An Un-Spooky Horse
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What does an Un-spooky horse look like? And what does an Un-spooky horse act like?
Well, let's compare a few things. A few years ago, one of my students was shopping for a new horse. I went with her to check out the one she liked the best. I watched the horse be handled and ridden, rode the horse, took it out in the desert a bit and over some natural obstacles. My observation was: This horse is scared beyond belief. She is ready to come out of her skin and absolutely rigid. Her muscles are taut, she quivers and her eyes have white rims.
The woman said, "but she's just standing there quietly." "No," I replied, "she's standing there rooted to the spot like a piece of marble. That's not the same thing." The trainer selling the horse jumped in saying the horse isn't the least bit spooky and is great on trail, which makes me chuckle even as I write this. I added that we could fix it, but if she was going to buy this horse, she had to know that this horse will blow!
Which of course it has.
On the other side, here's what happened when I was riding the other day. I'm riding Peka (the little bay I'm reading the book on)
, a horse that has about 180 rides in her. Cantering along, I was looking to the right when a Mesquite tree branch attacked me, practically taking out my left eye. I went and got some loppers. Since Peka is the shortest of my horses by a couple of hands, I figured I'd better go high. I had to stand on her to trim the dastardly limbs high enough. You know that the limbs are going to fall on the horse, right? She doesn't move, thorns and all. I drop back into the saddle and sidepass a step or two and re-position to lop a few more branches. Then, I walk off with my reins draped on the saddle, put the loppers over the fence and walk another 60 feet or so at which time I decide to canter off again, slowly and with a loose rein. I'd gone about 50 feet or so when a movement behind us caught my eye. I looked back to see one of the 3 foot long branches with multiple off-shoot limbs, fall out of her tail.
Onward.
That's an Un-spooky horse.
Solving People’s Horse Problems and Horse’s People Problems
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Comments
First, please read the post here called "Into the Burning Building".
Then, break your re-training up into small bites. You don't get to decide what's too small, you're going to let her tell you. If she's coming un-glued, you've pushed her over the edge. It's her edge! You are responsible for becoming aware of it so you can help her, not dictating where it is.
Then, have her on a line with slack in your hand. Don't tie her as she needs to drift. Use a light saddle pad, rug or towel (something easy for you to handle) and gently swing it all over her body and under her belly IF SHE ALLOWS IT! If she freaks, keep swinging it only as close as you can while you let her drift. Stay @ a 45 degree angle off her shoulder, drift with her and see if you can touch her with the swinging item. You may need to bump the lead if she is moving too fast or far, but try to keep slack in it and leave her head alone and drift with her. Do not have the intent in your head that you're going to get this rug on her. Your thought process needs to be that "it's okay if you move, it's just that I'm going to be swinging this and you may be fine standing still, too." When, she stands still, reduce the swinging a tad to give her some relief. Then, as if nothing ever happened, see if you can rub her shoulder with it. If that goes well, move it over her back, ribs and then belly.
Later, make sure you can swing the rug with some strong movement all over and under her, high and low. Then, you're going to start the same thing with a light saddle. If she's good after the first swinging around, you may be able to just set the saddle on her back. Hold on to it and if she drifts, let her. Swing the saddle off in a careless fashion then swing it up on her again. Don't cinch it on until she's standing quietly while you do this on BOTH sides.
It's important that you keep slack in the rope to her head so she can think instead of being forced.
Probably ought to get my book, too if you haven't already as there are many things in there that pertain to this. After all, it is about "Changing the Way You and Your Horse Think About Each Other."
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