Horses are an expensive addiction. For that reason, equestrians both novice and seasoned will spend hours researching breeds, trainers, and disciplines for their best match. Yet after shelling a fortune for a specialty-bred performance horse, it’s a gamble. Riders can find after stoic hours in the saddle the relationship only spirals down, and the dream of enjoying just a trail ride or the winner’s circle never materializes. Should you give up on that four-legged heartache and cut your losses?
I had the privilege to talk to Guy McLean, renowned Australian-born Horseman and International Equine Entertainer, to shed light on this question. Although the answer may not be what the equestrian wants to accept, it may just be the essence of every good team—it’s as simple as listening to your horse.
The instant I met Guy McLean I knew he was a horse whisperer, perhaps because he listens. Guy told me, “Throughout a lifetime, I have noticed that although there are many differences between Man and Horse, there is one main area in which we are the same… and that is that we are all individuals. Each and every one of us is born with a gift that only we can demonstrate to its fullest, and it is important to focus our energies on what we are good at to find results that are truly successful.”
Guy’s words resonated in two unexpected 2017 4-H State Champion teams—the journeys of J.J. Martin and Jess Sudlop—who are proof of what can happen when a horseman listens to their horse.
It was time to move on from the small horse that carried J.J. Martin through her childhood. Time for a beautiful prospect bred by Peg and Terry Helder, owners of Evergreen Farm in Wrightsville, PA, sired by After the Bell. After rearranging funds, EF Southern Bell became my daughter J.J.’s reining hopeful.
I remember the weekend. The tipping point. J.J. in tears, EF Southern Bell (nicknamed Bell) clearly not working to her potential. J.J. had waited three years for this horse to blossom… not to mention the years of grooming to buy a horse of such caliber. But each reining pattern added to the team’s growing anxiety of missed lead changes, unbalanced circles, and lagging spins.
As the parent of a daughter who was two years away from college, I had one piece of advice—make it work, because there was no time or money to start another horse.
It was natural horseman, clinician, and judge, Terry Helder, whose determination and natural intuition kept J.J. in the saddle. He was listening to the horse and led them in a new direction—Ranch Riding.
At the same time, on another farm not far across Pennsylvania was Mary Sudhop and her daughter Jessica, who had hopefully purchased an English champion, headed for an exquisite career.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Jess started competing western pleasure and immediately took to this discipline. Over the next few years she acquired ribbons at the local and 4-H shows. But as children grow, the time comes for a new mount. They contacted Ray Carmean of Carmean Quarter Horses in Orangeville. The last horse he showed them was a 2-year-old with only a few weeks of training. Too Hot and Sleepy was bred by Leanne and Pierce Schneider. The horse (nicknamed Daphne) was sired by Too Sleepy to Zip and bred for western pleasure. Daphne was a sorrel mare with a unique blaze, and had an awesome mindset, according to Mary. Ray suggested with training that she was the horse Jess needed to compete in western pleasure at the next level. That’s what they wanted.
That evening Mary juggled her figures and in the morning, made an offer. But it didn’t take Ray’s intuition long after seeing the pair lapping past all the other horses that western was not Daphne’s talent. Mr. Carmean strongly encouraged that the horse had great legs and was more suited to hunt seat, and Jess needed to concentrate on riding that discipline.
Mary said Jess was upset at first. She hadn’t really ridden English since she’d first started riding and found herself completely lost. According to her mother, she “stumbled with it for a while but kept telling me that she could do it,” and rejected selling Daphne.
Her own determination, just like J.J., kept them from letting go.
Slowly Jess finessed English. Daphne and Jess grew closer and finally clicked. Jess started to make the cut and placed in the top 10 at the AQHA Hunter Under Saddle. The rest of 2016, Jess and Daphne improved with each ride and began placing in the top 3 under all the judges. At 4-H Roundup Jess qualified in Showmanship, Equitation, and Hunter Under Saddle. At the 4-H District level she conquered Hunter Under Saddle, and at State’s she received 3rd place.
In 2017, thanks to Ray’s words, Jess fulfilled her wish to compete at Congress and 4-H would prove a huge accomplishment. Mary said neither of them imagined that it would happen in two short years.
J.J. Martin and Bell conquered Working Western Horse and Pony at the 2016 4-H State Championships. Never imagining it would happen again, in October 2017 at 4-H States they were Grand Champion again, besting almost thirty horses. That’s where we met Mary, as we celebrated at our trailer next to her and Jess.
The following morning, Jess and Daphne won Hunter Under Saddle, and were also awarded Grand Champion out of 33 horses. Mary said Jessica burst into tears. “I am proud of my daughter and the hurdles that she has overcome.”
Best explained by Guy, he says “I have two wonderful performance horses that were being tried for specific disciplines and just weren’t making the grade because of their extreme high levels of energy and almost eccentric minds (which intrigued me at once). When I first worked with them, I presented actions to them that explained, ‘No matter what has happened in your past, I promise to never blame you for that and instead, we will go forward from today and find out where you are truly gifted and allow you to shine in the spotlight you were born to dance in.’ In doing this, they went from ‘Failures’ to ‘Superstar Performers’ for no other reason than that I listened to their wants and needs and allowed them to show me where they most belonged.”
Guy’s advice for both horse and human: “The truest gift in someone’s life, is to be able to find something they are intrinsically good at to focus their energies on, just like they say, ‘Do something that you love for work and you will never work a day in your life.’ I have found that the same thing goes for our beloved horses.”