03-06-18 - Update by John: I was the rider of the horse Zara that stopped suddenly on that morning. When she panicked and followed her instinct to run for home, I just went numb. She had to cross two national speed limit rural roads to get home and this being a Saturday, those roads would be busy. The man who rescued Zara appeared on that day like a guardian angel. He had not passed our way during the previous ten years and we haven't seen him while out on a hack in the three years since this video was recorded.
Why did Zara run away after the fall? We buy troubled but healthy young horses and give them a big chance to make a good life for themselves with us. We found then 7 year old Zara 10 years ago and brought her into our herd. From the age of 4 to 7 (when we found her), she had 5 owners including a spell in a dealership. We wrote to every person in her passport ownership history and found out everything about her to try to get to the root of her problems. 5 out of 7 replied. The person that we bought her from stopped her rearing by using a halter with brass studs on the inside part of the head collar. *** To answer the question I started with, the reason why she always ran for home after a fall on a hacking ride is that no matter how much you love them, there are some problems that you can't fix. One of the things I learned was that she was weaned by being shut in a stable for two weeks with both parts of the door completely closed. I learned about the old, dark grey scars on her legs, too. When she was put out to pasture after the very stressful weaning process and within sight of her mother, she tried to jump barbed wire fencing to get to her. That's her story.
Just to clear up a few things in passing and this is mainly for American viewers. We use bits because it is part of British culture. 95% of UK riders use a bit and although I do see the benefits of going bitless and have worked without one in all paces, many horses don't like change too much. I use a 'straight bar happy mouth' bit which is as kind as it sounds and it isn't made of metal. Soft hands are the most important thing and combining that with the bit ensures that Zara has the best possible experience when we work together.
The other thing is about Doodles (the chasing horse, 'Doodlecam') and the tossing around of her head that takes place at higher paces. Doodles wished to go faster than Christine would allow her to and the moving around of the head is a protest from the horse about being asked to keep a steadier pace. I did mention that we buy horses with problems and Doodles is a former riding school horse that we bought as an 8 year old who may have had some issues arising from that experience. We continue to work with them every day and many difficult old mental issues have been much improved for them over time. It doesn't always work. We had to sell two geldings as non-working companions for other horses after they had been with us for between 2 and 3 years. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Thanks for reading - back to the original video text.
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Zara dropped John on the floor in canter before bolting for home. The two other riders gave chase and after a mile, blocked her escape to the roads. A passing horse man named Rude helped Christine to get hold of Zara's reins and she was then led back to the rider. We rode past the spook spot again and all went well second time round.
Please see the linked video for a section of video that finished up on the cutting room floor. One person suggested that the horse was mistreated between the fall and her running away. The truth is here: • The missing 20 seconds...