When we started, she really didn't want anything to do with me. She didn't understand having a relationship with a person, she felt lonely without her other baby pasture mates, and was just really confused by the whole change.
Since being able to catch her is a priority considering I'd like to get her out on pasture as soon as possible with Chev, I focused on that. I also really wanted to work on her feet, so picking up her hooves was also high on the list.
I knew that she was "halter broke", which in this case, meant she could be haltered and led reasonably well. Most of this is due to her personality rather than a lot of training. That's how I wanted it!
She could not trot next to her handler, was not easy to catch, and could not pick up her feet. She just didn't get it. That's okay. We'll start at the beginning.
I started by making uncomfortable for her to be away from me. This encouraged her to come up closer.
She's in a sandy pen which makes groundwork pretty easy to do. It's big enough that she can "get away" without getting far. I began by chasing her away every time she decided to leave.
I'd run her around a couple of small laps, ask for a few turns (and correct her if she tried to change direction on her own), and when I had her attention (an ear on me, licking/chewing, starting to circle closer--or when I got the feeling she was interested) I'd immediately "take the pressure off" by backing away.
Then I'd stand quietly and see what she did.
If she turned towards me and kept her attention on me, then we just stood there. All the pressure is off. It's a comfortable place to be. Everything is good.
If she went to move off, I immediately chased her away and repeated the above steps.
I wanted her to understand that she could leave any time, but there would be consequences.
She was free to go, but if she was leaving, I wanted to be the one moving her feet and deciding when she could stop.
The first couple days of this we didn't make a ton of progress. After the first day I could walk up to her and pet her, but that was about it. If she started to move away, I'd chase her off until she had a chance to think about it some more.
It didn't take long for her to understand that if she stayed still, she didn't have to move.
She was raised in a large paddock with 2-3 other young horses. Unfortunately there wasn't an older boss mare, so she was mostly unaccustomed to social interaction that wasn't playing.
I am the boss mare. She's catching on. Sortof.
When I got to the barn yesterday, I was feeling a little down about it.
Sure, she was getting it--but I felt like she was just tolerating me.
Tolerating me coming up, tolerating me touching her, and tolerating standing there. But without any real respect for me.
I thought it over and decided I wasn't pushing quite hard enough.
It's a fine line: she is reactive, sensitive, and true to her cowhorse breeding. Too much would be too much, and would set us back. She's also very fit. But this kind of ground work is never about tiring out the horse. It's about asking them to think, giving them options and encouraging the right response.
I believe that horses respond to the release of pressure, not to pressure itself. There needed to be a bigger difference between what I was doing when she made the wrong decision, and what I was doing when she make the right one.
I decided that consequences would have to be more immediate and clear--and more immediately over.
If she went to move off, I would really go after her, make her jump into action, swing a rope at her--and then that was it. Just until she moved NOW to the other side of the pen, or however far she felt like going. Then I would stop, and wait.
And darned if that didn't change her attitude really quickly.
I had resolved not to put a halter on her until I saw this change. After the breakthrough, I haltered her a few times yesterday, started the task of getting a good response for picking up her feet, and called it a day while I was far ahead.
Today she is dynamite.
I only had to chase her off once before she came right back, and wanted to stick around.
She let me halter her easily, so she got a big reward. I led her out to the grass. I don't think she's seen much grass in her life, and she was just ecstatic about it.
Led her back to her pen, took halter off, messed with Chev for a while, Chev got lots of carrots while tiny horse touched her nose to me and watched because she doesn't get what a carrot is, came back, haltering her was easy, and led her out for some more grass. Her whole attitude changed. She became friendly, happy, and willing.
While she was eating I practiced more hoof pick-ups, making sure to ask her at a time she could "succeed", when the other three legs could support her.
Brought her back in the pen, gave her (and Chev) a little hay, and worked on picking up her feet without any sort of restraints--no halter, free to leave at any time.
Not only could I get her front feet in my hands without a struggle, I could even pick them out! For the first time! Possibly ever!
She needs some farrier work done so the sooner I can get her ready for that, the better.
The way she's progressing now she should be good to go in about a week.
(I do want to mention that she is a real trooper about being poked here and there, and whether it was handling early on or just her personality, she can be touched anywhere without flinching, raising a leg, pinning an ear, or doing anything naughty. She is just really polite about everything. Thank goodness.)
In other hoof news, I lunged Chev today and she looks FANTASTIC.
She is floaty-trotting, cantering well, and no longer choppy. Her stride has lengthened out. There's still room for improvement, and I'm sure she'll look even better after this next trim. She shed a big piece of impacted bar off her left front yesterday. Her heels and frogs are descended and cushy, her feet are round again, and despite missing quite a bit of side wall from chips and dings here and there (mostly because we had to leave her toe a little long--I think that'll all clean up really well next trim), she is moving great. Her hoof quality is also really good. I'll try to take a video one of these days. I took one a week after her trim so we'll have something to compare it to.
Hooray for bare feet! I think she looked even more sound today than she's looked in shoes for a long time now.
The girls enjoy lunch yesterday
P.S. I got to talk with my Ma today, and I really do have the best parents ever. Love you, Mom & Dad.
I am SO excited for your new yellow girl!
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