who could jump up to 2'9".

When he arrived at the barn on May 11, 2009 he was underweight, had very little muscle mass at all, and a truckload of issues from neglect and mistreatment in his past, which, by the way, I would not learn about until almost a year later.

But all of that was about to change....