Meet the students

(Horsey that is)

THOR

Thor is an 8 year old Percheron Gelding. Thor came to Kelly two years ago. The horse broker told Mira and Eric Stallings, his parents, that he was bombproof. After they purchased Thor, they realized that this wasn’t the case. After some digging, Mira found out that Thor flunked Police Academy twice! He was a bucker and a bit of a bully. He didn’t steer or stop, which is a problem when you are 2100 pounds.

After a few months at Kamp Kelly, Thor went home. He came back last summer for driving training. He loves pulling the carriage and hanging out with his best friend, Gander- a Menorcan stallion. His parents have been very busy with baby #4 so Thor is staying with us until his parents have a moment to breathe!!!

Thor & LB

LB

LB short for “Lightening Biscuit” is a miniature horse. There is a lot of attitude packed into that little body! LB was born and Mira and Eric Stalling’s farm. They had rescued a 30 year old mini and had no idea that she was pregnant. They went to the barn one morning, and there he was! He looked like a little stuffed horse he was so tiny.

Mira and Eric learned very quickly that LB’s mission in life was world domination, and everyone better comply or he would rear at them, bite them, chase them or turn his little hinny to them and double barrel them.

The day I went to pick up Thor for his first term at Kamp Kelly, Mira pointed at the little guy that was just a foal at the time and said- “HE’S NEXT! HE’S THE DEVIL AND HE IS TRYING TO KILL US!” i told her that i don’t train miniature horses. She said- “You do now!”

When I went to get LB, I found an exhausted vet, his assistant, Mira and family with several friends in tow. They had been trying to catch LB for hours. I definitely looked like something out of a comedy movie- all those people chasing this tiny horse!

Finally, the vet roped him. They took him to a stall (not easily) sedated him and gelded him. He then said- “Open your Trailer.” “I said- I can’t take him now- he’s sedated!” He replied, “This might be the only time we can catch him and he’s going with you now…” So I opened the door, the vet tossed him in the back, and off I went.

When I got to the farm, LB was standing, looked at me like “what the hell do you want?” and continued eating hay out of the hay bag.

I got him into the little paddock I was going to keep him in. I realized very, very quickly why Mira had nicknamed him “Satan’s Spawn.”
I could not catch the little devil and if I got close he would rear up at me or try and double barrel me.

I finally did catch him. I then hobbled him. This was the only way to get through to that evil little brain. I had to control his feet. The hobbles worked. After that, I took him EVERYWHERE WITH ME. He then began respecting me and liking me 🙂

He now is owned by Nadine Dorrington, and he lives at LGF. He drives beautifully and LOVES people now and obstacle courses.

LOUIE

Louie is a 16 year old WB imported from Denmark. Like most of the campers at Kamp Kelly, he has a colorful history.

I met Louie’s mom, Nadine Dorrington, years ago at a clinic that I was teaching at the Vista. We were doing some things online with the horses, and then we got everyone saddled up to ride them.

Nadine brought her horse, Thief, and her daughter, Ali, brought her pony. Right when when Ali went to put her leg over his back to get on, the pony took off. He was running through the parking lot and Ali was screaming at the top of her lungs. Ali then bailed, and I was the first one there. She was crying and trying to catch her breath Her mom came running up. I told Ali and her mom that that pony totally calculated that move. He was not safe- Nadine said, “We know- he does it all the time!”

The next day, I messaged Nadine and asked her to send me the name of the person that sold her this little fire breathing dragon. I called them up and let them have it. They took the pony back. I didn’t hear anything from Nadine for a couple of years, and then she messaged me on facebook saying that she wants to train with me. I messaged her back that she should come for a lesson.

She shows up and obviously has some major PTSD around riding with all the concussions and injuries with this crazy pony. She took a lesson on Buckley and then on Brujo. She kept telling me she was in the market for a horse. I told her to just wait- let’s take our time, and in the meantime, she can ride Buckley.

