Chapter Seven - The Learning Curve

I don't have photos of Harley and I when we first began taking lessons from Jane in September 2009, but I have a couple I want to share with you from December 2009.  We had been working on contact for only a few weeks.  The first is Harley resisting contact, and the second is him accepting contact.  They are from the same lesson, and at that time, he could only stay on contact for short periods of time, perhaps five or six strides, and then his head would come up again.  So he was a bit of a yo-yo, but he tried really hard.  I was also still learning to relax my arms and move with him instead of being rigid from my shoulders to my hands, and you can see what Harley does when I relax - he takes the contact.

It is now February 2010, and we are doing serpentines, circles, loops, and changes of rein and working on staying on two tracks and not losing his shoulder or allowing his hind end to swing in or out.  He gets better every time I ride him.

Chapter Six - Origins

In January 2010, I decided to try to locate Harley's previous owners to learn more about his life and training.  I had purchased him through a broker, and had no information on the owners.  I managed to find his former trainer, who put me in contact with his last owner who lives in Georgia.  She emailed me the story of Harley's life from about three years of age.

When he was 3 years old, Harley was bought by a teenage girl who took him to a jumper barn.  Sadly, it was one of those barns where ground work and flat work are unheard of.  At age 4, they began jumping him.  Or rather, forcing him to jump, with no regard for training, balance, conditioning...you get the picture.  For the next 2 years, he was mistreated and abused by so-called trainers, but being a fighter, Harley found a way to get even.  He became a "dirty stopper", stopping right before a jump and dropping his head, sending his rider over the fence alone.  After several attempts to break him of this habit, without actually addressing the true problem of lack of training, etc., Harley was stuck in a pasture and neglected.  In 2007, his owner, realizing he would soon starve, unable to feed or sell him, and wanting to avoid animal neglect charges, gave him to a trainer at a local barn.


Harley arrived at the new barn in horrendous condition, skin and bones and barely able to walk.  His hooves crumbled in their hands and all of his joints were swollen and sore.  After months of rehab, weight gain and joint supplements, and frequent visits by the farrier, Harley pulled through and his re-training began.  The trainer gave Harley to one of her students, a 15 year old girl who set to work on his re-education. 



Skinny and out of shape, but having fun!

When she began, Harley did not even know how to walk on the rail.  A year later, he was excelling as a Children's Hunter, jumping up to 2'6" for a high school equestrian team.  His goofy personality was always there, and he became the barn clown, with a reputation for destroying, playing with, or trying to eat anything he could reach. He also loved the attention of the kids at the barn, and even allowed them to turn him into a "Painted Pony!"

In the summer of 2008, Harley's teen owner badly broke her arm while riding a friend's horse and could not ride for six months.  She also wanted to jump higher than Harley was able, as 2'9" was about his limit.  Coincidentally, a dressage trainer from California who had been doing clinics at the Georgia barn had noticed Harley's progress and ability and offered to sell him in California.  Harley was shipped to California in the fall of 2008.  Unfortunately for Harley, history was about to repeat itself.

The dressage trainer in California doubled the asking price for Harley from what he had told the owner.  Unable to sell Harley as a hunter at such a high price, he decided to try to make him into a dressage horse in 3 months.  Having already been through "bully training" at the jumper barn, Harley did not take kindly to the cruel and painful tactics used by this new trainer, and fought back.  Angry at not being able to cheat some innocent person by selling Harley at a ridiculously high price, the trainer stopped feeding him.  Fortunately, a few kind people at the barn snuck food to him, until Harley was moved to another trainer's barn about an hour away.  The new trainer fed him properly and calmed him down a bit, and then put him up for sale....at a reasonable price.

I had found another horse, an off track Thoroughbred, that I had put a deposit on, but he did not pass the pre-sale vet check.  I went to DreamHorse.com a day after Harley's ad had been posted.  I went to see him a week later, had him vet checked a week after that, and he became mine 2 weeks later.

Chapter Five - A New Horse

I have a new horse, and his name is Harley! Here is a photo of Jane training Harley in late December 2009. Compared to the picture in Chapter One, it's hard to believe it's the same guy.

For the first time since I got him, I have to ask for more pace at the trot (he actually trots too slowly at times) because he is so relaxed now.  He is learning to use his body properly and realizing that it's more comfortable and less strenuous to do things correctly, rather than incorrectly.  It's hard work, but Harley is a fighter, not a quitter. 

Why is there a photo of Jane riding Harley, and not me?  30+ years of riding western, 10+ years of barrel racing, and a year at a hunter/jumper riding school created a position of hunching forward, gripping tightly with my knees, and leaning around invisible barrels...all completely incorrect for classical dressage.  When I can publish a photo that will not send correctly trained riders screaming from the room, I will.  In the meantime, here is my favorite photo of Jane and Harley...

Chapter Four - Progress

Harley and I continued training with Jane once a week. Her methods of not fighting him, letting him find his safe place, and being patient, reassuring and encouraging worked. We taught him that he had nothing to fear, and that there was nothing to fight against. He responded a great deal to vocal encouragement and tried his hardest at every lesson. He no longer tried to run back to the gate, began to slow his trot, and was much happier and more relaxed.  Jane had us climb hills regularly to build up his physique.  His condition improved and he began to put on muscle. His squishy hindquarters turned into a big solid jet engine and the muscles in his neck began developing nicely. His back and legs were also becoming stronger and more muscular. Here is Harley in early December 2009.