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Phone: 61+ 7 4157 9962
Mobile: 61+ 466 661 412
Phone: 61+ 7 4157 9962
Mobile: 61+ 466 661 412
Gem - Introverted, Independent Appaloosa Stockhorse

Gem arrived at the Brisbane sales yards from a cattle station in Biloela, Qld. He was 20 years old. He was thin, had a huge mat in his tail with burrs enmeshed in the mat. He had no top-line and the beginnings of a sway back and the scars of a huge saddle sore on both sides of his high wither. He was trembling as we approached and he tried to hide behind another horse. His hooves were overgrown and pixie like. Depression and fear were the obvious in this poor old, used and abused horse. The morning after we got him delivered to our place, he managed to escape from out of the fence and we had to try to 'catch' him. We soon learned that Gem was not easy to catch, however, when we finally succeeded in gently and quietly cornering him, he stood shaking as I approached him with a halter and lead rope. He was given a 12 month holiday from riding. We concentrated on healing his body and his mind and when Gem showed that his fear was subsiding around me, we then began riding. At first, Gem could not lower his head when humans were around him for fear of having an ear twitched, I expect. It took 18 months for him to feel safe enough with us to eat while we stood near him or groomed him. It is obvious that Gem has suffered terribly for a very long time at the hands of humans, especially men.
Due to his back issues, my young daughter began to ride Gem first. She is a light-weight person and she was keen to show Gem that he need not fear us. She first used an FM bit, but Gem bolted in the paddock and tossed his head continually. Gem was communicating that the bit was causing him discomfort. My daughter obviously didn't enjoy this experience either and for safety reasons, I did not want her to ride a horse that bolted, so I decided to ride Gem bitless. He has been brilliant now and very trustworthy. It is 4 years since we purchased him and although he is still cautious, Gem will actually take steps towards me and ask me very politely for treats. While he still runs away from others, he will permit me to catch him in a 30 acre paddock - every time. This was not achieved by using Monty Roberts method of join up or any other method such as Parelli teaches. It was achieved by consistently watching for and responding positively to Gem's communications. He then began to trust me and he found security knowing that if he told me something was causing him pain, fear or discomfort, I would respond and change things for him.
Due to Gem's previous owners riding habits, Gem developed a huge up-side down neck with the accompanying sore muscles in his neck, back, hamstrings and just about everywhere else. I would often massage Gem's sore muscles, but there was never any indication that my efforts were appreciated. Gem just stood there and let me do the hard work but he kept his emotions to himself. Finally, after 3 years, Gem finally felt secure enough to demonstrate his first positive emotion to me when after a trail ride, I took off his halter and began to massage his sore neck muscles. I felt the knots finally releasing in his neck which was a huge breakthrough. I saw the 'lick and chew' and copious yawning from Gem. Nice signs of relaxation, however when I progressed to underneath his belly, I was thrilled to see a slight quiver in his top lip. He was demonstrating a desire to mutual groom. The astounding thing is that Gem is so introverted that he NEVER mutual grooms any of the other horses in the herd and he is the leader of the herd, so he could definitely mutual groom any of the 5 other horses if he so chose, but he won't even groom the lead mare, though she requests it of him many times. Now Gem regularly demonstrates to me alone his mutual grooming desires, which still makes me feel pretty special. He is now 25 years old, enjoying his paddock retirement, but on occasion he still loves to herd cows around and go for slow trail rides. He is great at lead-lining the younger horses when we are saddle starting or going out with a green horse. He is calm, stable and responsive. Although I accept that he will never lose his fear of other human beings, or even of me completely, he has come a long way from being that trembling, depressed and terrified horse in the knackery yard. He is still learning to trust me. I consider him to be a brilliant 'person' - and truly a gem.
Due to his back issues, my young daughter began to ride Gem first. She is a light-weight person and she was keen to show Gem that he need not fear us. She first used an FM bit, but Gem bolted in the paddock and tossed his head continually. Gem was communicating that the bit was causing him discomfort. My daughter obviously didn't enjoy this experience either and for safety reasons, I did not want her to ride a horse that bolted, so I decided to ride Gem bitless. He has been brilliant now and very trustworthy. It is 4 years since we purchased him and although he is still cautious, Gem will actually take steps towards me and ask me very politely for treats. While he still runs away from others, he will permit me to catch him in a 30 acre paddock - every time. This was not achieved by using Monty Roberts method of join up or any other method such as Parelli teaches. It was achieved by consistently watching for and responding positively to Gem's communications. He then began to trust me and he found security knowing that if he told me something was causing him pain, fear or discomfort, I would respond and change things for him.
Due to Gem's previous owners riding habits, Gem developed a huge up-side down neck with the accompanying sore muscles in his neck, back, hamstrings and just about everywhere else. I would often massage Gem's sore muscles, but there was never any indication that my efforts were appreciated. Gem just stood there and let me do the hard work but he kept his emotions to himself. Finally, after 3 years, Gem finally felt secure enough to demonstrate his first positive emotion to me when after a trail ride, I took off his halter and began to massage his sore neck muscles. I felt the knots finally releasing in his neck which was a huge breakthrough. I saw the 'lick and chew' and copious yawning from Gem. Nice signs of relaxation, however when I progressed to underneath his belly, I was thrilled to see a slight quiver in his top lip. He was demonstrating a desire to mutual groom. The astounding thing is that Gem is so introverted that he NEVER mutual grooms any of the other horses in the herd and he is the leader of the herd, so he could definitely mutual groom any of the 5 other horses if he so chose, but he won't even groom the lead mare, though she requests it of him many times. Now Gem regularly demonstrates to me alone his mutual grooming desires, which still makes me feel pretty special. He is now 25 years old, enjoying his paddock retirement, but on occasion he still loves to herd cows around and go for slow trail rides. He is great at lead-lining the younger horses when we are saddle starting or going out with a green horse. He is calm, stable and responsive. Although I accept that he will never lose his fear of other human beings, or even of me completely, he has come a long way from being that trembling, depressed and terrified horse in the knackery yard. He is still learning to trust me. I consider him to be a brilliant 'person' - and truly a gem.
Gem - body language