I obviously didn’t know Nadine that well yet.
She calls me up and said she’s found a horse and she’s going to pick him up in Georgia and bring him to my farm.
“I don’t board horses,” I said.
She said , “Well me and my daughter need training so we will all do training.”
The horse was supposed to arrived at 1 pm that day…..the hours kept ticking by. Finally, she arrives about 7.
It took 3 hours to get the horse into the trailer.

So much for that unicorn ad that said he loaded perfectly…I wondered what else was wrong with him…
Well, a lot actually….he didn’t tie, he didn’t load, you couldn’t bathe him or fly spray him. He wouldn’t stand for you to get on. He was, basically, a nervous wreck.
I had a sheet a mile long from the former training explaining Louie’s care.

Don’t put him out with other horses.
Only let him out in the round pen- alone- for 45 minutes. He has to stay in the stall the rest of the time.
I told Nadine we were letting Louie out in the pasture with a couple very chilled geldings.
Louie was in heaven. He never wanted to go in a stall after that.

Even though Louie was advertised as being trained up to 4th level, he had NEVER been to a horse show. (Most likely because he hated going in and riding in the trailer).

Nadine and I started taking him to schooling shows, trail rides, Bruce’s field every Tuesday to school. At first it was stressful, but when Louie realized it was only for a bit of time then we always came home. He started excelling in the ring.

I showed Louie at Training Level for a long time before I took him to First Level. Everyone told me to just move him up- since he could do upper level work. I told them it was more important for me to get him confident and relaxed. I wanted to put as little stress on him as possible. I started adding the pressure little bit little- rated shows, more time away from home, then first level.

Louie ended up excelling. We were getting tens, consistent scores in the 70s, and he has a roomful of ribbons in one year to prove his success to people who care about those things.

Now Louie loads, bathes, etc, etc- we are still working on his feet for the farrier. He was always sedated before and put in stocks…but he is coming along there, too!

Louie is definitely a success story and now a happy partner and competitor!

GEORGIA

Georgia is a Quarter Horse Mare and can to me as a fractious out of control barrel racing horse. Her owner was not comfortable riding her out of the arena. She was incredibly herd bound and would twirl and swirl if too far away from her her mates. When she tied her up to get her ready to ride, she could not stand still.

When Georgie first came to me, I focused just on the ground the first month she was with me. She thought everything was pressure, so if I just moved my stick she would jump and get stressed. At first, I just worked with her near her herd then gradually took her away. I had to do a lot of approach and retreat- towards the herd and back- before she became just confident away from them on the ground.

The riding was where she really stressed. Again, I had to work with her just near her pasture mates at first, then gradually took her away. I made the place where I worked with her the sweet spot- she only got treats and rest there. After a month of patience and trust building, she was confident going out on the trail. At first she needed the security of another horse. Now, however, she will confidently go out on her own.

Georgia now is a steady eddie. She loves to go on field trips, and we can even ride her bridle less!

MUDDY

Muddy is a Quarter Horse gelding that came to me very, very broken. His owner, Nicola Mair, had bought him and was told that he was a reliable cow horse from out west.

In the past, that might have been the case: however, when Nicola got him, he was very very tense. He had bolted with her, and she came off, so she was not confident riding him.

I used the same formula that I did with Georgia. I worked with him close to his herd mates on the ground until he started trusting me, then we gradually went away from them- using a lot of approach and retreat. I also created a sweet spot in the arena and by where I tied him up to groom him.

The first few times taking him out, I could feel that he wanted to bolt. He was jigging and desperate to get home to the safety of the herd.

After a few times out of doing a lot of stopping and relaxing, Muddy started to figure it out. I did same the exact same way at first. He needed the consistency.

Now, he is an amazing trail horse. He can even pony unconfident horses and help them! He loves to go on field trips and trail ride away from the farm.

