Scrumpy - spooks and panics

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Scrummy, scrummy Scrumpy!

Young Scrumpy is a lovely lad with some unusual episodes in his past, including being sold out of a crate at the side of the road as a foal, and then being trained with a handbag. I suppose it's different to a whip... .

In brief, Scrumpy doesn't deal with life too well (no prizes for guessing why) and needs more than some to have some structure put into his life. At the moment, he feels that life's decisions are on his shoulders a bit, and when he has to decide, he usually goes for the rear, spin, run option. Not too good.

He's had the "back & tack" checks, but I'm concerned that his feet aren't helping him any. We are contacting EP Tracy Wyatt about this for a second opinion.

Today's session was all about instilling a sense of leadership into the human side of the partnership, focussing on Scrumpy's signs of inattention or worry, and taking control of the head and feet.

I have to say, after a little uncertainty and some mild resistance to start off with, Scrumpy proved himself to be a real A grade student. He learned the L shape so quickly, and then taught his mum:









Given that Scrumpy's default worry position is head in the air, these photos show just what a difference it can make to him to have something clear and structured to do. He was backing round that corner with almost no pressure on the line at all, and next time round he didn't even have to be asked to go round the corner, he just did it. He's a very special man.

We then did some practice at going through gateways and those ultimately worrying gaps in hedges, with Donna asking him to bring his head down from that alert position and then taking control of each step, and then it was time to put our new skills to the test in front of the yard and in front of an audience. They were impressed, as you can see:



Next stop spookbusing in a few weeks!

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My goodness have Scrumpy and Donna come on over the last two weeks! Both are feeling much more relaxed and happy. Even in the wind, Scrumpy is paying much more attention to her and is less looking at all the scary things around him. Even in the worst of the weather he was, apparently, very good.

So, next step, longlining (spookbusting's not forgotten, but given where things were this morning I felt longlining would be more beneficial). I felt this important for Scrumpy for a few reasons. Firstly, he's not exactly the fittest pone you've ever seen.

I also felt today I needed to see any explosions, what he does and how he and Donna cope. It's harder to fix a problem you haven't actually seen. With full respect to my clients, often what is described isn't exactly what happens. It's also useful to see how much of the situation is the horse and how much is the owner.

I also felt longlining would be useful as a training tool for Scrumpy and Donna. It'll give them something to do as well as the in hand stuff, and should help to build up his confidence a bit more.

We know Scrumpy has lunged but I still started off by testing his reaction to the longline over his back and behind his legs. Nothing. Based on that, I proceeded. Well, what a little star. It took a couple of minutes for him to realise that we weren't just lunging and for him to listen to me, and he is very prone to falling onto a circle at the first opportunity if you're not clear enough in your body language. Other than that, there was just one small incident, and that was it. He was soft, light, so very attentive and so very willing. He does exactly what he thinks you're asking. When you get it right, so does he. If, though, you get it wrong, he'll show you straight away. He'll be the most fantastic teacher for Donna.

The only incident was Donna's first trot. She was feeling a little uncertain (understandably, this was the first time she'd ever done this), he caught sight of something, spooked and took off down the other end of the school. Donna dropped one line and stopped him with the other. We gave him a moment to stand still and feel that nothing dreadful was happening, then I settled him by starting off easy, then working towards trotting where he'd spooked. It was great to see how easily he settled. Donna then took over again and they did some lovely work.

His slowing down and stopping need some work, and these are clearly the areas that will help most for when he gets worried out on a hack. However, the first step is to work on things other than circles, as each time you steer him towards anything other than the side of the school he automatically bends in and that's making Donna's life hard. First things first. Direction first, then speed in this case.

I was really pleased with this morning. Very pleased indeed. The partnership is really building. Great stuff.

[Deleted]

Of course it was too good to be true! Here was a lovely boy who has been worrying his mum sick, but when I turn up he's all sweetness and light... usually...

Donna reported that things had been going really well. She'd been walking out in hand and longlining and Scrumpy had been a star. Until the beginning of this week, when he'd turned himself inside out on the lines and Donna had ended up having to let go and let him charge around until he settled. Instead of the spookbusting I'd been planning, we therefore did another longlining session.

