Bunnylady
Well-Known Member
What a difference a week makes!
A week ago, when I started looking after this horse, feeding her was a near nightmare. First, I had her jumping around, trying to join me in the feedroom and help herself. Then, I had to walk across the yard, with this tapdancing juggernaut all around me, while I snapped and snarled at her to try to save my own skin. The whole situation struck me as totally NUTS!
So I decided to put her in her stall at feeding time. The problem with that, she did not want me to catch her, and DID NOT want to go in that stall. She would approach close enough to smell my hands, my shoulders, but one move toward that halter and she ran away. She didn't just run away, she ran in circles around me, responding to my every move as though I was round-penning her. I could stop her, but every time I approached her, she turned away and left at a trot or canter. One time, she kept this up for at least a half-hour before I finally got her to allow me to touch her. I saw her squeal and strike at the QH mare on the other side of a board fence, apparently just for being near her.
New person, new routine; some nervousness makes sense, but this was a bit extreme. Clearly some other scenario was playing itself out in her mind, one that I can only guess at. I decided my best course of action was to refuse to play the role that I was evidently expected to play. I let her approach me, and just tried to touch her on the neck or face, but not touch her halter. If she left, I let her go. If she ran when I approached her, I turned and walked away from her! Not at all what she was expecting, she went HUH???!
Now, I'm still deliberately not catching her. I put her hay in her stall, she will follow me in, and let me close the door without reacting. She is very excited to see her feeder, but at least that excitement is contained in the stall, where it's no threat to me. When she gets done eating what's in the feeder, she goes to work on the hay, and I open the door. She may or may not leave the stall at that point; if she does, it's at a walk. I have been putting some hay next to the board fence, and she now calmly eats hay with the QH munching away on the other side. If I am on the other side of the fence, she'll let me reach across and pet her on the neck and face, she seems to have no real problem with being touched. If I'm on the same side of the fence, she often won't let me make contact, but she moves off at a walk. All in all, she's a much calmer, much happier horse.
OK, this is what I think is going on: I suspect some owner in the past kept her stalled, and maybe the only excercise she got was when they brought her out and chased her around in a round pen. That would explain her aversion to the stall, and her automatic response to being approached. I was told she didn't get along with other horses, which seems to mean "poorly socialized," rather than truly antisocial.
I will further speculate that this theoretical owner was almost as green as I am when it comes to training horses. I have no experience with round-penning, the horse was giving ME a lesson. I've read enough about it to know the theory, and what the "buttons" are. The one thing I couldn't seem to find was the "off" button. If my memory serves, she should have been turning toward me, yet every time she turned, it was away. An experienced trainer would have taught her better. A previous owner probably saw that as disrespect, hence the "how dare you" take on her personality.
I'm told that the whole idea of free lounging/round penning is that you are using the horse's own language of posture and gesture to control it. I'm fairly fluent in body language; I can stroll through a flock of feeding poultry, or scatter them with a single stare. For the life of me, I could not get this horse to face me. Is it possible that I was "speaking horse" better that she was (see "poorly socialized," above)?
The horse's owner will be back on Tuesday. I've already talked to her a bit about what I have seen and done. I'm going to ask her to watch me while I feed, so she can see how we interact and hopefully, build on it. She is pleased to hear that this horse isn't the nut she took her for. Not surprisingly, we stop acting bonkers, and so does she!
A week ago, when I started looking after this horse, feeding her was a near nightmare. First, I had her jumping around, trying to join me in the feedroom and help herself. Then, I had to walk across the yard, with this tapdancing juggernaut all around me, while I snapped and snarled at her to try to save my own skin. The whole situation struck me as totally NUTS!
New person, new routine; some nervousness makes sense, but this was a bit extreme. Clearly some other scenario was playing itself out in her mind, one that I can only guess at. I decided my best course of action was to refuse to play the role that I was evidently expected to play. I let her approach me, and just tried to touch her on the neck or face, but not touch her halter. If she left, I let her go. If she ran when I approached her, I turned and walked away from her! Not at all what she was expecting, she went HUH???!
Now, I'm still deliberately not catching her. I put her hay in her stall, she will follow me in, and let me close the door without reacting. She is very excited to see her feeder, but at least that excitement is contained in the stall, where it's no threat to me. When she gets done eating what's in the feeder, she goes to work on the hay, and I open the door. She may or may not leave the stall at that point; if she does, it's at a walk. I have been putting some hay next to the board fence, and she now calmly eats hay with the QH munching away on the other side. If I am on the other side of the fence, she'll let me reach across and pet her on the neck and face, she seems to have no real problem with being touched. If I'm on the same side of the fence, she often won't let me make contact, but she moves off at a walk. All in all, she's a much calmer, much happier horse.
OK, this is what I think is going on: I suspect some owner in the past kept her stalled, and maybe the only excercise she got was when they brought her out and chased her around in a round pen. That would explain her aversion to the stall, and her automatic response to being approached. I was told she didn't get along with other horses, which seems to mean "poorly socialized," rather than truly antisocial.
I will further speculate that this theoretical owner was almost as green as I am when it comes to training horses. I have no experience with round-penning, the horse was giving ME a lesson. I've read enough about it to know the theory, and what the "buttons" are. The one thing I couldn't seem to find was the "off" button. If my memory serves, she should have been turning toward me, yet every time she turned, it was away. An experienced trainer would have taught her better. A previous owner probably saw that as disrespect, hence the "how dare you" take on her personality.
I'm told that the whole idea of free lounging/round penning is that you are using the horse's own language of posture and gesture to control it. I'm fairly fluent in body language; I can stroll through a flock of feeding poultry, or scatter them with a single stare. For the life of me, I could not get this horse to face me. Is it possible that I was "speaking horse" better that she was (see "poorly socialized," above)?
The horse's owner will be back on Tuesday. I've already talked to her a bit about what I have seen and done. I'm going to ask her to watch me while I feed, so she can see how we interact and hopefully, build on it. She is pleased to hear that this horse isn't the nut she took her for. Not surprisingly, we stop acting bonkers, and so does she!