Simple Development…

If you look over the horses in my current program at any given time, you won’t see perfectly trimmed manes and tails. They are groomed well but not incredibly fussed over on a day to day basis. This I can promise you is due to time constraints. My inner child gives me constant crap for that… she wants to be grooming those horses day in and day out! However… during a training session, they are on the ball. My horses look forward to their sessions and I know that they feel confident in their bodies. Ive worked very hard to be able to achieve this through training. But when I was just a kid I used to get a tremendous amount of joy from giving the horses in my life a “make over”. The makeover consisted of a full mane and tail brush, complete with clean hooves and legs. A trim of the fetlocks and a once over with the Show Sheen. Over the years, and after learning a few tips and tricks along the way from some of the top experts in the show jumping industry, I developed an IDEAL visualization of what I wanted every horse to look like. Even as a child I did a pretty great job executing this vision.  To me, there was nothing better than receiving a horse matted with burrs and mud, and transforming it into a beauty. A horse anyone would be proud to own. The care they received radiated from them as if they had never known another way of life. Even then, I could tell they appreciated it. The attention they had never received and the love they had never known. This alone, can redefine a horse.

My horses all had perfectly banged tails, trimmed manes and a clean bridle path. Simply put, basic horse care and management interested me, but also fuelled the fire that is in me now to develop horses. I grew up on a horse farm with my mother and all we ever had was rescue horses and last chances. Some horses took a couple hours and some took months to begin seeing improvement. Honestly, there were a few horses that back then I just couldn’t help. Still today I get to work with the odd horse who truly teaches me something new.  Some of these horses come to me well taken care of and others in complete disarray. Nevertheless, each horse represents a clean slate, a prospect and a future to be had in the sport. 

Grooming, feeding and exercise. Simple as that. A great coat means a well fed horse, and a well fed horse will flourish in their daily work. The training teaches the horses to use their muscles properly and over time you witness an amazing transformation in each horse into a healthy happy athlete. My training program includes both flatwork, jumping and in hand work. With this ever changing system I see improvements in condition as time goes on.

I always enjoy seeing the 2-3 year olds slowly begin their work. The transformation in the young horses is exciting. It is steady and sure. By 5 or 6 they are truly a naturally developed horse in the right hands. This sometimes isn’t the case and the horses are perhaps briefly started, but then left out of a program instead of continuing. Or maybe they were not even started at all. These horses are my passion. At some point someone gave up on them in one way or another. But, I hold no judgment. Life happens to all of us and I never forget that I am one of the few people making horses my career. 

The best transformations are the ones that hold the wow factor. The horses who in 6-8 months become a completely changed horse. A horse that even I don’t recognize. The ones that halfway through make me doubt myself, only to show me that with persistence and care I knew I saw something in that horse after all. These horses teach life lessons not only in my career but in my life and about myself. 

Now I want to share my experiences and honour horses through this blog. Brittany Payjack