Medjine Valbrun Capstone

For my capstone I decided to work with a young and inexperienced thoroughbred horse named Rakia who is one of the horses owned by Northwestern Stables. Rakia is a four year old gelding who previously wasn’t being worked with frequently which resulted in a lack of exercise. A lack of exercise and activeness in horses has the potential to lead to health complications and behavioral issues, so my goal was to provide a higher quality of life for him. I chose to do this for my capstone because of my passion for horses as well as my many years of experience as an equestrian, so this was an exciting opportunity to do something I love while making a positive impact on my community!

The process involved many training sessions where I had Rakia practice exercises to improve his ground manners and behavior. My goal was to have him become more tuned into his body and the space he takes up, as well as getting him to have more respect for my space as his handler. The final event of my capstone involved my participation with Rakia in Northwestern Stables’ annual spring horse show on May 17th. We competed in the Grooming and Showmanship class where the significant improvements to Rakia’s movement, attentiveness, and condition as a whole were demonstrated at the walk and trot. In the end, our efforts won the two us won a fourth place ribbon in the class! Overall, my capstone really helped me understand how important consistency is to progression, and how even small victories can prove to be very rewarding.