Head up, protecting his ears from possible attack from my hand which is close to his head. One ear facing the horse float. Very anxious, but Gem has been taught that it is counter-productive to complain to a human. Gem has learned that 'complaining brings more pain, so just comply and try to minimize the pain.' He was fearful of a bad experience, but compliant enough to follow us straight onto the float. Gem needed and responded positively to lots of reassurance, calm movements with NO negative 'pressure.' Pressure is often used in 'natural horsemanship' training. Increasing the pressure to encourage the horse to move through fear, would only have escalated Gem's fear levels. Certainly increasing the pressure might cause a horse to choose between his fear of the float or his fear of the handler and result in a horse going into the float; however the behaviour would be attained at a sacrifice of the horse-handler trust relationship. It would not be beneficial to this particular horse, nor any other horse..

Gem - 2009
Gem's appy eye is not totally relaxed, but his head is not high enough to convey the message that he doesn't want his head held. Gem is not expressing a desire that I take my hands off his head. He is trying hard to trust me. He is still not completely comfortable with being so close to a human being, but he stands without restraint so I can 'catch' and massage him.
Xena - Extrovert, Dependent, Fearful, Flighty Standardbred

Xena - Standardbred filly who ended up at the sales yard on route to the knackery. We purchased Xena from a Sunshine Coast rescue group and we were informed that Xena's previous owner/breeders told us she was aggressive and was not safe to be around. They delivered her to the sales yard operator in order for her to be 'put through' the knackery , however the owner had overlooked the usual 'kill note' that was supposed to accompany her to the knackery. Therefore, Xena was able to be purchased by the rescue group. On the day we purchased her, she charged at us with open mouth several times, in a bluff to keep us away from her. She had a dominant personality.
With careful attention to the communication this horse was showing us, we were able to form a special bond. The mare was very dependent on us for security and would try to break through a fence to be with us. Eventually, we were able to find her a 'herd' in the form of Gem. Gem is very independent but Xena's peculiar history meant that she was very fearful and dependent either on us, or on Gem. She was herd bound. Her aggression was merely an expression of fear. Human beings, [both men and women] in the racing industry, had hurt her and she was telling us that she preferred not to have anything to do with humans. Later, Xena changed her mind and became very dependent on us. She became a very trusting, one-woman horse. She never lost the fearful personality, but she quickly lost the aggressive behaviour toward humans. She was still dominant in the paddock to other horses. It is likely that she missed out on learning social skills when she was a foal. Her previous owners said that she had suffered septicemia at 3 days old and they had to treat her for a long time in isolation from other horses. It could have been that isolation that caused her to miss out on learning the basic horse skills, or perhaps it was the racing system which requires horses to be locked in stables that caused her to 'not fit in' so well with other horses. She did change however, when we got two orphaned foals whose dams were also slaughtered at the knackery. Despite never being a mother, Xena adopted one of the foals as her own. She was such a happy mare at that time. Sadly her happiness came to an end and we lost this beautiful rescue horse to choke in 2010 when her feed lodged low down in her esophagus. While the vet tried very hard to save her, he eventually had to euthanize her. It was a tragic end to a beautiful mare's life. I still miss her.
With careful attention to the communication this horse was showing us, we were able to form a special bond. The mare was very dependent on us for security and would try to break through a fence to be with us. Eventually, we were able to find her a 'herd' in the form of Gem. Gem is very independent but Xena's peculiar history meant that she was very fearful and dependent either on us, or on Gem. She was herd bound. Her aggression was merely an expression of fear. Human beings, [both men and women] in the racing industry, had hurt her and she was telling us that she preferred not to have anything to do with humans. Later, Xena changed her mind and became very dependent on us. She became a very trusting, one-woman horse. She never lost the fearful personality, but she quickly lost the aggressive behaviour toward humans. She was still dominant in the paddock to other horses. It is likely that she missed out on learning social skills when she was a foal. Her previous owners said that she had suffered septicemia at 3 days old and they had to treat her for a long time in isolation from other horses. It could have been that isolation that caused her to miss out on learning the basic horse skills, or perhaps it was the racing system which requires horses to be locked in stables that caused her to 'not fit in' so well with other horses. She did change however, when we got two orphaned foals whose dams were also slaughtered at the knackery. Despite never being a mother, Xena adopted one of the foals as her own. She was such a happy mare at that time. Sadly her happiness came to an end and we lost this beautiful rescue horse to choke in 2010 when her feed lodged low down in her esophagus. While the vet tried very hard to save her, he eventually had to euthanize her. It was a tragic end to a beautiful mare's life. I still miss her.
Xena - trusting and relaxed

