Tying & being away from the herd

[mrbsmum]

Hello again all! I've a couple of questions regarding my new rising 5 mare. I've owned her for a few months, although she is still staying at the yard where she grew up and was started, partly to be close to her trainer so that he can keep tabs on how I am progressing with her, and partly because they have an indoor school and we don't, so it means we can work consistently despite the horrific winter weather and light. The downside it is a good hours drive away, so I can only see her at weekends, but she'll be coming home at the end of April, so yippee!

One thing I have noticed is that she's not great at being tied. She doesn't panic and pull, but she shuttles back and forth constantly, and swings her bum around, wraps her rope around her neck and generally acts the prat. It makes tacking up a bit of a mission, although she tends to settle if you're grooming/fussing her, or if you stand next to her head (less so if you're at the other end of her body!). I've noticed this is worse when she is on her own than if she has sight of a friend.

I wonder if she has a bit of an issue leaving the herd (or more specifically leaving the head mare & her foal, who she is 'auntie' to most of the time) - as she has also staged a mini protest the last two times we've hacked out - attempting to nap back to the fence, and resulting in a couple of circles (very sedate, nothing crazy or daft, just a bit willful) before we head off. This is in company, not solo it should be noted, but the gelding in question is neither high up in the herd, or one of her particular favourites I think.

So - my question is, what should we do to get her tying sensibly and standing in one place (should I tie and feed, just to get it to feel like a 'safe' experience, for example?) and given her slight reluctance to be alone/leave the heard behind, what should I anticipate/do to help when we leave the herd for good for our new home in April. She will be going to live with new friends, but I'd like to A) avoid stress where possible and B) prevent her developing a limpet like attachment to her new field companion! We'll have company, but I'd like to be able to hack out alone too!

Given I'm only seeing her for a couple of hours a week at the moment I don't anticipate making any great headway in this until I have her home, but I'd like to make sure I've got an action plan in place.

Just for some context, she's living in a large 'natural' style herd of horses, mares, geldings, and foals at present, and has had a herd upbringing as a youngster - she was hardly handled at all before being started. She's great to handle, and generally very sensible, but I'd like to instill good ground manners. We'll be doing lots of in hand groundwork to get to know each other better when she comes home and build her trust in me, but she's my first youngun' and I'm not sure how much to expect from her at this stage in her education.

[alonerawnut]

I would suggest that you keep any sessions of tying up short and sweet, as her attention span won't be very long. Is she tied up with a haynet while you groom? Might be enough to keep her interested just long enough for a quick groom. Imagine she's a toddler: you wouldn't expect a toddler to sit still & quietly for any period of time, but with a little bit of distraction you might manage a couple of minutes!

If she's showing signs of being anxious going out, try to go out just far enough that she starts to show a little sign of worry, then tell her she's a very brave girl and turn back. If you've only got limited time with her for now, focus on building up her trust in you, which will help her when you do move her away and let you work on pushing those boundaries when you have more time.

As soon as you've moved, I would make sure she's brought away from her companion for short periods of time for quick sessions of practice tying-up (perhaps with a long line looped through the ring, so you can give some gentle pressure if she starts to pull away) or basic groundwork so you can tell her what a clever girl she is before putting her back with her companion. That way it just becomes her normal way of life.

[mags]

Since you do a lot of ground work, how is she with standing still when you do that? Do you do your groundwork in sight of the other horses, or away? I think I would establish standing nicely as part of your groundwork, and once you have that established in a comfortable space start moving your ground work sessions further afield. Try working in the yard where you usually tie up. Does she still stand nicely? You stand a better chance of keeping her attention and correcting her (moving her back to where you placed her initially) if you practise standing at the tie up place while in "groundwork mode". If keeping her attention on the yard is still asking a bit too much, try working gradually further away from the herd.
I also agree, having a hay net waiting at the tie up spot might be a good thing to make it a "nice place to be". But I think a food reward will only work well if you can get her to a place where she stands nicely and relaxed without food, at least for a short while. You want to reward a nice, calm behaviour, and if her attention is still away with the herd and she's anxious, then adding food won't really settle matters, I don't think.

I suspect the move will shake up quite a few things. Who knows how quickly she'll bond with other horses at the new place. I think your plan to do a lot of ground work is great, and I'd add long lining to try and strengthen your relationship while also getting into a routine of taking her away from the herd for periods of time. If you're familiar with long lining, that can be a great step to practise being "brave" and moving out in front without a human next to the head. I wouldn't hesitate to get an RA out earlier rather than later once she has moved, to nip any new problems in the bud and get some input on how to progress in the right direction.

Good luck! Sounds like a nice project :-)

[mrbsmum]

Thanks all!

No, we don't tie up with a haynet - in fact, I don't think I've ever seen a haynet at the yard - it's a communal bale or hay on the floor kind of place. I'll have to bring one along with me next time and try that. Failing that I'll bring along a rockie or something like that to distract her.

We are generally quite good at standing nicely if someone is at her head. I've stood at the side of the school with her watching other horses work waiting for our turn and she's shifted a foot. Generally if I stood at her head to do everything when she was tied I think we'd be ok too - but alas! My arms are not that long.

I'll make sure we do plenty of work moving away from the companion as soon as we move. I'd like to get her out and about without friends as well as hacking in company, so I think some trips up to the school and just short distances in hand will probably be part of the initial routine. It'll get her used to seeing these places before I try visiting them with her in the saddle.

Unfortunately the sticky spot is immediately outside the gate of the yard, so going as far as she is comfortable turning back is not an option - if we did that we'd never really have left! Once she's out she's great - although she can be a bit 'yippee' (again, in pretty controlled way) when we first start working. This is not just hacking thing though. Sometimes we have to do a circuit or two of tolt or trot at the start of a session before she'll settle and walk sensibly - she's not quite caught on to my 'long and low' warmup policy for starting schooling sessions yet! We school alone regularly, but have also worked with company in the arena, and distractions (including Kamikaze caddy lambs, and once, the stud stallion - who screamed at her for a good 20 minutes - bless her, she looked and batted her eyelids, but got on with her job!). I'm very lucky in that she genuinely seems to love her work, her little ears prick up and (once the initial excitement has worn off) she really does listen to her rider - so long as I don't stuff up I think she will be a really special little mare. Once we've got past the rest of the herd she has not turned an ear at anything - we've done traffic up our bum, cones, funny signs, bikes and a JCB digger so far and not a peep. Good idea about the long lining. I haven't long lined for years, but I might try and get some practise in with my more experienced loan horse while I still have him too... It may well be that she's just not 100% sure I will keep her safe out there yet - we'll see if we get a repeat performance next time. If we do I'll maybe just do a few in hand pootles down the lane with some carrots in hand for reassurance.

Unfortunately I don't think there are any RAs working this far north (Shetland) - but if one fancies a holiday I have a spare room