Renee at the Joel Conner Clinic

This past weekend was a big success for Renee. We started on Friday by asking Joel to assess her past training and help us formulate a plan for our next steps. He took a look at her under saddle and rode her a little to see how she’d react. All said and done, we have some work ahead of us before she is going to be available as a riding horse. However she showed much improvement at each working session and the changes carried over to the next day. All good signs that if done correctly we should be able to help her get over past issues and become a relaxed riding partner. Casey took Renee in both morning groundwork classes with Joel. Here is what she had to share with us about Renee and their work together:

I got to work with and learn from Renee during the groundwork portions of the clinic. On Saturday she was quite anxious and had difficulty staying with me. However, there was a marked change on Sunday as she was much more relaxed and peaceful. She is understandably herd bound and hesitant to trust humans. Over the course of the weekend we worked on bending to a halt, yielding the hind and fore quarters, and discovered that she has a couple of very tough braces to work through. The brace through her head and neck are particularly troubling. When she bends, she tilts her head so that her ears aren’t plumb. It is very exaggerated which suggests that a correctional bit was used when she was ridden. Her feet are also very stuck. I suspect that she will begin to trust humans again once we help her find balance and free up her feet. It’s going to take some time to get these changes, but she’s a great little horse with a lot of “try.”