Top of His Game
by Gabriel Denison

This article first appeared the the Central Oregon Horse Journal.

The big, black gelding stood with his head hanging in the tiny barb-wire enclosure.
"He's really a good horse," the blonde woman said as she leaned on the gate. " He's worth a lot of money. My fiancée's been trying to train him, but I think he's using methods that are too rough."

John Von Haas instinctively knew there was more to the horse's story. He walked up to the 17-hand gelding and ran his hands over the big body. It was his first encounter with Tomorrow's Top Bar, a AQHA bred Appendix Paint gelding.
"He likes you," the blonde remarked.

This was not unusual for John to hear, as he has worked in the horse field for years. "If they didn't like me," he grinned, I wouldn't get very far." John has worked as a vet tech, a ranch manager, and assistant trainers, in addition to running his own computer consulting company during the 1990's. He now specializes in equine trauma rehabilitation, a response to his growing concern over back yard trainers and ruined horses.

"There are a lot of good horses out there that just need some mental coping skills," John likes to explain. "You have to understand the way their mind works. If you can understand that, you can start putting the picture back together again." John works with horses that have experienced severe setbacks because of accidents, mishandling and/or misunderstanding. He co-manages Martingale Equine Services in Bend, Oregon that offers riding lessons, a marketing service, and trauma rehab.
"That's why Topper was referred to us," said John. "He'd been mishandled, and was classified as a problem horse. He's 17 hands, and a traumatized horse of that size is a danger to people and to himself."

As John talked to the woman, the inconsistencies of Topper's life began to emerge.

" He's so big and sweet," the lady mused. "I taught him how to drink from a bottle with the baby goats. He lay down and go to sleep with his head in my lap."
But life would not remain so dreamy for Topper - the woman became engaged to a man with very different ideas concerning horses. Topper, big, black and bold, became a perfect target for a Man vrs. Beast competition.

Topper originally learned to accept bit and bridle, set his head with a martingale, flex the poll, take his leads with verbal cues, and all the things constituting the phrase "well-started under saddle." Now, after almost two years of play and pampering, he faced a man who tied his head between his front legs, whipped him, bucked him out, and tried to show him who was boss. The breaking techniques did not work on Topper. They made him unstable.

"He would bite you will saddling, kick at anything behind him, and by the time you mounted, he was locked up and ready for a fight," John recalled. "Locked up" is a term indicating a refusal to respond to any cue.

" He'd bite, he'd buck, and if all else failed, he'd bolt and run," said John.
According to John, Topper's psychological problems stemmed from a condition called "over-imprinting," where a horse loses his sense of boundary and respect for humans, followed by abusive handling. He lost all respect for people, and became defensive.

"His actions showed me he was trying to protect himself, but he'd rather run away," John said. "So I started by refusing to fight with him."
"At first, we'd just walk around, always by his choice. I just sat on top of him. Slowly he began to relax, and see me as a partner, not a menace."
John began to take Topper out in Bend's urban areas, to lower his startle response. He worked him on the lunge line, ground drove him, and started him over the cavalletti, a beginning practice for hunt/ jump training. Topper began to focus, to think and to enjoy his work. Everything was progressing well, until John, who is a predominately English rider, brought out a Western saddle. All Toppers' bad behavior returned.

"I realized he saw that saddle as an instrument of torture," John said. " I've had to reintroduce the saddle slowly, building on everything I've gained with him. I did not let the saddle trigger a major setback - and believe me, it could have been!"

Today, after almost a year of rehabilitation, Topper is ready to begin his show career in 2003. He still has his charisma intact, his intelligence, and his spirit. John Von Haas thinks all these will help him in show ring performance.
"He's a very dominant, intelligent horse," John says. "I've found he needs a job to do, and he needs a bond of mutual respect with his rider, not forced submission."

"Right now, he's ready for anything. He's got a second chance in life. This horse is so athletic, and has so much heart, there's no telling where he could go. It's been very rewarding to turn him from a dangerous animal into a gentlemen."

John Von Haas may be contacted at Martingale Equine Services: 541-350-9175.