The Art of Working with an Excitable Horse: The Experience of Laura Graves

Laura Graves and Verdades/photo: noellefloyd.com

Sport is a mentality. Your mind controls every movement and reaction.

Riders prepare themselves for competition through work with sports psychologists, visualization and meditation to help them relax, but what about horses? Internationally prized horses look cold-blooded from the outside, but some of them are surprisingly sensitive and excitable – including the 17-year-old gelding of the Dutch half-breed. Truths (from Florett As) riding an American Laura Graves.

The incredible bay gelding, who looks completely unflappable at the start, is also a nervous type. Laura he devotes most of his training time to taming the difficult nature of the gelding.

“I think it all depends on the nature and personality of your horse. There are those who can do it all, they are machines (in a sense), Verdades is like them, but sometimes he tries too hard, and my goal is to help him, ”says Laura.

Laura Graves and Verdades/photo: noellefloyd.com

Graves admits that taming the character of her fighting partner is a challenge. Sometimes she tries to “deceive” him – she uses an ordinary snaffle instead of a mouthpiece, does not weave pigtails, but deceiving a deceiver is not an easy process …

“He is a very, very smart horse. she says with a warm smile. – I’m just trying to be a little smarter than him in the sense that I show my relaxation, thereby showing him what I want to get in return. I often talk to him, but in such a way that the judges do not hear me.

Back in school days Laura mastered the art of conversation, but in such a way that no one noticed her. If you look closely, you can see that her lips are moving completely imperceptibly – this helps her to talk to her. Truths.

“Maybe I should become a ventriloquist so I can speak without opening my mouth. I think that our conversations really help him,” shares Laura Graves.

Driving a particularly excitable horse is a separate art, which, like no one else, has known Laura. The girl shushes every passing Diddy stall every time – she knows how important it is for him to just sleep: “Everyone understands that athletes need to rest, but horses need to get quality rest, especially when we participate in competitions outside our stable . Diddy is very sensitive to every horse passing by the stall, especially if it is a horse unfamiliar to him. My job is to help him get what he needs.”