This time, I asked Donna to start so that I could see what was happening. Even before we got into the school, you could see he was much more alert, much more ready to go at the slightest. As soon as the lines were on, he was off before asked to, and from then on tried to take control, not in a dominant way but more that he felt he needed to be on guard again.

I could see Donna was getting flustered and things were starting to spiral a little, so I took over and calmed him down. Effectively, when you have this sort of pony and/or this sort of situation, the key is to give him direction BEFORE anything happens, rather than wait for him to do something wrong and then correct. Each time I felt a thought from him that he might speed up, or each time we got to a spot where his attention had previously wandered, I made a point of gently but clearly reminding him that I was there and in control. This doesn't mean tugging him around, more just a little pressure with just one finger, just enough for him to feel that you've not left him to it again.

I think Donna thought I was mad when I suggested putting some trotting poles out. Here was a pony who on Monday was uncontrollable in walk, who was showing the signs of going off on one again, and I was suggesting trotting poles. The had, though, a fantastic effect. He love jumping and as soon as he saw the poles he started to speed up. Yes, mate, you can go over them, but only when you're relaxed. If he charged towards the poles, we took him away. If he walked nicely, he got to walk over them. If he relaxed and dropped his head, he got to trot over them. And guess what? He was soon trotting over them and coming back to walk when asked afterwards.

The other benefits of work like this are that they give both pony and handler a focus. With that, it's much easier to forget the other horses in the field next door, the horse calling from the barn or the car driving up next to the school. It gives the handler a feeling of knowing where they are going, instead of wandering round saying "where next?", and that of course transmits to the pony. And poles also help control the stride, so that when Scrump was trotting he wasn't just charging forwards, the poles were keeping his stride even.

As I said to Donna, I'm quite pleased to have seen Scrumpy's less than perfect side. I'm now in a better position to help her keep on top of this herself. I was also really pleased that he proved how he can come down from heightened awareness and reactivity to soft, listening and willing, with the simple key of gentle early communication, before he feels that he needs to take charge.

Oh, and Scrumpy had his shoes taken off yesterday, too, after our session. It's all change for him!

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Ok, brace yourselves for a Scrumpy photo fest... ;D

Today was despooking day! Given that Donna first contacted me about her spooky pony and all we'd done so far was leading and longlining, it was about time we actually got round to despooking, wasn't it?

We'd littered the school with all sorts of goodies: tarps to walk over, tinsel, bunting and, of course, the dreaded golf bag...! There is a golf course at the end of the road that has to be navigated on any hack and Scrumpy's past experiences with bags makes him more than wary.

The first thing we had to do, of course, was get Scrumpy in the school. He saw all this new stuff and shot back - not good given that couple of metres just outside the school was icy. However, with his new found ability to trust humans as leaders, he came in quietly after just a couple of asks. I walked him round to school for a couple of minutes to get him listening and to get those eyes back in his skull, they were popping out! But... he stuck with me, behaved impecably and so we got down to it.

First had to be the killer golf bag. Nasty, nasty things, golf bags... best give them a wide berth...



Sorry, did I say I had a problem with golf bags? Yes, but that was a few minutes ago, now I don't mind even going for a walk with one...



We even had a practice later on with me hoiking the bag onto my shoulder, moving it around, even doing silly dances with it! His face reflected his belief that I'd completely lost the plot (as did Donna's!) but neither of them ran away, so I'll take that as good progress.

Now, it's still just about within the Christmas period, so we had to have a go with the tinsel, didn't we? This was what had caught Scrumpy's eye most when we'd come into the school. It had started off just draped over a rail. We met it, we sniffed it, we were walked towards and away from it, and we followed it. Then... we... wore it!

We listened to it...


and we sniffed it...



then decided it was too boring and got on with other stuff. We even did bunting while wearing our tinsel!



Sadly, we didn't have enough hands to hold up bunting, as Scrumpy to walk under it AND take photos all at the same time, so no pics of that but he was great.

That, actually, was the really important bit of work of the day for me. He got a little nervous when he saw the bunting moving behing him at one point and scooted forwards. Donna then got nervous too and her hand started creeping up the line, holding close to the clip. Whenever she did that, Scrumpy would get more anxious. As soon as she loosened by just a few inches, he relaxed. With her really starting to get the feel of when to step in and correct and when to let the line relax, they were soon back to walking under the bunting, even with the flags touching his ears.

