Leaping in and out of pastures seems like maybe not the wisest party trick to teach your horse, but it does make for an interesting video.
The horse is Linda Parelli‘s 8-year-old Holsteiner gelding, Highland (registered as Lancome, by the jumping sire Limbus). He who looks to have come quite a long way since this May 2014 video of Linda coaxing along a younger, more timid Highland over fences:
Linda, who competed in dressage before marrying Pat Parelli of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, imported the horse from Germany after having seen a video of him on YouTube, with a few hiccups along the way.
Prior to her visit she’d been told that the horse had suffered an accident and might never be sound again. Linda decided to have a look anyway and, upon watching him go, suspected that his “unsoundness” might actually be rein lameness, a resistance that has manifested in an irregular way of going.
Linda took a chance on him anyway, hopeful that she could set him right using Parelli techniques. She recounted in a Parelli Savvy Club newsletter: “When he came to me he was extremely high strung, nervous and scared of training. Of course the Parelli approach has totally turned him around and he has become a wonderful partner who regularly wows the crowd with his soaring talent.”
Indeed, he looks quite sound and capable these days — including capable of jumping out of his pasture on command, apparently.
Is lunging over fences part of your training program? Why, or why not? Share in the comments section below.
Go Jumping.