Harley's History

In January 2010, I decided to try to locate Harley's previous owners to learn more about his life and training.  I had purchased him through a local trainer, and had no information on the owners.  I managed to find his former trainer who was in Georgia where he came from, who put me in contact with his last owner who also lives in Georgia.  She emailed me the story of Harley's life from about three years of age.

When he was 3 years old, Harley was bought by a teenage girl who took him to a jumper barn.  Sadly, it was one of those barns where ground work and flat work are unheard of.  At age 4, they began jumping him.  Or rather, forcing him to jump, with no regard for training, balance, conditioning, etc.  Rather than jump something that he wasn't able to jump, he would stop, and they would beat him.  For the next 2 years, he was mistreated and abused by so-called trainers, but being a fighter, Harley found a way to get even.  He became a "dirty stopper", stopping right before a jump and dropping his head, dumping his rider.  After several attempts to break him of this habit, without actually addressing the true problem of lack of training, etc., Harley was stuck in a pasture and neglected.  In 2007, his owner, unable to feed or sell him, and wanting to avoid animal neglect charges, gave him to a trainer at a local barn.

Harley arrived at the new barn in horrendous condition, skin and bones and barely able to walk.  His hooves crumbled in their hands and all of his joints were swollen and sore.  After months of rehab, weight gain and joint supplements, and frequent visits by the farrier, Harley pulled through and his re-training began.  The trainer gave Harley to one of her students, a 15 year old girl who set to work on his re-education. 


Harley loves kids!

When she began, Harley did not even know how to walk on the rail.  A year later, he was excelling as a Children's Hunter, jumping up to 2'6" for a high school equestrian team. He also loved the attention of the kids at the barn, and even allowed them to turn him into a "Painted Pony!"

In the summer of 2008, a dressage trainer from California who had been doing clinics at the Georgia barn had noticed Harley's progress and ability and offered to sell him in California, as his owner wanted to jump higher than he was able, and was considering selling him.  Unfortunately for Harley, history was about to repeat itself.

The dressage trainer doubled the asking price for Harley from what he had told the owner.  Unable to sell Harley as a hunter at such a high price, he tried to turn him into a dressage horse in 3 months.  Having already been through "bully training" at the jumper barn, Harley rebelled against the cruel and painful tactics used by this new trainer.  Angry at not being able to cheat some innocent person by selling Harley at a ridiculously high price, the trainer stopped feeding him.  Fortunately, a few kind people at the barn snuck food to him, until Harley was moved to another trainer's barn about an hour away.  The new trainer fed him properly and calmed him down a bit, and then put him up for sale....at a reasonable price.

Having decided to get another horse after 30 years of not having one,  I went to DreamHorse.com a day after Harley's ad had been posted.  I went to see him a week later, had him vet checked a week after that, and he became mine 2 weeks later.