MARCHALL'S ENDURANCE JOURNEY
Below is an article by Sue Howell that appears in an edition of the Western Australian Endurance Rider's Association (WAERA) Newsletter.
I met Sue and Marchall back in 2016 and it has been very cool to watch Sue train Marchall with so much thought and passion. She has targetted all aspects of Marchall that contribute to his ability to perform as an endurance horse. She has prepared him mentally building his focus and confidence, physically to build his physical strength, fitness and posture undersaddle for performance and soundness plus she has prepared his ability to handle the event environments. She has worked him on the ground in ground work, in the dressage arena to gymnastically build him, over poles, on trails, up hills....she has truly been Marchall's mental and physical coach and his transformation has been awesome to watch. The horse I see today is mentally and physically different from the horse I met back in 2016 and it is all down to Sue's dedication and meticulous approach to his training.
Read on and enjoy Sue's report 🙂
MARCHALL'S ENDURANCE JOURNEY TO DATE
By Sue Howell
Marchall has been mine for a little over 2 years. He came to me as a 5 year old who had to date lead a very sheltered and happy life, spending his days playing with his mates. He had been lightly started at 3½ and then left to be a horse again.
He settled in immediately and I spent the next few months getting to know him and introducing him, gently, to the various areas, tracks and trails he was likely to see much more of in the future. As he was just a youngster, we just took things steadily, with my intent being to develop him over several years. Along with riding out, we also spent time in the arena concentrating on our ‘gym’ work!
He handled it all very well, and was more than happy being on his own, even passing the occasional horse without any fuss whatsoever – a trait I was very grateful for.
Our first ‘endurance’ event was Wilga which offers a really nice, quiet environment. It goes without saying that there were a few firsts for Marchall at this ride. He was put in a yard attached to a float for the first time, he went through the vet ring, he rode out with a large group of horses etc. He handled all of this very well for a young and green horse, though did give the yard several nudges just to make sure he was supposed to stay in there! He was a pleasure to ride, even though we did fall down a big hole – he just hopped back up and was ready to go!
Following on from Wilga, we attended several more rides, those which I thought would suit where he was at. However, instead of Marchall becoming even more at ease in a ride environment, he was reacting more to the surroundings and was not able to relax sufficiently in the vet ring and was not overly happy in his yard at times. He was still a pleasure and responsive to ride, though still learning about checkpoints which was to be expected. I think that when being ridden and able to move, he felt he had some control over the ‘situation’.
I realized it was time to take a step back and get back to basics and help Marchall feel confident and safe rather than worried in new and sometimes busy environments. His reaction is totally understandable given the lack of exposure he had added to the fact that I had taken too much for granted and not prepared him well enough. Some horses adapt more quickly while others like Marchall, need more support initially. As is Marchall’s way, he shares how he really feels very openly, so I could not pretend all was good as could be the case if he was one to ‘internalise’. I do not feel that continuing to attend events in the hope ‘he would get used to it’ would have helped at all. He was reacting the only way he knew how, and I needed some strategies whereby I could help him change this.
During this time, I was very fortunate to meet horse trainer Shelley Appleton, a truly wonderful and supportive person who worked out ‘who Marchall was’ within about 10 seconds and has helped me improve the connection between us and therefore his focus and trust, taking his mind off everything (well almost everything!) around him and bringing it back to me. This is a very simplistic overview of what we were trying to achieve and obviously it does not happen overnight and will continue to be a work in progress. There are no tricks or special gear, but methods based on knowledge, understanding, practice and TIME. It makes heaps of sense to me and has provided me with a variety of tools for my toolbox as well as a much greater awareness of what my horses are trying to tell me, with still so very much more to learn!!
Marchall and I also attended a few clinics and lessons along the way and I was really happy with how we were improving steadily.
We returned to Wilga in 2017 and had an enjoyable 40km ride and I was really happy with how he handled the whole event. We then completed the mini marathon at Easter which was not our most enjoyable event though I do believe it was pivotal in him learning to drink out on course (thanks to the wonderful Jo and Bailey) and he was much calmer in the vet ring.
With 3 carefully spaced rides, Marchall qualified as an endurance horse last year and I was more than happy to end his endurance year on this note at the end of September. He now seemed much more comfortable at Collie so 2 of his 80s were completed there with the other at Yarloop. They were not the easiest of rides so I was very happy with how he handled the demands. He is quite an athletic boy and moves along well, however is still young and in development mode. There was room for improvement but I was rapt with how far he had come.
During the off season we continued with our ‘gym’ work and attended a couple of Working Equitation days. I plan to continue improving our flat work for strengthening which can only help when he is out doing the miles and just because it feels really good when we ‘get it’ too! Working Equitation has dressage as its base and also includes obstacles, so lots of fun.
I entered us in the 80km ride held during the Easter Marathon event as I was wanting to start the year at a familiar ground with the plan of introducing some new venues throughout the year. Most of our training had been spent concentrating on building muscle and a good rhythm. While we had been working in the hills and on sand, none of this had been at any particular pace. While I did enter the 80, I was just going to take one leg at a time especially since it had been quite a while since our last event.
We were going it alone too, with ‘the other Sue’ over in Europe for a few weeks. I wasn’t sure what to expect so really needed to put my ‘big girl undies on’!
I am really excited and proud to say that the Marchall I took off the float at Collie was so cool and calm it was just like we were at home! Into the yard and all he wanted to do was eat and down to the vet ring and he was just about perfect I reckon! I could have gone home then and been a very happy camper but I didn’t!
He continued to excel, eating his normal mash meals like the ones at home (he usually goes for dry feed and hay at rides) and munching on hay all night – winning!
Leigh was kind enough to let me ride out with her in the morning however, after 10 minutes I could see we needed our own space so I decided we needed to let them get ahead. This was achieved with a minimum of fuss – thank you so much Marchall – and we were then on our own, moving along beautifully. He sniffed the water at the first check point so I expected he would drink at the next, and he did, and at every checkpoint thereafter – awesome! We did the rest of this leg on our own, and I can happily say it is the best ride we have ever had, anywhere. He was cruising along at a nice steady pace (he needed checking a few times but nothing radical), sniffing the ground just to make sure we were on the right track, popping into and out of canter when the word was spoken – just magical. There may have been an occasion where I was looking straight down the track and he took a turn that I might have missed – clever boy!
He was not quite as eager on the second leg, with a few horses passing us going the other way (home!) early on, I think he would have appreciated some company. However, we soldiered on drinking and eating really well. At the 20k mark we had company and this boosted him no end.
So home we travelled and down to the vet ring for the last time. There was a little glitch after the TPRing, where he was not keen to go any further! Luckily, one of our very kind vets indulged his wishes and came to him! However, he still needed to run out which he did quite nicely though he was a tired boy. Back at the float he alternated between resting and eating after his really big day at the office.
So, what to make of what just happened? I have felt that Marchall has been in a good place for a while now, just was not sure how it would transpire. I am beyond happy that he is now able to feel OK at a ride though I will still be taking it just one ride at a time. He is still very much a youngster in my book, given I would like to think he could still be as active in 10 years’ time or more. He is such a fun guy, gentle, cheeky at times, quirky, willing and of course sensitive and I don’t want him to lose any of that.
He is a legend, in his own little lunchbox, cos that is the only one that really matters!!!!
(Thanks to Vince Evans and Sue Fimmano for the photos)
