This is Draumur *today*. When we began his rehabilitation, he would not take one step without fighting, trying to bite or kick you, and if you asked for trot he would pin his ears and charge. His physical problems led to profound depression— Draumur had lost his intrinsic desire to move.
Today he is proud, loves to show off, and is stronger than he has ever been. It was a long, slow process to rebuild his posture and rekindle his spirit, but the horse he is now is more than than anyone believed possible given his conformation and what we (incorrectly) assumed was his character.
Special credit goes to my trainers and mentors: Jec Ballou and Steinar Sigurbjörnsson.
Also to Laura Benson and Guðmar Pétursson for making this journey possible, and to the Art of Natural Dressage forums for inspiration and ideas on “proud horse” exercises.
{This video is for Amy Cuddy. Working on “Power Pose” may well have saved Draumur’s life}
Tech details: I’m usually the one *behind* the camera, so to shoot THIS footage I plopped my Canon 5D Mark III on top of a barrel in the arena, set my 70-200 lens to 70mm, f13 (since I would not be able to change focus), 60 fps (slo-mo), and pushed record. Edited in FCPX in a 24fps timeline, no color grading.