Post by Zoe RA on Jan 22, 2010 21:53:16 GMT 1
Yesterday I met Louis and Katherine.
Louis is a 5 year old ex racer who Katherine has had for four months.
When Katherine first got him, he was as thin as a rake having been turned out and forgotten about after his syndicate went bust.
To start with, he was very gentle and easy, but has always been aggressive around his food - which is not unusual for a horse who has been starved.
Unfortunately, his food aggression - which has left Katherine with a very nasty bite on her leg - has escalated to the point that he will now bite and kick if anybody tries to do anything in his stable with him, especially if it is food or rug related. He really was pulling some very interesting faces lol!
We took him in the school to do the usual attention gaining ground work, and I spotted that Katherine was matching her speed to his, and allowing him to call the shots. I pointed out that I thought she had possibly fallen into the trap of feeling sorry for him when she first got him, and was trying not to upset him so that he liked her and felt comfortable with her. We discussed how Katherine needed to show Louis good strong leadership so that he feels secure, and that she couldn't lead from behind.
We did some moving around of quarters, backing up etc, and then took his rug off and on. He was pretty good about it in the school, so we went back to the box.
Once again, I held the line so that Katherine could safely concentrate on Louis, and she was able to take his rug off, and put a different one on. He hardly turned a hair
Then we moved on to the acid test. The food
Katherine has never been able to stand in the box with Louis once she has given him his food, and if she doesn't give it too him as soon as she goes in his box with it, he has been know to rear, lunge at her with his teeth, and kick out at the side of the box. He also lunges at her if she stays in the box with him whilst he eats.
I took the food bowl and only gave it too him when he looked away from me for half a second. After he had eaten half the food, I took it away from him (Please don't try this unless you know exactly what you are doing!! I was concentrating very hard, and had every nerve in my body watching his body language so that I could time it all absolutely. Had I made a mistake at this point I could easily have made him a lot worse!) and then gave it back to him when he looked away from me again. He is a very fast learner, and did this almost immediately.
I pointed out to Katherine, that as Louis's herd leader, she is actually in control of when he eats and when he doesn't. Yes, he has been very hungry in the past, but he must learn that aggression around food is totally unacceptable. We both stood in the box with him whilst he finished his feed, and he was a very good boy Once he had finished, we left him in piece for a while to munch his hay.
Ten mins later we went back again and did some more work with rugs. Louis is particularly twitchy about having his tummy touched when having rugs etc changed (we haven't totally ruled out ulcers yet, and it is not unknown for horses to get small electric shocks from the static build up in rugs, so we still have other things to work with if this doesn't work), so we worked on that. To start with, he pulled some horrid faces, and kicked out a couple of times, but I showed Katherine where to stand to stay safe, and once he realized she wasn't going to be intimidated, he stood whilst she did whatever she wanted to do with him. Yes, he still flicked his ears back now and again, but, as I said, he is still allowed to express himself as long as he doesn't do anything about it. She doesn't want a robot afteall
Katherine then gave him some more food, and stood with him whilst he ait it. She has never been able to do that before.
I suggested that until she was really happy with him she puts his head collar on before she feeds him, so that she feels more confident, and that her other half who was there with us accompanies her to give her moral support for a while.
I spoke to her on the phone today, and she has been able to go into his box, change his rugs, give him his feed - but not until he looks away from her! - and stay with him whilst he eats today. One of the other liveries on the yard was absolutely amazed when she saw Katherine standing in his box whilst he ait his tea, so all is looking good
Here he is pulling faces whilst his tummy is rubbed, and then settling down.
Katherine keeping a close eye on those ears!
Smiles all round - his ears aren't flat back ;D
Louis is a 5 year old ex racer who Katherine has had for four months.
When Katherine first got him, he was as thin as a rake having been turned out and forgotten about after his syndicate went bust.
To start with, he was very gentle and easy, but has always been aggressive around his food - which is not unusual for a horse who has been starved.
Unfortunately, his food aggression - which has left Katherine with a very nasty bite on her leg - has escalated to the point that he will now bite and kick if anybody tries to do anything in his stable with him, especially if it is food or rug related. He really was pulling some very interesting faces lol!
We took him in the school to do the usual attention gaining ground work, and I spotted that Katherine was matching her speed to his, and allowing him to call the shots. I pointed out that I thought she had possibly fallen into the trap of feeling sorry for him when she first got him, and was trying not to upset him so that he liked her and felt comfortable with her. We discussed how Katherine needed to show Louis good strong leadership so that he feels secure, and that she couldn't lead from behind.
We did some moving around of quarters, backing up etc, and then took his rug off and on. He was pretty good about it in the school, so we went back to the box.
Once again, I held the line so that Katherine could safely concentrate on Louis, and she was able to take his rug off, and put a different one on. He hardly turned a hair
Then we moved on to the acid test. The food
Katherine has never been able to stand in the box with Louis once she has given him his food, and if she doesn't give it too him as soon as she goes in his box with it, he has been know to rear, lunge at her with his teeth, and kick out at the side of the box. He also lunges at her if she stays in the box with him whilst he eats.
I took the food bowl and only gave it too him when he looked away from me for half a second. After he had eaten half the food, I took it away from him (Please don't try this unless you know exactly what you are doing!! I was concentrating very hard, and had every nerve in my body watching his body language so that I could time it all absolutely. Had I made a mistake at this point I could easily have made him a lot worse!) and then gave it back to him when he looked away from me again. He is a very fast learner, and did this almost immediately.
I pointed out to Katherine, that as Louis's herd leader, she is actually in control of when he eats and when he doesn't. Yes, he has been very hungry in the past, but he must learn that aggression around food is totally unacceptable. We both stood in the box with him whilst he finished his feed, and he was a very good boy Once he had finished, we left him in piece for a while to munch his hay.
Ten mins later we went back again and did some more work with rugs. Louis is particularly twitchy about having his tummy touched when having rugs etc changed (we haven't totally ruled out ulcers yet, and it is not unknown for horses to get small electric shocks from the static build up in rugs, so we still have other things to work with if this doesn't work), so we worked on that. To start with, he pulled some horrid faces, and kicked out a couple of times, but I showed Katherine where to stand to stay safe, and once he realized she wasn't going to be intimidated, he stood whilst she did whatever she wanted to do with him. Yes, he still flicked his ears back now and again, but, as I said, he is still allowed to express himself as long as he doesn't do anything about it. She doesn't want a robot afteall
Katherine then gave him some more food, and stood with him whilst he ait it. She has never been able to do that before.
I suggested that until she was really happy with him she puts his head collar on before she feeds him, so that she feels more confident, and that her other half who was there with us accompanies her to give her moral support for a while.
I spoke to her on the phone today, and she has been able to go into his box, change his rugs, give him his feed - but not until he looks away from her! - and stay with him whilst he eats today. One of the other liveries on the yard was absolutely amazed when she saw Katherine standing in his box whilst he ait his tea, so all is looking good
Here he is pulling faces whilst his tummy is rubbed, and then settling down.
Katherine keeping a close eye on those ears!
Smiles all round - his ears aren't flat back ;D