Her redeeming quality has always been that she has had a lot of training over the years and you can get her to do a lot of cool stuff, even if she doesn't exactly flow. When I ride her regularly, we do all sorts of fun things like half passes and canter pirouettes. In the last month, we've been playing around with a good bit of passage. What she lacks in animation and flashy movement, she makes up for in effort under saddle. The mare definitely knows how to try.
In the entire time that I've known Jazz, I have known her to be a well-mannered horse on the ground. If anything, she was a bit boring at home. When she settled in and adapted to life in our great big pastures seemingly over night, I just assumed we'd have a month of making progress in leaps and bounds under saddle. The six weeks would fly by and she'd go home, much improved.
It turns out that Jazz has been masking her true personality very well for several years. She is in fact not a calm, well-adjusted, or friendly horse. As we've discovered over the last six weeks, she's actually very insecure. The problem is that Jazz has lived at the same barn, in her owner's back yard, for over a decade now. Her routine has been the same for ten years. She hasn't been turned out with more than one horse in all that time, and since Dreamy's passing earlier this year, she has been alone. She has lived in the same pasture with the same run in shed; been caught by the same two people; groomed, bathed, and tacked up in the same one spot; and ridden in the same single arena, all the while sheltered from the world by a thick cluster of trees. In that environment, she was comfortable and secure. As far as she was concerned, that was the entire world and she knew it well. None of her behavior in the last few weeks has been her fault. She is a sheltered child being exposed to the reality of the wide world for the first time... at the age of 17.None of this would really matter if she was going home at the end of the month to her familiar surroundings. Sure, there would be a period of re-adjustment, but after that life would resume as usual. Unfortunately for Jazz, and probably for her owner, she is going to a new boarding barn on November 1st. There she will have to adapt to yet another set of horses, people, and surroundings. And so I've spent an alarming amount of time in the last month teaching Jazz to build her own confidence and learn to be an actual, normal horse. It hasn't been easy.
A few days after Jazz moved in, I felt bad for her (she still hadn't really figured out the minis) and put CP out with her for company. Just two days later, she had taught the pony not to be caught and I couldn't get a hold of either one of them. CP, the world's purest definition of a pocket pony, was suddenly avoiding me in the field. I did some thinking, decided I wanted Jazz to have access to more grass anyway, and did a whole herd movement. Art has a tendency to get a bit study sometimes and Ozzy is flat out terrified of mares, even to this day, so I put the two of them with CP and the minis in the front field. I turned Jazz out behind the indoor with JR and Rue. JR's personality is that of an old Scottish gentleman. He wants his beer and a nap and that's about it. He's a calming influence on everyone and just cannot be bothered to give a damn. Rue is a total sweetheart and low man on the totem pole.
Big mistake.
The mare being there totally screwed up my herd dynamic and every single one of the boys (except Ozzy) got all worked up. Their personalities changed entirely and Rue was being flat out aggressive, trying to defend his new girlfriend. The problem is two-fold. There's the fact that Jazz has a domineering personality and is a bit high strung, sure, but there's also the fact that this is the first time a mare has stayed at Cattail Farms. Art and Rue haven't seen a mare in three years. JR hasn't seen one since at least March. Neither has CP.I quickly realized that this mixed herd thing wasn't going to work and I went back to the original arrangement of the boys behind the indoor and the mare out front with the minis. I should have known better. When I was barn manager, I always kept the mare and gelding herds separate. This whole experience just reinforced my idea that when Mike and I get a place, the geldings will be on one side of the property and the mares will be on the other. Ideally, the driveway, barn, house, and maybe a pond and wooded area will separate them.
But the damage had already been done. Now the boys know that there's a girl on the property, and Jazz knows where the other horses live. They spent the first several days after I separated them running fence lines, screaming for each other, and staring longingly back and forth across the driveway. It was irritating and worrisome, all at once.
Meanwhile, Jazz's behavior on the ground was completely unacceptable. She was hard to catch, but I dealt with that. Once I had her in the cross ties, however, she would dance around nervously and neigh constantly and loudly. If I made her hold still, she'd paw and throw her head. Once or twice, she even lifted her front end off the ground. Bad mare!!! You're 17 years old and should know better! She'd work up a sweat before I'd even get on her, but when I'd bathe her at the end of the ride, she'd freak out about the hose, flinching every time the water hit her and running backwards every time the hose moved. The cool, calm, collected, and slightly boring horse I'd known was gone, replaced by your stereotypical 'chestnut dumb-blood mare'.
