I bought my black Morgan "Remy" when he was 4 years old and 14.3 hands. His barn name at the time was "Rambo", and little did I know how appropriate that name was. Because of his young age I assumed the bratty behavior of ears back, and moving into my space on the ground, were easily fixable issues that his previous owners had never addressed. He was such a calm, lovely riding horse, curious about new things without spooking or jumping at anything.
The past eight years have been quite a challenge! He grew to nearly 16 hands. His bratty behavior and crowding, not only into my space, but aggressively into other people's and horses' spaces, escalated to the point that I tried several different trainers (with limited success) and still had a cranky horse that felt the need to dominate the world. Trail riding was fun, but getting him to keep moving in a ring was exhausting and frustrating.
When we were living in Port Townsend, Audrey Bryant, my fabulous barefoot farrier, kept talking about Freedom Farm and the horsemanship, dressage and "cowmanship" classes they offered. I began trailering out to Freedom Farm at least once a month. I took the dressage class with Michelle Grimmer, who had also taught me in PT, learning fun new things like moving with Remy in a straight line, bending and giving. The horsemanship class taught by Mary Gallagher was an amazing introduction in how to "play" with your horse, getting him to want to do things with you instead of the constant battle Remy and I waged. Mary's cowmanship class was another revelation. Remy LOVED it! He could dominate the cows, push them around, and not get in trouble for being aggressive.
In May of 2013, we moved to Sequim and I was thrilled that Mary had room at Freedom Farm for Remy. In the past when put with other horses, he would try to play by rearing and biting another horse, which usually concluded with Remy getting soundly pummeled. Freedom Farm has several pastures with different herd groups, one of which Remy joined, and I believe that for the first time in Remy's life, he had the opportunity to be integrated into a healthy social environment and learn how to be a horse. I'm finally learning how to be a proper horsewoman, keeping my boundaries on the ground and learning to ride in a way that is no longer a battle, but about connecting on a deeper more attuned level.
Remy has progressed from being dangerous and unpredictable, to being a horse that is now an accepted part of the herd. He has confidence and a happy calmness I had never seen in him before Freedom Farm. Though I have been riding since I was 8, I feel I'm back at the beginning, learning new, effective and kind ways to connect and have a better, more profound relationship with my horse.
Thank you Mary, Michelle and Audrey and the rest of the Freedom Farm tribe who make us feel at home and that we are finally where we need to be!
(Originally published January 2014)