GEORGIA

Georgia now is a steady eddie. She loves to go on field trips, and we can even ride her bridle less!

Finn

6 year old Friesian
Finn is one of my greatest success stories. Finn is a Friesian. Honestly, I almost did not take him into training. Friesians can be very destructive, and I have had many a fence bulldozed by them! As draft crosses they can be super pushy, but on the other hand, they can also be pretty hot- which is often not a great combo.

Finn also had a story behind him. He came to the States a couple of years ago from Holland and went through several trainers who said he was not safe to ride. His owner then sent him to a trainer to learn to drive- when he flunked out of that and was sent home, she had no idea what to do with him. Then she found me.

I was curious about Finn and love a challenge, so I took him into training. I could see immediately why people were intimidated by him- he is BIG. He is also what we call in Parelli a Right Brained Introvert- which means he can be explosive. When he came to me, he was very nervous, but just froze. I knew I had to keep him present with me. I spent a month on the ground with him and created a strong bond of rapport and respect. Buckley helped me help him to get more confident under saddle by ponying him all over my trails and roads. After one month, I was riding him. We are now building his confidence every day on the ground and in the saddle!

Topper

6 year old OTTB
Topper is a 6 year old OTTB that was passed through a couple of trainers til was sold to his current owner. When she first bought him, he was jumping a hunt course confidently. Within a few months, things started to deteriorate and Topper started bucking. He bucked his owner off over 30 times at the mounting block. There was something about it that set him off.

They had been training with a cowboy for 6 months before they came to me….with no success. They could not get on him. Topper came to my place and within a week I was riding him. Two months later he is hitting the trail, walk, trot and cantering as well as jumping.

Nothing that I did with him was magic- just like Finn, he was unconfident. When a horse starts to lose their confidence about one thing, like a row of dominoes, they begin to lose their confidence around everything. It did not take long for me to gain his confidence on the ground, and by using a lot of release there and in the saddle, he learned that I was not going to put pressure on him. I taught him how to seek the release. By being consistent at letting him know it was there and when it would happen, he grew confident and trusting.

Apache

2 year old Paint Mare
Before Apache came to my farm for training, her and her owner had been taking lessons with me. We realized, though, that Apache really needed to be taken out of her herd (which was a group of rowdy geldings) and come to my herd.

Horses learn from each other. Apache- a two year old- was developing some pretty negative patterns of behavior. She needed to come to boot camp which we told her was “Kamp Kelly.”

Apache’s main issue is that when she would get on adrenalin she would lose her mind. She could not come down. This was online and under saddle. Her owner, a confident rider with her other horses, was now not so confident with Apache. I needed to break the cycle.

When Apache came to me, my horses first let her know that running around in the pasture and acting spoiled isn’t a great idea….you get kicked down the herd so you don’t get many perks. Buckley really put her in her place ponying her. She was used to pushing on other horses and not being respectful. The first time I ponyed her off of him, he immediately laid his ears back at her and gave her THE LOOK. She backed up, dropped her head, licked and chewed and said, yes sir. It was all over after that.

I taught Apache online how to relax. I gave her a routine. I taught her how to stretch online which not online helped her topline, but it helped her to mentally relax. I just transferred this to the saddle.

Emi

3 year old Westphalian Mare
Emi came to me to be started. She had some pretty negative behaviors, however, that needed to be solved first.

She reared, she struck out, and she double barreled. I had to work with her from the other side of the fence for the first week. I then ponyed her off of Buckley who really let her know how to behave….

Emi is what we call a Left Brained Introvert. She is clever, a bit lazy, very, very food motivated and obstinate. She wants to know what is in it for her before she does anything….

I had to first let Emi know, by claiming my space with the help of Buckley, that I was the leader. I could move Buckley’s feet AND her feet where I wanted them. I was the Alpha, Buckley was #2 and she was definitely #3.

Once we established that and I had her working off the ground confidently, she was one of the easiest horses I ever started under saddle!