Jim was bought for our daughter. Jim had been schooled and was well behaved. As a 3-year old Jim had a good temperament and was a character full chap!

The ensuing months of getting to know Jim and for him to get to know us were interesting.  After many jaunts within the fields and arena of the livery yard, we had trips out hacking on the country roads and attended numerous shows within the Yorkshire Dales. Jim shaped up well and won many in-hand and ridden classes. However one day whilst training in the arena we noticed that he wasn’t moving as well as he should be, we called in the vet and then a physiotherapist, both of whom were unable to find anything wrong with Jim.

The vet was unsure about Jim and referred him to a specialist vet in York.  The diagnosis by the vet was cautious and requested that we have Jim X-rayed.  We did this and the vet suggested that he had a problem in his leg/hoof area but in order to give a more thorough diagnosis, he wanted Jim to have an MRI scan which would give a more detailed picture.  The results showed inflammation of the deep flexor tendon and 6 months of box-rest followed.

Adding another 3 months of box-rest and limiting Jim to only ½hr of grazing a day, the box rest had taken its toll on Jim’s temperament and he had to be led out wearing a chiffney bit as he was getting dangerous to handle, rearing and bucking on the spot.

It was at this point we called for the cavalry in the shape of Stefan and Anke who kindly accepted our request to have a look at Jim. At Stefan’s first visit Jim bucked and reared on the ground but it wasn’t long before Jim became more respectful and ‘quiet’. Our family were flabbergasted that this uncontrollable bronco was behaving like a lamb. We were pleased that there had been no shouting or hard handling on Stefan’s part, the calm assertiveness was very impressive. This natural way of horsemanship was excellent and we decided to continue to work with Jim in this way for the future.

We have worked with Stefan and Anke for over three months and now find ourselves very confident in handling Jim.  More importantly, Jim is very happy and content to be in our company and we have back the horse we had before his lameness! Within this training we have also had the benefit of Anke applying Bowen Therapy to Jim which proved to be extremely beneficial for his recovery and wellbeing; relieving the tension and physical stress Jim endured during his box rest period. 

It only remains to say how grateful our family is to Stefan and Anke for their concerted effort in their training and therapy methods and look forward to the future with confidence.

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