Re: RC: need help with separation anxiety issues in young horse

[Bette Lamore <woa@stormnet.com>]

Hi Susan
Go get the Arabian Horse Times for this month and read the several page
article about Jeff Wonnell. He is from the old school (although don't
mention the word "old" around him. He has been working with horses for
over 50 years and is still breaking the green ones himself. Has several
national championships under his belt but you would never know it! Very
unassuming but I absorb more in five minutes in his presence with the
horses than the hours of lessons I've had with the younger generation
trainers. There is no substitution for good horsemanship. They asked me
to write a little anecdote about Jeff in the Times and I was honored to
do it. This is the man who told Sheila Varian to buy Bey Abi at auction,
or she would regret it for all times--- and then he trained Abi Park and
taught Sheila to ride English--- we are talking foundation training
here-- and one of his primary loves is reining--- loves a horse gentle
on the bit and able to move like a dancer.
He is kind and is the only one I trusted Halynov to--- he even begged me
to show him at Scottsdale after he had him in Huntseat training only 4
months and I pointed out that no one goes to Scottsdale as their
practice show---- so he insisted on doing it for NO CHARGE and took him
there for only the cost of GAS! Hal went Top 5 against other far more
experienced horses. He was the only one not behind the bit and the only
one slightly in front of the vertical in an extended trot--- the way he
should be. The others were way overbridled. Cost him the Championship
but Jeff will not compromise good horsemanship.
You would love him--- comes across as a Marlborough Man and has so many
horse stories, I could sit in his tack room and listen for days... and 
have...
Anyway, mention you're a friend of mine--- his rates are really low
compared to the so-called "hot shot" trainers and you will get back a
calm, happy, relaxed horse--- I guarantee. I almost had to go through a
paternity suit to get back my horse-- they had such an affection for
each other. AND he is only 10 minutes from me so I can check up on him
and even video his progress of you'd like. I'm making my reply public in
case anyone else needs a good trainer (and no, I don't get a "kickback"
--- I wish...)
Bette

Susan Garlinghouse wrote:
> 
> Hey guys, I need some input here.
> 
> I have a very nice coming-five-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding that is having
> some problems, and I need to figure out the best course of action for him.
> A brief background---I bred and raised him myself, he was *perfect*, would
> do anything with total aplomb and absolute willingness.    This horse is not
> an airhead.  I started him under saddle and he spent six months with a good
> trainer in So Cal learning his basics.  And showed in a junior hunter under
> saddle flat class where he took everything absolutely in stride, never
> turned a hair.
> 
> When I moved up to Colorado to start vet school, I was way too gullible and
> trusting and put him for 'training' in with someone I thought was a friend,
> the now defunct Visions of the Wind business entity.  A long and fairly
> horrifying story, but the short end of it was that nine months later, the
> horse I rescued back was 200 lbs thinner, untrained or conditioned, his
> floor-length tail had been chewed off from having been turned out with
> strange horses willy-nilly, his tack was broken from his having been tied by
> the bit and my perfectly behaved and brought up youngster's attitude was a
> toal 180 degrees turnabout.  He was afraid of the shoer, startled and
> anxious at every little thing, no longer tied without panicking, no longer
> responds to the cues and leads he was taught, and from having shown
> successfully at the Del Mar Nationals a year before, his appearance looked
> like something the BLM would be ashamed asking a $100 adoption fee for.  Not
> to mention that I was out thousands of dollars I'd paid up front, but the
> bankruptcy courts let you get away with anything if you get weepy enough and
> tell a good bedtime story.  But that's another issue.
> 
> The bottom line is that he's been with Karen Chaton since last August and
> she's done a *terrific* job of working through the unspeakable abuse and
> neglect that my horse went through.  His health is finally back where it
> should be, he's back on track with his conditioning and most of the behavior
> problems (shoeing, etc) have been taken care of.
> 
> The only remaining problem is that when Dakota origially came back form
> this....person....he suddenly had alot of anxiety about being separated from
> other horses, and the problem hasn't resolved with time.  He starts pacing
> and calling, running up and down fences, working up a sweat, the whole
> thing.  He'd never done that before.  We've given him some time and work to
> let him get the idea that he's in a better place now, but he still seems to
> be really anxious about being alone.  H's good out on the trail, alone or in
> groups, but really gets upset when trailered out to strange places, big
> strange groups and so on.
> 
> What are everybody else's experiences with working these problems through?
> Karen is going to be tied up with XP this summer, so I have the options of
> bringing him home and working with him myself (which wouldnt be consistent
> because of my own schedule), or putting him with a back-to-basics
> (professional and reputable) trainer who deals with behavior problems, or I
> can put him with another endurance training center (also professional and
> reputable, see, I've learned my lesson) that will keep up with the
> conditioning, but doesn't necessarily directly address the anxiety issue,
> and hope he works through it with time.
> 
> Any suggestions or input would be appreciated.
> 
> Susan G
> 
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
> Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-- 
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of 16.2hh TLA Halynov	
(Yes, really 16.2!)
http://www.arabiansporthorse.com