Understanding the finer things

Neville has always been a fan of the Percheron breed.  They are renowned for their docile temperament and good work ethic.  Once used as cavalry horses in France, Percherons are alert, agile, willing to work for you and highly receptive to training.

Neville was lucky enough to find Milly, his 6 year old mare in an advertisement on Gumtree.  He had to travel a long way to see her so he took his trailer, just in case.  It was just as well he did because the two bonded with each other at first sight.

“I claimed Milly, and she claimed me.”  –  Neville

“That was it, no questions asked and so I loaded her into the float and we set off for home,” Neville recalls. Neville loves to compete on horseback and Milly, being a very competitive breed of horse was the perfect match for him.

Working Equitation, a 4 phrase equestrian discipline created to develop the partnership between horse and rider was Neville’s sport of choice.  It involves the principles of dressage, obstacles, speed and cattle work. It’s a fairly new competitive horse sport first introduced to Australia in 2007.

Although Neville is a self-taught rider from his youth, a few incidents in recent times had shaken his confidence.  A serious fall from a horse not really suited to his needs combined with a heart attack and the realisation that he wasn’t getting any younger all confirmed Neville’s suspicions; he was going to require some help with his horsemanship.

Just Equus was recommended to Neville by a riding friend who had been taking lessons with Pete.  Signing up, Neville was initially impressed with Pete’s easy-going style of communication.  But underneath that casual exterior he sensed, was a man with a wide-ranging depth of knowledge and experience with horses. Neville now calls Pete a friend and an ally in the training field.

“My ability to get the best from my horse was lacking.”  –  Neville

When Neville first began to ride Milly, he found her to be not responsive to his aids.   “She was very reluctant to canter.  At first, I thought she was just a bit fat and lazy, but she was only six!  I knew I was lacking in something too.  The ability to get the best from Milly was beyond my skill set.”

“Pete has the ability to read your horse really well,” Neville says.  “He only had to observe us together to know that Milly was looking to me for leadership.  She has the will to please and to learn.  All I had to do was give clear signals and she would follow my lead.”

“To finely hone your skills, you need to understand feel and timing.” – Pete

“Neville had good basic skills but to elevate your communication with the horse it’s important to know at all times where his feet are”, says Pete.  “Feel and timing are the factors that co-ordinate horse and rider.  Ultimately, riding is like dancing; moving together with grace and co-ordination.  It’s finding the softness in your horse.”

“Do less, get more…”  –  Pete

“Softness makes everything fluid; you can do less and get more from your horse when you anticipate his next move by knowing where he is placing his feet.”  Riding four days a week and weekly lessons with Pete have given Neville new confidence in his riding abilities and forged a strong bond of communication with Milly.

In a recent state championship in Toowoomba, Neville and Milly were placed second in their class, a far cry from the year before when they came last.  Milly is not Neville’s only horse, she lives on his acreage with another younger Percheron and an Arab riding pony, reserved for rides with the grandkids.  They all get along famously and it’s a happy little of mob of horses, cared for by Neville and underpinned by his new understanding of horses.

Journalist: Janette Jenyns

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