DaryaOvechkina

Eleven years old. According to previous owners, he had been saved from slaughter and then sold on. He shut down when mounted and threw his riders. On the lunge in open space he ran off, so he could only be worked in a round pen. He was slightly toed out in front, with low pasterns.

I restarted him from scratch. In the round pen I worked him loose, by voice — he was comfortable that way and began to connect with a person. I rode him without a noseband and kept every method as soft as possible. Corrective shoeing helped his low pasterns and toed-out front feet. Then I taught him all the lateral work, fitting the work to his build.

He came to trust people. Then I put his amateur owner in the saddle, and she rode him and began preparing for competitions. He was later sold for the owner's personal reasons.

Bought for competition, he arrived thin. His back showed a dipped back and close-set vertebrae. Injuries from previous owners had left nerve damage in the head and neck: half of his facial muscles did not work and he could not move an ear. His feet and shoes were very small for a horse his size, which caused discomfort through his neck, thoracic spine and loins.

The vet carried out physiotherapy and other procedures. I worked alongside the vet: I tracked his progress and reported what I saw, and the vet built the treatment plan on that. His back was taped to lift and build it. I kept him on a controlled diet, rode him two or three times a week and worked him in hand on the other days to engage his back. The farrier corrected his shoeing and foot balance.

He does all the lateral movements of Prix St. Georges and Intermediate I, single flying changes, passage and piaffe. In hand he lies down, bows, does Spanish walk and passage. Riders now prepare for competitions on him.

He came to me at nine, green, from a riding school where he had been a lesson horse.

Within six months he was working on all the Prix St. Georges movements, with the beginnings of passage, and jumping 1.10 m. In the 2020 footage I am working him towards passage and piaffe.

He was small, and the work was physically hard for him, so I sold him to a strong young rider, who competed him in show jumping.

Bought at two and a half. Large and big-boned.

I started her under saddle and did not push her: the training followed her growth and development. The videos show her in the first months after starting (2024) and in July 2026.

At five she knows all the basics. She loves jumping and is now moving on to show jumping.

I took him on in thin, poor condition.

I moved him to another yard; the second photo was taken one month later. Under saddle he worked on all the movements of the young-rider tests and some of the Prix St. Georges movements, was being prepared for passage, and jumped up to 1 m.

Once he had recovered, I sold him to a good home.

He raced on the track until he was six. His private owner could not manage him. Green under saddle and crooked, he rushed about and did not know transitions — he had only been taught to go forward. His ligaments and tendons were weak.

Six months of steady, planned work. I bandaged his front legs to support the ligaments and joints, taught him to canter under saddle, which was very hard for him, and fitted the work to a trotter's build.

He works calmly in hand, on the lunge and under saddle, with clear transitions. He lifts through his shoulders, does lateral work and carries himself. His owner rides him without fear and enjoys it.

Bought privately as a schoolmaster for his owner to compete in young-rider tests. He arrived in very poor condition, body and hooves. He was afraid of any movement a person made and difficult to bridle; under saddle he spooked at people, other horses and fences. Closed off and tense.

I sorted out his feeding and his hooves; the vet did his teeth. Calming supplements came first. Under saddle I focused on relaxation and building his back, and on stopping him from curling behind the bit instead of working through his back.

He is relaxed with a rider, no longer afraid, and trusts people. He is more supple and hides behind the bit less. His owner rides the movements and the whole young-rider test on him. Extensions are his strength; lateral work came harder.