Sunday, October 18, 2015

18th October, 2015 They Think It's All Over

Emergency catching job today that had resolved itself before I got there. Poppy, a Warmblood cross New Forest, has recently changed homes and decided that she would no longer be caught. She is another three and a half year old horse in a five year old suit, lacking in experience. Her new owner didn't realise that she hadn't had a rug on before and suspects that's what set her back. Beyond that I sensed some ambivalence about the headcollar itself. Poppy has a fine line in shaking her nose to dislodge the headcollar as it goes on and as it comes off. So we spent the hour 'seducing' her face and teaching her a bit of clicker training so that the whole thing became a lot easier. By the end of the session she was following Elle about asking for the headcollar to go on.

Using a scarf to touch her...
...and encircle her head like a head collar. Moo, Elle's other pony spent the whole time offering to be caught!
There's still some ambivalence, note the head position
Headcollar on..and then off and on lots of times.
Note the tightness of the bottom jaw which was couple with a running foot
Looking much more relaxed...but the bottom jaw is still tense.
Reducing ear shyness and helping relaxation by rotating the ear in each direction.