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JOLE OF AMBELIA AND CONSTANZA.

JOLE OF AMBELIA “BEFORE TREATMENT”:
Before being completely RE-TEACH, the 8-year-old, intelligent, sweet, willing Oriental Sicilian Thoroughbred JOLE was:
ALWAYS ON “WHO IS THERE?”.
VERY SCARY IN GENERAL.
SADDLING WAS A LONG AND DIFFICULT OPERATION.
BRIDLING WAS A CHALLENGE.
MOUNTING ON ALONE WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.
MOUNTED REFUSED TO LEAVE THE PROPERTY WITHOUT OTHER HORSES.
ALONG THE TRAILS, SHE MUST ALWAYS HAVE A GUIDE HORSE IN FRONT OF HER.
SHE REFUSED TO STAY IN FRONT.
SHE WAS TERRIFIED OF CARS.
SHE WAS TERRIFIED OF BARKING DOGS.
SHE WAS TERRIFIED OF PLASTICS, SEWERS, WATER, AND SO ON.
SHE WAS RELUCTANT TO FACE EVERY BLIND CORNER ALONG TRAILS.
SHE OFTEN MADE SUDDEN DISCARDS AND/OR STOPS AND TURNS BACK “WITHOUT WHY”.

THE CURE:
JOLE was re-teach, first from the ground and then from the saddle, with the method of the “SIX KEYS OF HARMONY” of ED DABNEY.
BEFORE, in a few minutes, Franco Barbagallo taught her one of the different exercises of the method until getting from Jole an execution with a GRADE from 6 on 10.
THEN, its owner COSTANZA, suitably instructed on the METHOD, continued IN REDUCTION the teaching of the same exercise, up to bring the execution to a GRADE of at least 8 on 10.
The result (still partial because Jole will improve further) can be seen in this 7-minute TECHNICAL VIDEO (ONLY SUITABLE TO VIEWERS SERIOUSLY INTERESTED IN TRAINING TREK PRO HORSES).
In the video, Franco Barbagallo follows with a camera in hand a working session of “TEACHING AND INTERVAL TRAINING OF TROT and GALLOP in NATURE” run mainly in the woods, along the often narrow and winding paths of a training circuit on ETNA.
Note, at MINUTE 5 of the video, the galloping session is on a narrow and wooded path with continuous CHANGES OF DIRECTION and GALLOP.
A TREKKING HORSE PRO “MUST” be able to behave in Nature at trot and gallop as Jole does today.
The next step will be to make JOLE able to go equally well “OFF THE TRAILS”, in easy cross country. At that point, after teaching her some other things that are still missing (the most important of which is to “go right away ” into the trailer), Jole will be a FINISHED PRO TREKKING HORSE, like Zulù, the horse following in these shots.

Text and video by Franco Barbagallo.