JITTERBUG | 13 YEAR OLD PERCHERON THOROUGHBRED CROSS | GEORGETOWN, KY

Jitterbug is a 13 year old Percheron Thoroughbred Cross. Very little is known about Jitterbug’s pedigree because she was the product of a backyard breeder and ended up in a neglect situation at the age of three.

Jitterbug is quite the special girl, rightfully so after her rough start in life. Her rough start helped develop her unique personality that is spotlighted in her own personal blog (that she writes) over at The Chronicle of the Horse.  Luckily he has a pretty talented owner, Natalie, that can help her type his blogs because hooves and a keyboard don’t exactly mix.

Now back to Jitterbug’s story. From what Natalie was told, his breeder was an elderly man who wasn’t able to keep up with his farm anymore. All of the horses were in a big field together when they were found. A local horsewoman rescued Jitter and one other filly from the farm. The other filly died of EEE because they hasn’t been vaccinated, however Jitterbug survived. A few month later, his rescuer went back to the farm to try to buy more of the horses but they were all gone. Unfortunately the family indicated that they had been shipped to Canada, and they most likely ended up in the slaughter pipeline. Natalie shares that she frequently reminds Jitter, especially during dressage tests, that she is in fact quite lucky, and could act a little grateful…apparently Jitter finds this suggestions absurd.

Jitterbug lives at Graystone Stables, where the pair trains with Stephanie Calendrillo. “Jitter thinks of herself as very special. I think her most unique talent is ‘her’ human management columns on the Chronicle of the Horse. Although I obviously write the column, the character is very much based on Jitter’s personality. Jitter is afraid of nearly nothing, has a high opinion of herself, and has always been wise beyond her experience. Stephanie (her trainer) says she’s the smartest horse she has ever encountered…and that’s saying something.”

Jitter’s writing career was first started when Natalie joked around with family early in the training process that Jitterbug was actually training her. Natalie started writing parody columns about the human training process as Jitter and it really took off. You can see some of their blogs here.

Jitterbug and Natalie did lover level eventing for the past several years, but are currently taking a break from showing. Jitterbug isn’t an easy ride and makes Natalie work for everything. She is super athletic, and has learned to be incredibly patient. Natalie shares that she loves that about her, because she doesn’t have to worry about her confidence. If they go for a hack on the trail or encounter a new jump she handles it like she has seen it before. She is the kind of horse that Natalie can put anyone on and know that she will take care of them, including children and non-horsey husbands.

Natalie purchased Jitter from a friend. After being rescued from a neglect situation by a trainer in Michigan, and passing through a few students there, Jitter ended up with one of Natalie’s friends. Natalie’s friend knew that Natalie was looking for a project horse so she suggested that Natalie help her start a 5 year old, unbroken draft cross with an attitude problem. She showed Natalie a picture of Jitter free jumping and that was all Natalie needed to agree. “The first time I met Jitter, she’d had very little ground work and could not be caught, even with cookies. She hid behind or pushed the rest of her pasturemates around the field they were in to avoid actually making contact with us.”

This “irreverent” horse loves Candy Corn, but this favorite treat is closely followed by Guinness.

One of their biggest accomplishments is finishing second in their region in 2016, in the Started Horse Trial Division of the Mid-South Eventing/Dressage Association.

“I started riding hunters at age seven and was a Sunday lesson taker all my life. I had a few carrot leases on horses before, but Jitter is the first horse I’ve owned. I bought her in college when the friend who owned her was planning to move back to MI and take her horses with her. I couldn’t really afford her, but by then we’d been working together for 1.5 years; I’d been the first one ever to sit on her back, take her for a trail ride, go for a trot/canter…everything. I couldn’t let her go, so I cashed out my savings account. In return, she has taken me to my first combined test, horse trial, cross country school, jumper show, and over the biggest jump I’ve ever taken. She has taught me more about riding and more about myself than I ever thought possible. Our relationship has had its ups and downs but she’s an incredible partner”

Natalie shares a couple of her favorite stories of their journey together.

“I think a true demonstration of Jitter’s ‘I do what I want’ spirit is the time she jumped a truck. In her younger and wilder days, she had a habit of getting loose on the farm, especially on her way to come in from the field. When she would do this, she’d make a great game out of being caught. The longer she could evade someone, the sassier she got. My trainer, Stephanie, was bringing her in one day when Jitter got loose and started galloping through the yard. Stephanie turned the corner in time to see Jitter loitering around her truck and trailer and thought ‘Great, she’ll stop now, and I can catch her.’ Jitter saw her, made eye contact, looked at the truck and trailer, and set off trotting. She leaped over the truck bed (of a Silverado, so a pretty big truck), landed, shook herself off, and trotted down the hill and into her stall, where she knew her breakfast was waiting. Stephanie had of course thought she was about to watch the destruction of both horse and truck. I think Jitter is a horse with very little fear of anyone or anything, who insists that things be done her way…so for her, it was less offensive to jump the truck than it was to be caught, and she went into it with no doubt she would make it. I’d known before I met Jitter that she had a very pretty jump, having seen photos of her free-jumping, but I think Stephanie had always doubted a little that the stubborn, still half-wild mare was necessarily talented…until that moment, of course. Now, Steph reminds me of this anytime I get worried about a jump’s height or spread.”

“More recently, my favorite memory was of our last combined test from earlier this year. I get so nervous at shows, and CTs and events really overwhelmed me. I started them honestly because I knew the cross-training would be so good for me and for Jitter, and I thought we’d both have fun. Several years in, she was having fun but I was still very tense about them. A long time ago, when she was still very green, I set the absurd goal of wanting to run a novice trial with her, because I had this idea of what a ‘novice horse’ would be like – polished and strong and happy to go to work at a time when she was none of those things. We started this year in a starter CT, taking a step back from beginner novice, where we’d competed last year. I was a nervous wreck and kept thinking, ‘This is supposed to be easy and fun! How am I ever going to make it through a novice trial if I can’t even do this without freaking out? That doesn’t even sound like fun. But that’s my goal, that’s where I have to get.’ That was when I realized — I had a calm, polished, professional horse waiting to go into the dressage ring with me and she didn’t care in the least what level she was showing. We went in there and had a total blast, and since then I’ve decided my only goal should be enjoying the horse I’ve got.”

Natalie shares her biggest piece of advice when working with horses “It’s so important, with any horse, to think about the big picture from time to time. It’s easy to get lost in the day to day shuffle of a training goal or a behavior problem. Whenever we’re working through a problem, my husband is good at reminding me how far Jitter and I have come together. It makes a left-lead canter transition seem pretty insignificant.” This is so important to remember and I think something I am so incredibly guilty of forgetting at times myself.