One night it was dark and raining and I rode Jazz in the indoor. Mike had come to take pictures for me, but that never happened. That night, Jazz's behavior crossed the line from insecure and annoying to flat out dangerous. I got on her in the indoor and she could hear the boys outside. As soon as my leg was over her back, she took to spinning and threatening, and then reared. I had run out of options and resorted to what I like to call a 'Come to Jesus Moment'. I got loud and demanding and, at one point, backed the mare clear across the indoor. Every time her attention came off of me, I got loud and threatening. Any time she exhibited a dangerous behavior, I reprimanded her. It only took a few minutes and it seemed to be our break through moment. We went on to have a decent ride. It wasn't beautiful, but she ignored the other horses, got on her big girl panties, and gave me her undivided attention.That night, I emailed her owner. I started the email with, "I don't want to alarm you or make this sound worse than it is, but I also don't want you to be blind sided when you move Jazz to SREC and she's not the quiet mare you knew at home..."
I went on to explain the various bad behaviors that Jazz had displayed, then went into detail about how her insecurities were playing a part in this. I didn't want to sound accusing and say, "You sheltered and spoiled your horse and now she's a fearful brat," but I also wanted her to realize the importance of giving this horse structure, especially in the upcoming weeks.
I didn't downplay the severity of Jazz's actions, but I did offer comfort by explaining how SREC may be different. For starters, the owner won't be the one handling her most of the time, so the mare's issues will be the staff's problem. Additionally, the herd at SREC is mixed and has been for a long time, so hormones won't have so much to do with how things go. With other horses acting like it's no big deal around her, Jazz will probably settle down much faster. Finally, the lay out of a big boarding facility is probably very different from what I'm working with. There is probably a lot more space between the riding rings and the pastures, for example.
The email wrapped up with some pro-active solutions. I was up front and told her that the dressage would have to go on the back burner until Jazz behaved herself on the ground. I was worried that the words wouldn't be well received, but Jazz's owner seemed to be very understanding. She expressed her concern and disappointment in the mare, then told me not to put myself or my horses in danger. She agreed that respect for humans and good ground manners had to be of utmost importance. She wrapped up by saying she had complete faith in me and hoped that the rest of Jazz's stay would help with her attitude.Since that point, we have seen a big turn around, and with a week left at my barn, Jazz seems to have finally accepted her role.
Now, when I call her in the pasture, she actually comes to me. The other day she actually cantered up when I whistled, something I never thought I'd see her do. On Monday, when I drove out to work with her, she actually met me at the gate at the end of the barn, like CP used to do. The days of being uncatchable are behind us. In fact, I can even blanket her out in the field without haltering her.
I still tack her up on the crossties in a stall instead of in the aisle, but now it's because she has a tendency to make a mess *ahem* while being saddled, not because of her ground manners. She still occasionally lifts a foot when I girth her, but she has stopped pawing, dancing, and screaming. In fact, she actually seems to enjoy being groomed and the process is now pleasant instead of stressful.
One Friday things really seemed to come together. C came by for her weekly ride on JR. I called and Jazz came trotting up to meet me. I put her in the cross ties and she stood like a lady while I brushed her and tacked her up. Then I left her standing while I went out to get JR. The sound of sweet silence!! When I brought JR in, he whinnied once and Jazz responded, but then they went back to being quiet and polite. C arrived and took the pony away and Jazz just stood there like nothing had happened. We went on to ride and when we were done, the mare ground tied while I bathed her. Now that's more like it!
I started her out with Christine and JR and she did pretty well. She's a little spooky and unsure of herself, but she slowly started to figure out how to think for herself. I have been able to take her on a handful of trail rides by herself and, while I wouldn't recommend that her owner try her solo just yet, she has done pretty well. She does balk and refuse to move forward sometimes and she needs to learn a more appropriate spook, but she has been all around the fields and through the woods without another horse to hold her hand.
Thankfully, Mike was able to come out and get some photos of me riding the big, chestnut mare. Mostly I like the background best. Haha. Of course Jazz decided to go into heat on that exact day, but we worked through it.
Over the last week or so, Jazz has turned back into her pleasant old self. She is agreeable if somewhat aloof. Our rides have been uneventful and straightforward and she acts more like 17 years than 17 months. She seems happy to see me now and the shenanigans have mostly ceased There is still some hormonal tension in the air, but there's not a lot I can do about that. It figures that she's leaving just as she gets acclimated. I just hope it takes her less time to adjust at SREC than it did here.
Herbie being doofy in the kennel
Ozzy <3's fence
Warm up walk.
Tritty trot.
Extending.
Can you tell she wasn't dressage bred?
Collecting.
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Stretching on a walk break.
Praising the red beast.
Sassy, but the background is nice.
Trail riding with Herbie.
The fact that she's managed to adjust at one new place is a good omen for how she'll do at the next place - she's learned some coping skills and probably needs to still take her confidence from her rider/handler. My Red was very much like her - nervous and insecure if his routine was altered, but after having to cope and adapt at one place he's done well at the next.
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