Not aggressive anymore.
Xena and Gem

Both rescue horses - going fantastic. Gem helped Xena become confident during the new experiences while saddle starting.
Zekiah and Baby

Baby and Zekiah are half sisters - same sire but different mothers. Baby is the 3 month old chestnut filly who was resuced from the doggers at 3 days of age. Zekiah is the dunalino 5 month old filly who was rescued at 1 month of age from the doggers also. Baby has been rehomed, but Zekiah will stay with us for life. She severed a tendon in her foreleg and is very dominate, playful and cheeky. Surprisingly she is also very motherly, however her first expressive option when she wants to resist our suggestions is to rear up. She has decided however that it is probably not necessary to express herself by rearing as we give her lots of opportunities to tell us her requests.
Zekiah is the undisputed lead mare of a herd of 7 horses. She doesn't ask for respect from the other horses - she demands it and gets it from all horses, bar an aged gelding who adopted her when she was still a foal. Her whole temperament is very strong-willed. In order to be safe around this mare, we also have to be very firm with her, but also we need to be sure that we never try to dominate her spirit or we will have a full fledged rebellion on our hands. We could 'break' her spirit with hard treatment, using ropes and other devices, or we could ask for her voluntary assistance and cooperation. We chose to apply the latter psychology to Zekiah and it has been a wonderful experience for us and for the horse.
Zekiah was successfully saddle started in 2012 at 4.5 years of age by Keira-Lyn. Zekiah decided that going for rides is plenty of fun when Keira-Lyn invites her to do some campdrafting on some of the herd. Zekiah is a Quarter Pony and working cattle is 'in her blood.' As soon as the mare understood that riding meant that she could go boss the other horses around and herd them up, it became something she willing performed. Her first canter under saddle was while herding another horse. Her intelligent mind was occupied and she never put a hoof wrong. Because Zekiah is not easy to handfeed and because she has always loved being scratched, Keira-Lyn decided not to use clicker training and food rewards with her but to use patting as her reward. Zekiah now stops immediately when requested so she gets her reward of a scratch on the chest and neck. This mare could have been turned sour/rebellious and become dangerous if we had have opted to use the 'bossy,' disrespectful approach with her. Instead of becoming a dangerous mare, Zekiah has become a real asset and she might go into competitive camp-drafting.
Zekiah is the undisputed lead mare of a herd of 7 horses. She doesn't ask for respect from the other horses - she demands it and gets it from all horses, bar an aged gelding who adopted her when she was still a foal. Her whole temperament is very strong-willed. In order to be safe around this mare, we also have to be very firm with her, but also we need to be sure that we never try to dominate her spirit or we will have a full fledged rebellion on our hands. We could 'break' her spirit with hard treatment, using ropes and other devices, or we could ask for her voluntary assistance and cooperation. We chose to apply the latter psychology to Zekiah and it has been a wonderful experience for us and for the horse.
Zekiah was successfully saddle started in 2012 at 4.5 years of age by Keira-Lyn. Zekiah decided that going for rides is plenty of fun when Keira-Lyn invites her to do some campdrafting on some of the herd. Zekiah is a Quarter Pony and working cattle is 'in her blood.' As soon as the mare understood that riding meant that she could go boss the other horses around and herd them up, it became something she willing performed. Her first canter under saddle was while herding another horse. Her intelligent mind was occupied and she never put a hoof wrong. Because Zekiah is not easy to handfeed and because she has always loved being scratched, Keira-Lyn decided not to use clicker training and food rewards with her but to use patting as her reward. Zekiah now stops immediately when requested so she gets her reward of a scratch on the chest and neck. This mare could have been turned sour/rebellious and become dangerous if we had have opted to use the 'bossy,' disrespectful approach with her. Instead of becoming a dangerous mare, Zekiah has become a real asset and she might go into competitive camp-drafting.