Meet Billy!
He's a 17.1hh, 700 kilogram, 3 and a half year old Shire Colt with rather a lot to say about himself! In this video you can see just how far he's come, from teenage tearaway, to sensible young gentleman - all achieved, as with all horses who come to us, with training and in a soft, rubber bit.
Prior to coming to us, Billy had had an incident pulling a tyre with his owner, which had resulted in him kicking back and 'getting away' with it behind him. This had left him nervous of anything around his quarters and with - as you can see from our 'Earlier in Training' clips - a tendency to kick back just 'a little'!
Listen to why we approached Billy's training the way we did, despite already being aware of how his issues were likely to manifest in cart - and, fortunately, having very honestly been informed by his owner of his previous experience and reactions, which is always a great thing.
When he arrived, Billy was a bit of a handful - especially on a new yard with all sorts of distractions, including the stallions, mares and geldings he had to live in the same barn as. By the end of his training, he no longer hollered and banged his door every time another horse came past and he could even be lead safely through the yard and stables on nothing but a head collar. Billy's owner could hardly believe the difference in his boy and has decided to take Barry's advice in turning him away for the Winter and bringing him back into work in the Spring, when Billy will be another 6 months or so maturer in body and mind and ready to start his career of driving and helping his owner around the farm.
(P.S. As longterm subscribers will know, we don't often show the 'outtakes' of early training. On this occasion we decided to include the shots as they show how even a horse with a severe problem like Billy's can become a Safe, Confident and Happy driving horse with the right training. We dealt with the situation swiftly and efficiently and no horse or human was injured in the incident - except perhaps Billy's pride! Special thanks to "Helpful Harvey", a stallion who we trained last year and had come back to us for a refresher course after a break due to a new addition in the family for both him and his mare and his human owners! *Congratulations to Both Couples*)
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