Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2010 18:20:41 GMT 1
I met Minstrel a couple of years ago when she had a variety of problems including mounting, panics when lunging, and lots of grumpiness with rugs and stuff. She was interesting because she was a mixture of problems that sometimes seemed connected but others didn't. We worked through everything and she has turned into a fantastic horse for her 15 year old rider, Lizzie.
Except... she has over the last few months started getting bad in the stable again. As soon as someone goes in, it's head in a corner, bum towards you and a threat to kick. She's particularly bad with Sarah, the groom, who's unenviable task it is to turn her out in the morning.
Outside the stable she's fine. Her leading is generally good (we worked on that before!), so our work really had to be in the stable where her behaviour is. I really don't care for wearing a body protector but this was one of those times I did. I also armed myself with my trust schooling whip... with plastic bags tied on the end.
As I went into her stable, Minstrel retreated to her corner. I had been told to expect aggressive, but what I felt was very defensive of her head. She simply didn't want me to get her head. That I found odd, because of Minstrel's many problems, headshyness had never been one of them. It's what she was telling me, though, so I believed her.
I took a stance in her box along side her, with the whip and bags towards her quarters. If she had decided to kick, she could kick the bags all she liked as far as I was concerned. They would not flinch or retreat. She didn't kick, though, she just tucked her head in that corner.
With my other arm, then, I raised my hand and flicked my fingers, making a movement to catch her eye. As soon as she gave me her attention, I backed off. Working this way, I was able to teach her to bring her head towards me, and show her that she could do so safely.
Once I'd got her to the point of standing comfortably turned towards me, I started to stroke her neck and work between her eyes. Then, as I backed away again, she followed me.
I had been told that when you had a headcollar in your hand it was worse, so I then took a headcollar and repeated the exercise. Yes, she was a little wary, but as long as I worked with advance and retreat, and as long as I approached her with respect, she was fine.
Here I handed over to Lizzie, and Minstrel was fine. I then asked Sarah, who had joined us part way through, to do the same. Her face changed completely. She was clearly scared of the thought of working in the box with Minstrel. She explained to me that she would usually just try to get the headcollar on as quickly as possible. Aha! That would explain it, then!
What had been happening was that Sarah in particular would go into Minstrel's box and just get that headcollar on! That worried Minstrel, she likes you to be gentle around her head, so she went into protection mode, and so it spiralled down.
I showed Sarah how to work and - guess what - she loved it! By holding the bags on a stick towards Minstrel's quarters, she was able to feel safe, which gave her the confidence to just stand doing some gentle advance and retreat, and then have a nice cuddle.
I showed Lizzie and Sarah how to teach Minstrel to lower her head, to help her relax, and how to rock her head gently, which Minstrel clearly liked. We talked about how she prefers soft stroking to fussy rubbing, and how putting all this together - making head contact nice - will help her accept having the headcollar on.
One final point to work on is the actual putting on of the headcollar. Minstrel really doesn't care for having the strap flipped up at her ears. We therefore practiced passing the headcollar up the neck on the far side, then slipping it over her nose, then buckling it quietly.
She's a sensitive soul, especially around her head, and I think that by respecting that, life should become happier for all.
Except... she has over the last few months started getting bad in the stable again. As soon as someone goes in, it's head in a corner, bum towards you and a threat to kick. She's particularly bad with Sarah, the groom, who's unenviable task it is to turn her out in the morning.
Outside the stable she's fine. Her leading is generally good (we worked on that before!), so our work really had to be in the stable where her behaviour is. I really don't care for wearing a body protector but this was one of those times I did. I also armed myself with my trust schooling whip... with plastic bags tied on the end.
As I went into her stable, Minstrel retreated to her corner. I had been told to expect aggressive, but what I felt was very defensive of her head. She simply didn't want me to get her head. That I found odd, because of Minstrel's many problems, headshyness had never been one of them. It's what she was telling me, though, so I believed her.
I took a stance in her box along side her, with the whip and bags towards her quarters. If she had decided to kick, she could kick the bags all she liked as far as I was concerned. They would not flinch or retreat. She didn't kick, though, she just tucked her head in that corner.
With my other arm, then, I raised my hand and flicked my fingers, making a movement to catch her eye. As soon as she gave me her attention, I backed off. Working this way, I was able to teach her to bring her head towards me, and show her that she could do so safely.
Once I'd got her to the point of standing comfortably turned towards me, I started to stroke her neck and work between her eyes. Then, as I backed away again, she followed me.
I had been told that when you had a headcollar in your hand it was worse, so I then took a headcollar and repeated the exercise. Yes, she was a little wary, but as long as I worked with advance and retreat, and as long as I approached her with respect, she was fine.
Here I handed over to Lizzie, and Minstrel was fine. I then asked Sarah, who had joined us part way through, to do the same. Her face changed completely. She was clearly scared of the thought of working in the box with Minstrel. She explained to me that she would usually just try to get the headcollar on as quickly as possible. Aha! That would explain it, then!
What had been happening was that Sarah in particular would go into Minstrel's box and just get that headcollar on! That worried Minstrel, she likes you to be gentle around her head, so she went into protection mode, and so it spiralled down.
I showed Sarah how to work and - guess what - she loved it! By holding the bags on a stick towards Minstrel's quarters, she was able to feel safe, which gave her the confidence to just stand doing some gentle advance and retreat, and then have a nice cuddle.
I showed Lizzie and Sarah how to teach Minstrel to lower her head, to help her relax, and how to rock her head gently, which Minstrel clearly liked. We talked about how she prefers soft stroking to fussy rubbing, and how putting all this together - making head contact nice - will help her accept having the headcollar on.
One final point to work on is the actual putting on of the headcollar. Minstrel really doesn't care for having the strap flipped up at her ears. We therefore practiced passing the headcollar up the neck on the far side, then slipping it over her nose, then buckling it quietly.
She's a sensitive soul, especially around her head, and I think that by respecting that, life should become happier for all.