DELHI _ Quincey stood rigidly in the pipe corral, ears up and obviously not wanting anything to do with the three-foot ball that Kenny Harlow took into the ring.
Harlow told rider Nancy Stoop, of Delancey, the next exercise to overcome Quincey's tendency to spook would be for the horse to roll the ball to him.
That's how Harlow, a horse whisperer, was helping Stoop and Quincey put fear and a bad experience into the past and to move forward with confidence. They worked more than an hour Sunday afternoon at Black Willow Morgans Training Facility in Delhi.
Quincey was one of several horses with a problem that met Harlow this weekend for a program he calls "Training with Trust."
Harlow, of Cumberland, Va., works with untrainable, abused horses no one thought had a chance, and with the rider, tries to open communication and set a workable foundation.
Several riders Sunday praised Harlow's ability to calm horses in a gentle manner but be firm when a horse misbehaves.
``He's always kind to the animal,'' said Gail Allenson, who
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trailered her horse from West Paris, Maine, for the clinic. ``He's good with horses, he's good with people _ he's awesome.''
Harlow has been featured in many television programs and magazines, such as "Hard Copy" and NBC ``Weekend Today'' show, and is on the cover of the Tri-State Horse magazine, according to a media release.
At the Black Willow Morgans facility, he gave a demonstration Friday night and symposiums working with riders and their horses individually Saturday and Sunday. Harlow said he will meet with riders this morning and from goals they identify, plan lessons for the three-day clinic.
The clinics will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and spectators are welcome to watch at an all-day $15 fee, which can be discounted for students and 4-H members, organizers said. For more information, visit KennysComing.com or call Jeff Wilson at 746-3979.
Wilson said the three-day clinic, which costs $750, will have 10 people taking a group lesson. About 80 people attended the Friday demonstration, he said, and about 15 riders participated in the weekend sessions.
Harlow has given clinics annually for nine years, Wilson said, and his ``universal communication'' approach may be used with hunt seat, dressage, pleasure, western and other styles of riding. Black Willow Morgans is a training, breeding and boarding facility on state Route 28.
About 30 people watched Harlow work with Stoop and her horse.
Stoop said she had been riding Quincey on a trail about two weeks ago when a dog chased them, trying to bite the horse's flanks. She soon dismounted, she said, but after that incident, Quincey was spooked by many things that hadn't bothered him previously.
On Sunday afternoon, Harlow worked with Quincey on the ground, making him walk around in circles to respond to directions, grow supple and give in to the bit. Quincey, a 4-year-old paint quarter horse, was initially spooked by loud sounds from a speaker and the flash from a camera, but after the exercise, he calmly made circles around Harlow.
``It's much safer to fix a horse from the ground, then get up and see how good a job you did,'' he said.
Then Harlow introduced the oversized ball, with instructions to Stoop to ride at a trot past the ball 20 times. The exercise ended when Quincey bumped the ball over to Harlow.
The horse whisperer in summary told Stoop that she had allowed Quincey to take advantage of her by spooking at anything he chose. But through exercises demonstrated Sunday, he said, the horse and rider can practice, then go on to pleasure-riding with confidence.
``We came a long ways,'' Harlow said after the session. ``There's no such thing as a quick fix.''
Harlow said he approaches lessons as if a first-grade teacher who encourages students to think about the assignment and if they get it wrong, to figure out how to do it correctly. The rider has to be clear about her instructions to the horse, he said.
Each horse has a different attitude and a different way of learning, Harlow said, which makes each situation challenging.
``There's nothing more satisfying than this job,'' Harlow said.
After class, Stoop said she would be doing warm-up exercises to focus Quincey before taking him out for a trail ride. The session Sunday went well, she said.
``It will help me to be more firm and confident with Quinny,'' she said, using her term of endearment for the horse.
Allenson said she wondered before the weekend if she would have to give up her mare, Shanay, an 8-year-old paint she rescued two years ago through a humane society. The problem was that the mare had bucked her off, then soon after bucked off the farrier who tried riding her.
However, after working with Harlow on Sunday, she said, she recognized that the horse wasn't sufficiently broken-in. Allenson said she expects the clinic with the horse whisperer today through Wednesday to provide Shanay with more of the basic training she needs.
Allenson, almost speechless trying to hold back tears when speaking about the prospect of riding Shanay, said ``I'm keeping her forever.''
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