Jax

What a nice horse Jax has turned out to be! He’s made such a transformation since entering our horsemanship program about a month ago. It’s been extremely enjoyable working with this gelding, and teaching him a new and better way of being.

When we started working with Jax, there were two issues that came to light right away. First was anxiety…he seemed to think that “being worked” meant flying around the round pen at top speed. We introduced him to a new gait called the walk, and helped him understand that walking in a relaxed manner was a perfectly acceptable option from time to time. He was also massively stiff in his neck and body, like he’d never been asked to bend before. We started with gentle bending exercises, then started working on moving in small circles, then taught him to move his hindquarters over. This work was transformative to both his body and his general outlook on life. There are some who criticize the horsemanship we do because it seems to involve a lot of bending…but to see a horse who cannot bend, who can’t move away from pressure because his feet are stuck…frankly, it’s awful. There is a clear connection between freedom of movement and happiness. Jax is living proof of that.

Under saddle, Jax has been wonderful to work with. He’s such a patient, tolerant, unbothered horse. True, he has more whoa than go, but he literally never does anything naughty with a rider on his back. In our large outdoor covered arena, he can get a little distracted knowing that there are horses in every direction, but not to the extent that it becomes obnoxious. He’s got a lot of try, and he’s a pretty smart cookie too. He’s very teachable. He needs to continue to build his strength — right now his trot is pretty hard to sit — but his stamina has already improved a great deal. We’ll try to get him out on the trails real soon, but I have a feeling he’ll do great in the great outdoors.

On the ground, Jax wants to be a pocket pony, which is sweet, but not what we want from an animal his size. He came to us with some annoying habits, like rubbing his head on you, pushing you with his nose, getting into your space etc. but it has not taken much for him to understand that rudeness will not be tolerated, mainly by backing him up and making him stay outside his handler’s “bubble.” It’s pretty clear that he got away with such behavior in the past, so his adopter will need to be mindful of this and correct him quickly if he gets pushy. He knows better, and with consistent boundaries, it’s not going to be a problem.

All in all, this horse is pretty special, and will make a great friend and partner for someone. I may be biased, because I like Jax a lot, but I swear he gets better looking all the time. His dark bay coat shines now, and his head looks more sculpted than it did when he arrived. He’s got good confirmation, and a really good mind and disposition. If he didn’t have a lip tattoo you might not believe that he’s an off-the-track Thoroughbred. He’s made terrific progress during his time at SAFE and he has the potential to go a lot farther!

Jax is the younger of our two thoroughbred geldings, his lip tattoo revealing him as being originally christened ‘Sir Gallagher,’ born in 2008, which makes him 15 this year.

He arrived at SAFE with loose stool, which we helped clear up with a course of biosponge.

Jax is up to date on vet and farrier care. He has had a dental float, his sheath cleaned, and is up to date on his vaccines. He was also dewormed upon arrival, as he arrived with a positive worm load. He is gentle about being groomed and lifting his feet – he has been trimmed once since arriving at SAFE, with a 6 week trim schedule set going forward. He gets daily thrush treatments to help combat the thrush all the Graham horses arrived with.

We will assess Jax more thoroughly in our training program in the coming weeks, but we have high hopes that he might be able to be a riding horse, his age younger than we originally thought, and his body in good condition.

Jax is currently turned out with his Thoroughbred counterpart, Sparrow (their names together a happy ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ accident), and gets arena turnout with neighbor, Hopper.