HELP FOR HORSE RIDERS. OUR PROBLEM HORSES

Tilly (The Stroppy Mare) 14.2hh cob x warmblood mare

Tilly was a character. We knew that from the start. Whenever she was left alone or anyone went near her, she always had her ears back. She wanted one-to-one attention and didn't like either being ignored or sharing favours with anyone - not even another horse.

That was her problem. From a yearling, she'd only had one owner and he adored her. She lived like a princess, with everything laid on. And if Tilly didn't like, Tilly didn't do. It was as simple as that.

In fairness, her owner had worked hard at the things she ought to do, like standing still for grooming and picking up her feet and tapping them gently with a hammer, in preparation for shoeing. That was an intelligent thing to do!

He also spent many hours teaching her how to load into his trailer and did an exceptionally good job of that. He liked playing around with her, but didn't know what else to do. So when she came to us for breaking and training, Tilly was outraged. She wasn't having that.

First, she had lost her loving owner who let her do what she wanted. Then, she had to share her life with a load of other horses. She didn't like that - so they didn't like her, because she had no social skills whatsoever. The only thing she could do well was assert herself, driving away intruders and saving anyone else the bother of doing it. Gradually, she started earning respect, making friends with the other horses and mixing with the group, like a normal horse would.

Predictably, she didn't take kindly to basic training. She didn't mind the saddle or bridle. No horse ever does, but when it came to riding and doing what we wanted - that was a different story. She had "stubborn" down to a fine art and niggled or fought over everything. Having lived such a sheltered early life, she was also very nervous and spooked or startled at just about anything. An unhappy combination.

The one thing she settled to nicely, was formal schooling. Going endlessly round in circles didn't bother her too much as long as we kept it easy and interesting. She has the potential to become a nice, little novice dressage horse, ideal for beginners.

Hacking out is still a bit of a battle. She really doesn't like doing it. The big, wide world out there is still much too scary - but she is slowly getting used to it. And she is just started to jump. We are very pleased about that!