THOUGHTS and ESSAYS

THOUGHTS and ESSAYS ...
on Natural Horsemanship

Mindset of the Horse

On Being Grounded

Handling Horses

On Broken Trust

Comment ... "

About a week ago Ibn was nice and soft and we got so far as to groom and pick feet without a halter on. Then disaster struck. Last Tuesday the Vet came to take a sample from his lumps for a biopsy and unfortunately I could not be there. Five people spent about 45 mins trying to catch him, without success. He even became aggressive and charged them when they got too close. Now we are back to square one. He will come close to me but will not even come in touching range when I have the halter in my hand. He will stand in the corner at the gate leading to the big paddock with his backside to me and not let me come close. The draw-back here is that I need to spray his sides to keep the flies away before I let him out to the big paddock, so I cannot just let it go at that and then slowly build again, which would be the desirable way of doing things. In short, he has become untrusting again. If I just let him out without trying to halter him first, when he walks past me through the gate, he will pin his ears and try and get away as quickly as possible. Even when I have a carrot in my hand, he will ignore that and disappear into the meadow :-(( "

FROM: Gwenyth Browning Jones Santagate:
Kristene, do you have a small paddock or round pen? Are you confident to work with this horse in a small area? Can you do so and keep yourself and your horse safe? If the answer is no to any one of these questions, especially the last one, then find someone who can work with him safely and confidently AND within the "good horsemanship" parameters.

Personally, I would use a combination of roundpen connecting and positive reinforcement (Clicker training). Don't think I'd turn that horse out to a large pasture UNTIL he will readily and pleasantly come when called. Why ask for more aggravation? I would also, because this horse sounds spoiled and not afraid, be a bit more assertive than I would normally be with a frightened horse in a round pen. NOT aggressive, but assertive. There is a big difference between the two and horses can easily assess and recognize the difference. Your timing will have to be precise. This is where the clicker comes in. If you are wanting the horse to stop running from you, I would start clicking the instant I got even ONE ear attention from him. The "treat" would be as soon as you get his attention, stop the pressure. Let him think about things for a bit, then resume your staying pressure. (going WITH him in the round pen but not asserting any forward pressure) ... when you "kiss" at him again and again get his ear attention, stop *your* forward motion and even back up a couple of steps. Repeat again only on the third or fourth time I would venture to say he'll give you MORE of his attention at which time you can repeat your c/t. If he stops to face you, start to approach him carefully and the instant you feel/see that he's about to take off in flight again, back up a couple of steps and let him stand. If your timing and c/t responses are right on, I'd venture to say it wouldn't take long until you have this horse not only giving you his full attention but actually walking into you and following you. If/when this happens, DON'T IMMEDIATELY try to halter him or "catch" him. Just walk around then end your session. After a few sessions like this, you can then start working on the haltering. If he moves off when he sees you trying to halter him, step back to the previous exercise. And so on and so forth.

It's frustrating BUT when we realize that a horse is only a horse and they do behave as a horse for a reason, (usually the behavior is 'man-made' *g*) we can then try to view things from the equine perspective and learn how to effectively communicate with the horse.

Make sense?

*S* Gwen

MORE on "BROKEN TRUST"

Jaki wrote:

"As for Ibn being scared or spoiled......well, I'm a firm believer

(now) in giving the horse the benefit of the doubt. It sounds to me

as though you may be dealing with a horse who hasn't had any

consistent or meaningful interaction with people."

----------------------------

FROM Gwenyth Browning Jones Santagate:

Oh, I absolutely agree ... that's what I meant by spoiled ... This horse has been just being a horse and doing whatever it's been "allowed" to do ... *because* people have allowed him to continue with the behavior thus it's what he's been conditioned to do. No fault of his own! ... another "horse with a people problem"! *G* Yeah, Jaki ... always, always, always, give the horse the benefit of the doubt because horses MIRROR what people have shown them. In more ways than one. I've found that horses show us our best sides as well as our worst sides simply by 'mirroring' our human behavior. (something to really *think* about and chew and digest)

This also goes along with being *assertive* without aggression. If this horse has formerly been "shown who's 'boss'", then this is a portion of his behavior combined with others who have perhaps felt threatened by this horse and allowed the horse to realize that he *is* bigger than the human! It's really a fine line but one that is crystal clear once we've *seen* it. (and FELT it! *G*)

Horses have such fine-tuned sensitivities that so surpass the human's that, if we allow them to do so, ... horse *are* really our teachers and not visa versa. They teach us how to communicate clearly with them. And horses don't lie or play 'tricks' like humans can. But it's such a hard thing for many people to let go of the human 'intelligence' and ego that the human has a difficult time 'seeing' or 'feeling'.

Horses NEED a leader. One way or the other. If human cannot or will not assume the role of "leader" then the horse HAS to. It's instinctual; it's equine survival. The best leaders are the ones to 'set things up' and let the other figure it out! *G*

So, please don't misunderstand me when I say that Kristene's horse is a spoiled horse ... it is not the horse's intention to be spoiled but much like our own children ... our children are 'spoiled' only because we've *allowed* them to become such.

*S* Gwen