05/30/2026
While this may seem like absolutely nothing to everyone…this sort of thing is absolutely MONUMENTAL as a mom/trainer. And this entire thing is going to be a very, very unpopular opinion w many people.
Kass being able to go in and get Daisy is something that only a HANDFUL of people can do when it isn’t turn in time.
Daisy came in at 4 (she’s now 18) as a SEVERE aggression case. Had I not been an “invincible 20 something year old” when I got her…she would 100% have been deemed a behavioral euthanasia due to her brazen attack mode and three other trainers/vets/pros even said so themselves. “I won’t touch that horse”. While her aggression was (and still is) spacial, food and fear aggression…she is still an INCREDIBLY intimidating horse for almost all those that know her. Daisy has come a LONG way, otherwise I would NEVER allow our own daughter to do anything w her on her own. It took many, MANY years to learn that there would be no “getting rid of” her aggression in some aspects of her life. She had (and continues to be) gone over w a fine tooth comb from scoping to supplements to medications to full body scans…you name it. She has cost me well over $20k in trial and error situations. Everything checks out w no real reason for her aggressive nature. But that isn’t who this mare TRULY is. She is scared because she was given reason to be. She expects to be respected because she never was. She wants to be reassured because she had been left on her own so often. She loves in very different ways and this is one of them…allowing Kass to go in alone w me NOWHERE near them to halter and bring her out of the paddock. While Joe and myself can get Daisy from her paddock if it isn’t obvious it’s time for turn in…very few others can or will. And there have been times I’ve had to do it myself due to a lack of confidence (justifiably) w those that are normally okay w handling her.
Now I know what you’re thinking…”why the hell would someone be SO stupid to keep a horse like that?” “How could a TRAINER allow her own small
CHILD in w her by herself?” “How irresponsible is this person to keep a “dangerous animal” at her facility?” Well…the fact is, when it counts…when it’s GENUINELY needed, Daisy is an unbelievable animal…plus 100% of her truly dangerous issues are long gone. She is intelligent; she knows that her stall is her stall but sometimes people will need to be in there to blanket, pick the stall, etc and she will be just fine. She is painfully intuitive; always in tune to what kind of energy and emotion a person holds, having a person read from 20 feet away, but she will be there EVERY time she’s truly needed. She is incredibly particular; this mare will truly only ever respect and appreciate a minuscule amount of people but will tolerate so many others. She is a teacher; after spending a year and a half going over her, working w her aggression, etc…we came to the conclusion she is going to let you know what’s what and when something goes too far and crosses her threshold.
Since helping Daisy for that year and change to get OFF the behavioral euthanasia list…and inadvertently winding up w a red headed, solid Appy mare heart horse…she has never ONE TIME kicked/struck/bitten a human. She has chest bumped, she has “punched” w her teeth ONE TIME but NEVER closed, torn, attempted a TRUE bite to cause physical harm, she has faux charged the fence line and air bitten when people walk past her stall. But she has NEVER, not ONE TIME, actually hurt someone. If she feels fearful energy, energy that is unsure of their next move, “you WILL listen to me” energy…you’ll get NOWHERE w this mare. But if you have confidence, calm/cool/collected energy and body language, you can read a horse’s energy/body language, you don’t demand respect w out giving it…you will never have an issue w her.
This mare is PERFECT, and my vets would attest to it, for vets to handle in EVERY aspect whatsoever. This mare is PERFECT, and our farrier will attest to it, for farriers to handle w zero issue. This mare has taught dead beginners to ride, toted around Kassi when she wasn’t even able to walk, helped people get over their fears over fences, allowed Kass to sit on her while she eats her dinner in her stall, allowed me to just exist in her space when I so badly needed her, contributed to SO many riders and their ability to feel and work w high, sensitive energy underneath them, she’s piloted me all the way to Prelim Eventing…literally walked through fire for me…led insane amounts of trail rides, helping the more unsure horses become more confident, given our daughter wings to fly over fences, worked cattle like she’d done it her entire life w me, been my protector and my secret keeper, etc and so forth…I could go on forever. This mare is one in a million and I wouldn’t change a thing about her. This was the first time I allowed Kass to go in and get Daisy alone. Because, while I cannot let Kass know since she’s just too young and may make mistakes, I KNEW she had worked w Daisy SO much in the last years, watched her, observed how to handle her, learned what is and isn’t okay, figured out how to be confident but respectful…so I knew she would be absolutely fine.
It isn’t just the SAFEST horses that teach us the most about working w these animals…sometimes it’s working w the “scary” ones SAFELY to truly understand how to respectfully exist in their space.
