The Horse That Attacks You - TRT Rescue S01E01

In this first episode, we meet a very talented horse that had found out how to scare people on the ground. The horse is attacking people and it is starting to get really dangerous.

Olympic dressage rider Antonia Ramel, has tried all kinds of things to change her horse's behavior. This is not her first challenge when it comes to dealing with horses with behavioral problems, but this horse is a special case.

During this first episode of TRT Rescue, Tristan takes on the challenge of getting Antonia and her horse back on the right path together.

The full training video will be in the TRT Online Platform!

[angelachristina]

This horse totally reminds me of a Sir Donnerhall gelding I had. Because of him I completely changed the way my dressagehorses live. I gave them access to a really large paddock all day. And the special boy could go out 24/7. And indeed he didn't use his box really much anymore.
That was a gamechanger and he became like a dog on the ground. And much more supple and motivated during training.

[mirandapaton]

It breaks my heart that this horse's people trapped him and misread him so much and so often in his management and work that he got so alienated from his own body. Horses don't start out this way, and I think it takes a lot of mistreatment (however unintended or accidental) to make a horse so frustrated. That "brake and gas on at the same time" and "always looking to come forward" are elements of lots of schools of dressage training. The degree of precision and acceptance of micromanaging of the body that's endemic to modern dressage is asking a lot of a pacific, kind flight animal. The horse lives in an environment that doesn't appear to afford him much choice or release. If you watch his walk change when he steps over the threshold from the aisle way to the arena, you can see that he gets "up" and on edge. Very nice work, but I wish the rhetoric weren't so much about getting the horse to take responsibility for himself. That's fine but what happens when his training continues as it is and, under saddle, he is continually asked to turn over his body to an extreme degree to a controlling rider? If that continues, didn't the handler just lie to the horse about how much autonomy he'd have? I think the whole way of riding and training this horse would have to change as well so as to not rob him of the sense that he can find a way to find comfort and release.

[annabrewin]

Fabulous results. As a person that likes a horse to be a horse I find it hard to comprehend how a horse in a stable segregated and confined for hour upon mindless hour could not react in the way he does. There is even no scenery to stimulate his mind. Horses in stables build up pent up energy, behavioural issues, aggression, stall guarding, repetitive behaviours, etc. Many of these horses come from dressage homes with riders that cannot let go of the reins to let the horse relax outside of practice. Change routine from stable to lunge then arena repeat and horses become sour. Mind, body and souls like ourselves need to be looked at to create a happy healthy horse.

[nicolaslade]

Just beautiful. Thinking about all the poor horses that don't have this level of help

[NaturalEquineInsight]

I always appreciate how calm you are and how you do not blame the horse for the behavior. Wonderful progress is made here. I hope the owner continues with what you've shown her. Lovely horse too.

[sassy]

A small herd of mares would teach him something as well. This man’s methods are solid! They are foundational methods that everyone should know from day one of learning about riding.

[nicitanic]

This is true horsemanship, not domination techniques. Really wonderful to watch.

[SeasonLove]

It's very important to remember that a horse expects/ needs partnership and is a pet first. There should be consistent time with owner/ rider that doesn't include work. You'd be surprised at the changes in relationship that occur with the addition of 30 min to an hour of "play" time in their daily routine. Literally go sit in the middle of a pasture where he's free to roam and remove your attention from him until he begins to seek yours. FYI anxiety displayed in animals is a result of the humans anxious behavior.

[juliadean]

That was so interesting. This guy has brilliantly worked out what's going on within this horse. The horse seemed to mature from a wacky adolescent to a tuned in adult in one little lesson.

[suetye]

This makes me cry as he is needing you to help him more than any other horse I have seen

[AmyVanCourt]

Fascinating and so heartening. What a lucky horse that he landed with Antonia and she had the good sense and compassion to contact you. Had this horse been in the wrong hands, only suffering would follow. Instead he’s finding his own peace and presence with your help. I’m so inspired by this. There is hope, indeed.

[givemefaithfarm]

It's so beautiful to see the glorious intelligence of these animals. He looked so relieved that you understood him, it was just amazing to witness!

[AnneSun-cl]

I had a stallion, exactly like this, and I made sure that only I handled him, and trained him very similar to this, backing up, learning to relax, and I also did positive rewards and threw away the whip. The horse completely changed. He was deemed a difficult horse before I got him, but my training helped him feeling safe in his body. I also decided to board him at a smaller barn, as he would get overhwlmed around too many new horses and riders. Unfortunately he was handled very badly behind my back by people from the bigger stable when I had him there, and several times people would take him out behind my back, and it resulted in injury to those people, as he would attack, he would bite, kick and rear up. The reason is he could feel peoples emotions, like for example stress and he would respond to it, this is why he felt safe with me, as to me the bond with the horses is as important as leadership. And with me he had the bond, and felt safe too. When you work with a frustrated horse, the first thing to do is to limit the amount of people handling him, one person is enough to build trust and consistancy. I love the work he is doing with this horse. Amazing result.

[bitbybitfarmseast]

The horse is lovely, stable and arena are spectacular to humans. I appreciate the skill of the trainer. These high value horses are seldom allowed to enjoy what they love the most....running, socializing, moving freely, and grazing. Some, like this gorgeous animal, cannot deal with the constant containment, control and pressure. In addition to teaching this horse a better way to "be" in hand, letting some of these horses "be" horses in life, has yielded tremendous results with some.

[kathykellison]

The gratitude from that horse for your clarity to see him and thereby help him is beautiful

[Latarielle]

Does this horse have access to turnout? I don't mean this in a rude way but I wonder if a lot of this tension and energy would be resolved if he was turned out in a field with other horses.

[TheLex]

Tristan, you are a master at horse communication and understanding of how they work physically and emotionally. I’m already a member of TRT program but very new video shows me something new. I never tire of watching you work, horse after horse, challenge after challenge! The world needs thousands of Tristan Tuckers so many more horses can be guided and taught to take control of themselves. You’re a genius :-)

[mymahoganybay]

Really interesting to watch the way the horse calmed himself and was so relaxed at the end of the session. I would like to know more about how you felt his tension at the beginning and how to assess that myself.

[ADaisyBellProduction]

This is wonderful! A horse like this, in the past, would have been abused for his behaviour. I love seeing the TRT method in action. Every horse deserves this but some of them really need it. I look forward to the future episodes.

[MaineMichelle]

Wow, what a fantastic episode! My hat goes off to Antonia for working so hard to find what this horse needs. Not many people would do that. Her place is gorgeous on top of it all!