Larry born in 1993 was bred into the National Hunter/Chaser world and by the age of 3 had run his first race. A further 6 years of hard work followed, with wins in Ireland and a run at Cheltenham . His final win in Ireland came shortly before being sold into Point to Point racing in England and at the age of 9 in 2002, he packed his bags and came over to Northamptonshire to race Point to Point under a local owner/trainer. Luckily for me, 2 years after, the owner decided to retire Larry to "give him a chance of a happy retirement" and sold him to me in 2004. At that point, I was a "norm", in fact most probably a "nerd/norm" and just "got on and rode" him as "norms" do. Little did I realise then that this quiet thoroughbred was, in fact, a big-time Right Brain Introvert. Whilst keeping a lid on it, Larry was quiet and compliant. However, one day, when riding out in company he just couldn't "keep a lid on it" when a large bail-carting trailer squeezed by us on a quiet country lane and sent him and his companion over the edge!! This resulted in him galloping off home down the road, stirrups flying, nostrils flaring and me with a serious shoulder injury laying flat out on the road wondering (a) if my horse would get home alive and (b) why couldn't I move my right arm?
After "recovering" from my fall, I was told to "just get back on and ride" Larry, which, stupidly, I did. One day, when we were riding home (sideways!) I thought to myself: "this just isn't any fun for him or me any more. There must be a better way......." Thats when we found Parelli Natural Horsemanship!
Since then, my RBI has turned out, actually, to be a LBE! PNH has helped me to understand my horse, understand his behaviour, understand his confidence AND lack of it and react accordingly. PNH has given me the permission to take the time it takes, to believe in slow and right beats fast and wrong, to acknowledge my own and my horses fears and thresholds and has equipped me with the savvy to work through our issues together. We are now playing in Levels 1 and 2 and riding in Level 1. I am proud to be part of PNH and am sure that Larry is so relieved that his human finally "saw the light" and jumped aboard the Parelli train!
