May, 2009:
Triumph went to foster care with True Love and Sangria a few weeks ago, because the stable in Arlington will be the site of gas wells; so we’re moving horses off the property. He’s proving to be a handful with his new caregivers and has already jumped out of a paddock clearing a 5.5 foot high fence.
We bet that the people who have Beau in training for hunter jumper wished that they were having as much luck as we are with our wayward colt, Triumph.
True Love had broken out of the paddock in order to get to some really green grass on the other side of the fence, and Triumph felt left behind. Being an enormous horse, he simply went up and over the fence without a running start. His caregivers weren’t phased at all; but it did take over an hour to catch both horses. They started praying the minute that Triumph went over the fence and continued for the entire time that it took to catch both horses.
Triumph jumped a high fence at the farm in Arlington a few weeks ago bringing down a couple of boards, so he’s showing an interest in jumping. On that occasion, True Love followed him (or perhaps True is the one who brought down the boards after Triumph left the pasture). But both horses simply went to the entry gate and stood waiting for someone to arrive to feed them that morning. The other end of the property was open to the street, but neither horse attempted to flee.
September, 2008:
Triumph is a young Canadian horse who came to us with True Love 5 months ago and has been in the city with us at the Martin Horse farm for 4 months. He’s a yearling colt who’s had no training and is dominant and fearful; so he’s a handful.
Of all of our horses, Triumph is the one who’s most likely to injure someone, because he has no respect for humans and our personal space. He had no prior training, so he becomes fearful when haltered and tends to bolt. Without a round pen, it becomes a risky proposition trying to do any training work with him.
Triumph is very confident and friendly to the point of being pushy; but he’s fearful of new situations and tends to turn his butt to you in a stall in fear or bolt when in the field.
June, 2008:
The Canadian colts, True Love (sorrel) and Triumph (brown) are horses that we found on another rescue website and were able to bring in for training and evaluation.
They’re both wild and unruly, so we’ve got our hands full with this pair. They’ve been together since birth and are inseparable, so training has been a real challenge.
When one goes in the stall while the other one is trained, it normally results in a temper tantrum in the stall and a bucking, rearing horse at the end of a lead line. We’ve never seen so much bucking, kicking and rearing in our lives.
Just getting a halter on one of them is challenging enough, because they like to turn away and put their butts in our direction when we come near them with a halter.
Last week, we had a breakthrough. We’d been haltering True Love for two weeks, because he’s easier to catch, but Triumph decided that he wanted to be trained. Triumph is a dominant horse that was too dangerous to catch, so we had to wait until he came to us.
Now Triumph will walk with us at liberty and is learning the Parelli games. He’ll walk to the water station with us and let us rinse out his nostrils, groom him and do TTouches on him. And he’s let us halter him outside of the stall once.
Both horses let us trim their manes last week, and Triumph lowered his head, so we could cut a bridle path.
We have confidence that these two horses will do well in ground training this year with us, and we plan to send them to the trainer’s next year when they’re old enough to ride.
April, 2008:
Triumph and True Love are Canadian Purebred colts that we discovered on another rescue site and decided to bring in as driving horses.
We’re in the process of beginning a community outreach program and are organizing a program for children with cancer.
We intend to start out with miniature horses in the program and add driving and riding horses at some point in the future.
These two colts both have wonderful dispositions but need lots of training. They’ve had the best life possible so far and have received tender loving care from their foster care giver in Oregon.
We’ll put them in ground training for a year or more before sending them to the trainer’s.
White Bridle Society
P. O. Box 177643 Irving, TX 75017-7643 972.740.0900
Triumph's Story
April, 2011:
Triumph has been in foster care with Jose and True Love for nearly two years. He developed a sway back as a young colt which has now gotten much worse. He will always be a companion horse, and we plan to keep him for our equine assisted therapy program with large horses.
Triumph is a bit of an imp and needs additional ground training, but he has a wonderful personality, and he and True Love are inseparable.
If Triumph hadn’t developed a sway back, he would have become a great driving horse. He’s enormous and gorgeous, he simply has a weak back.