At home: Man to Man.....

Jack our little draft horse has issues with men. He drives and lunges perfectly, apart from when a man takes the reins. There is many a person who might be flattered with a horse that just wants to please you, and you alone. For Jack, it is a massive negative to be a 'womans horse'. He is a pulling cob, he is bred for pulling heavy loads. He has pulled railway sleepers for me before now, a heavy cart around north Hereford, and should continue to do so past along way past his four years that he is now.

The fact is, that sometimes a man will need to drive Jack. Whether its to pull the chain harrows up and down the field. Or collect wood from across the estate. I want anyone to be able to drive him. Up until now, I have trained Jack on my own since he was a yearling. This has meant that now he trust me, but gets in a right old stew with anyone else. I handed over the reins to a fantastic horseman, calm and steady. A re-breaking excersise. Re-affieming that men are not to be feared. Men can help, be calm, be steady. At one point Jack caught his foot on the lunge rope. He stopped dead as he would for me, lowered his head and lifted his front foot, for help.

A new understanding of the world. In that small gesture of trust, so many more opportunities will come. x