Hi Susan, >>>I had a major insight into her the other day when I was riding her with my mom's horse. We were riding along the trail side by side and I commented how nice it was to ride with a horse Whisper doesn't pin her ears at and make ugly faces.
Great post, I think is so easy to just see a behavior and not delve deeper. The behavior that we see on the surface will often be displayed in very small amounts in other situations. She definitely sounds insecure to me and is fearful when other horses get too close. A couple of pretty simple suggestions are going some tailwork exercises which will help you check out the level of tension she carries - I can send you some basic info on tailwork if that would be helpful. I would do it without a saddle and then when the saddle is on and IF you can get someone to help you do the tailwork for a few minutes when a rider is on her back. It is that context thing again. A horse can be fine in one situation and not another. Mouthwork is also helpful in releasing emotional stress - good for horses who are hard to catch as well. Even though she has been started going through the steps of Neck line driving and then ground driving (articles and photos on Judy's website) is extremely helpful with horses that are reactive to things behind them - whether it is another horse, sounds, cars etc. You often only have to do it once, as long as the horse seems relaxed and accepting to the process (assign the clicker to this is really beneficial). Using a bodywrap during these processes makes it much easier for horses to stay connected through their bodies and realize their rear end is attached to them. We then ride with a 'promise' wrap (elastic bandage around the hindquarters attached to the saddle - so named because it is like the promise of engagement). I find that some horses seem more disconnected to their hindquarters with a saddle. If you consider that it is the nerves that send and receive information from the brain through the body and when a saddle is secured on the horse there is some pressure on these nerves then perhaps there is a 'blockage' or kind of disconnection happening, especially if a horse is tense. We take the approach of 'chunking down' a situation and rather than starting with the situation that triggers obvious behavior. If you start somewhere with a lower concern rate and are able to help them cope with the small things, it makes it easier in other situations. It also makes a person really start to listen when the horse is whispering a concern - that you might just be able to push her through - rather than when they have to shout to make you hear - and then people usually say - 'the horse gave me no warning'. When you consider tension in the body and what can create the tension and you can give the horse a different physical experience in those situations it usually changes how they respond. If you change how a body 'feels' it helps change how it acts. There is a physiological process that happens in the nervous system and at a cellular that I can't explain but have seen it happen many, many times over the past 25 years, with all sorts of species. It goes way beyond training. If you want me to write details of 'how-to' I am happy to do so. Robyn Icelandic Horse Farm Robyn Hood & Phil Pretty Vernon BC Canada www.icefarm.com
