Unhappy Navaroan
My trainer called over the weekend to talk about Navaroan's not to be fixed spookiness. So I e-mailed and spoke with Laura, his former owner in Arkansas. She was really shocked at how he's behaving - he sounds like a different horse than what she'd had. That's what the vet said the second time she saw him too.
In talking with Laura, it all began to make sense to me. I thought Laura had bought him from the breeder, but actually there was an intermediate stop for him. An Andalusian trainer in Florida had him for a while. Laura's impression when she went to ride him was that this trainer was frightened of him and that he'd probably been abused. I read about this all of the time, where trainers just push, push, push regardless of the horse's temperament. And pretty soon, the horse just doesn't trust people anymore. So here I've gone and inadvertently put him into a set of circumstances that's probably very similar to that Dressage Barn. I think when he's in the arena, he's spending all of his time waiting for someone to hurt him. It breaks my heart.
It also breaks my heart to think of parting from him. However, Laura is able to take him back and I think he'll be much happier back there. She has a small barn and acres of open fields and pasture. He'll be able to run and play and just be a horse again. And I'm betting after he's been there awhile, he'll be right back to normal. So back to Arkansas he goes. Sometime next week. I'm sure I'll stop crying at some point.
In talking with Laura, it all began to make sense to me. I thought Laura had bought him from the breeder, but actually there was an intermediate stop for him. An Andalusian trainer in Florida had him for a while. Laura's impression when she went to ride him was that this trainer was frightened of him and that he'd probably been abused. I read about this all of the time, where trainers just push, push, push regardless of the horse's temperament. And pretty soon, the horse just doesn't trust people anymore. So here I've gone and inadvertently put him into a set of circumstances that's probably very similar to that Dressage Barn. I think when he's in the arena, he's spending all of his time waiting for someone to hurt him. It breaks my heart.
It also breaks my heart to think of parting from him. However, Laura is able to take him back and I think he'll be much happier back there. She has a small barn and acres of open fields and pasture. He'll be able to run and play and just be a horse again. And I'm betting after he's been there awhile, he'll be right back to normal. So back to Arkansas he goes. Sometime next week. I'm sure I'll stop crying at some point.
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