After all that, the tarp was yawningly boring, but we did it anyway, 'cause it was there...



What a fantastic boy. So, so good. I hope we are going to be able to pretty well bombproof this lad, in hand, on the lines, and then ridden, and so give Donna the steady hacking pony she so wants.

There, is that enough photos of Scrumpy? Well, ok, maybe just one more...

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Here's a good PM just received from jamesb (thank you, James!),

Dear Liz,

I've enjoyed reading about the progress you're making with this wee chap, he seems to have come along very well in a short space of time.

Just a thought - as a golfer myself I wondered whether it was the golf bag itself, or the rattling of clubs? The irons especially can make quite a clatter, particularly when the bag is picked up. As this is a sudden noise I was thinking it may cause a spook?

Best of luck, please keep the updates coming! Happy New Year to you and yours.

James

We haven't quite got that far with Scrumpy yet but yes, I'd imagine it would probably add to the spookiness. Donna's feeling - and what I've seen confirms it - is that Scrumpy dislikes golf bags full stop. She thinks this is in part because it's a bag and he was "trained" by being hit with a bag. Bear in mind that this golf bag we used yesterday has been stationed outside his stable for the last few weeks, he was very windy of it when just it was standing in the school. He learned quickly to accept it and then discovered he could follow it, even go for a walk with it. Movement is a big thing for him so when we worked towards it moving, being picked up, slung on a shoulder, etc. he reacted again but less than anticipated, so that was good.

What we need to then do is bring in sound but given how extreme his reactions can be we need to do this in stages so he understands he can cope.

Thinking of golf sounds, the other one we need to desensitise him too is that "ping" of club hitting ball. Either that, or we need to persuade the golfers to muffle their clubs. Any chance of that, do you think...?

Like with so many problems, there's not just one side to it. The sound might have started it, the fact of it being a bag might have started it, it might have been the movement... All could bother him separately, or you could have associations being built up. To do our job well, we have to make sure that he's good with all of them in a safe, controlled environment, then venture forth...

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Hmmmmm..... sometimes things don't go according to plan....

After those really good sessions, we've taken a backwards turn. Donna reported that she'd done a longlining session with Scrumpy last Thursday and he was fine until she asked him into trot, at which point he lost the plot completely, she ended up having to let him go and watch while he galloped full tilt towards the gate. Luckily, he did decide against jumping it.

I saw him the following day. He was edgy to start off with, even while Donna was tacking him up, and you could see that he was nervous of the lines. These are the very same lines that he's worked well with several times before. So, we hoped it was just a blip and that he'd settle down but no, off he went again. He was totally focussed on the outside world, almost unaware even of a human presence in the school with him, panic mode. There was simply no way of holding him.

So, with the lines now a issue for him as they'd chased him round the school, I decided to untack him and work with him loose and see if I could get his attention, then join up.

It was not easy. To start off with, it really was as if I wasn't even there for him. I did, though, manage to block him a couple of times and showed him I existed and was worth paying attention to. Then he started to listen. After that, I was able to get his attention enough to slow him down and relax the tension in him, at which point he gave me the licking and chewing, lower head, small circle, and I could invite him in.

Phew.

The question, then, is where do you go next? We agreed to another session on Sunday to see if we could persuade Scrumpy to work with us again. In the meantime, I put my thinking cap on. I'd not seen this side of Scrumpy before, this complete panic, and it has helped me see the extent of Donna's problem. With this, other things we know about him start to come into the picture. He doesn't keep weight well, he's fairly weak behind (the backing up photos give you a distorted picture) and can be unhappy of people around his quarters, he reacts particulary badly when asked into trot or canter... I'm starting to wonder if we're not talking about something in the EPSM/PSSM range...

With this in mind, we decided to reverse the work on Sunday, with gentle loose work first, then onto longlining. Well, that was the plan. The longlining didn't happen at all. Again, as soon as he went into trot loose, he panicked and instead of some nice gentle loose work, we had a horse blasting round the school for a couple of minutes before we could bring him back down and get him working with us. It was better than Friday, but it was still what I would consider outside the normal range of behaviour for a horse who is simply unclipped and asked to trot on.

The suggestion now, then, is to put him on an EPSM diet and see if that helps. Keep your fingers crossed, please, won't you?