I went to see one horse about three weeks ago, who was always busy on the ground and struggles to leave his field mate. It was if he was lonely when he was with people. He also hated being touched anywhere but on his shoulder and would bite or threaten to bite whenever he was approached. He often had his ears back.
We went through the groundwork exercises and he started to work with me and to give me his attention. He even looked down and noticed I was there (I'm not very tall!). His owner kept going with the exercises but most importantly incorporated them into her every day life with the horse so that he never moved her, she always moved him and he was asked not to overtake her when she led him.
When I went back yesterday he was a different horse. His ears were forward, he was relaxed and while we were waiting to start I was able to touch him all over and to cuddle him! His groundwork was exemplary; calm and soft. We can now move on to take him out and about without his field mate, building up his own Google map so that he knows where he is and that he always goes home again.
Incidentally, this is a horse that is very 'over-at-the-knee' and finds it hard to stand still without moving forward. The stay mechanism in his front legs simply doesn't work and if he is not full square when he is asked to stand he absolutely cannot maintain a halt. By making sure that he is always balanced, we were able to help him to stand still and not set him up to fail.
"Thank you for today. I hoped you would be impressed with BB's progress." YM
Updated 9th March: Here's another example of one session making a profound difference...
"Just a short update. I've
been using the clicker with Santi and give him one treat when catching him, this
seems to be a good middle way. I'm not bothered by him for more treats, but nor
does it take 10 mins to catch him either!
Today, with the perfect weather conditions and a good feeling about things I
decided to take him out alone. I'd done some desensitisation sessions and
leading up the lane alone earlier in the week and he'd been as good as gold.
Just at the end of the track to the stable, though, were some men cutting down
branches and using a shredder etc. Luckily some other riders asked the men to
shut down the shredder and I jumped off and led Santi past a trailer, no
problem. Brakes went on at the orange shredder, so we did 1 step forward, turn
away and forward again. Stopping, rewarding him for looking and not pulling
back, and walking on with motorcycle hands, with me between him and the
shredder. He gave it a wide birth and a good look, but followed me, and also
past the white van which still had its engine running. Just a few hundred yards
up the lane I hopped back on him and we were out for 45-50mins. Literally
crossed the road and into the forest, walked around the heath, and back again.
Met the men and vehicles on our way back, but we went up a side track and let
them pass no bother at all.
I know there's lots more to
do, but that first session with you has made such a difference and I went out
feeling confident that we could handle whatever we met and we did! "CJ
