I have 5 home bred horses - 3 hunters and 2 show ponies. Non are broken to ride. I have lost my nerve riding. They have all been raised identically as a group. I have not yet attempted a round pen join up as I dont want to cock it up. 2 need breaking to ride and I need some advice. But first..........
The hunters naturally follow me in the field like pet dogs, while the show ponies are stand offish but friendly enough in general. However the 3yo pony filly is very skittish. Difficult to approach at times and head shy. I bought her mother who was a similar type and was warned to only lead her in a bridle - even then she would suddenly tow me around fields and yards at the walk with a bit in her mouth and simply refuse to stop. Never in a panic but absolutely determined to not give in. Her daughter displays similar behaviour when led in a head collar. She is also bottom of the pecking order in the herd, and bullied somewhat and since her mother died when she was a yearling she has become more hyper sensitive and nervous.
I recently separated the show ponies to treat them daily for flies - it took 1/2 hour of patiently getting dragged around a barn for me to get the filly's first treatment with fly repellant on - she has slowly improved but is still phobic around her head (as always Im calm and quiet with her - she has a hair trigger) and human hands can panic her if not kept steady and low. Then she went through some electric fence wire and cut her leg below the hock - she was obviously in great pain and got very stressed when I had to treat her daily, but eventually accepted the dressings and sprays and has healed well after several weeks of treatment.
The odd thing now is that to catch her in the field i find if I crouch low and start by touching her legs she stands calmly and lets me work my way up to her head collar - to approach her head straight away (even slowly without eye contact) often results in lots of ducking and frightened looks from her. I caught her like this (leg first) the other day and whilst applying her spray, a horse fly landed and bit her flank (and fly's send her insane) - she let me slowly squash it against her side, although she was suspicious of my intentions. 2 more landed and I did the same to them, and then another landed on her face. I expected her to freak and dash off but she let me steadily raise my hand and squash that near her eye. At the time I was stood by her head, but looking at the fly mush on my hand trying to decide where to wipe it off when I realized she was staring straight at me with both ears locked on. She holds her head very high when tense and as she is only 13hands she looks right in my face from a few inches away. I tried not to stare back but I could feel her thinking things through. It was very odd. When I walked away after finishing, I led her in a few circles and instead of her diving away and dragging me, then giving in, she followed fairly willingly. Im not saying it was perfect but things had definately improved between us! She seems calmer and more willing, although still a little tense. She is still only 3 and a baby. The hunters at 3yo where so confident and cock sure of me - this is a huge contrast. They have all had identical handling.
What im wondering is - is this a kind of round about join up? Also, I know Monty says all horses are the same but I think the filly may be so highly sensitive that she just goes too heavily into the pressure thing - causing a stubborn anxiety. Her mother seemed to drag me around for unknown reasons, but maybe she had a good reason I dont understand and couldnt help going in to the pressure and dragging me about as a natural reaction?
Any ideas anyone?
Hi Angela!
Scientists found out that humans as well as other animals inherit several genes. The descendant is able to actively switch these genes on and off.
In the case of your little filly this means that the mother inherited fear and headshyness to her baby. The baby did never learn or understand that you would never hurt her by touching her head. Because horses are flight-animals they are acting instinctively. Instinctives are inherited in form of genes as well as shown by older animals (her mother).
That is the biological declaration to your filly's fear. Another problem is your own behaviour. You said: "I don't want to cock it up.", "I expected her to freak and dash off but ..." This shows me that you are afraid of making a fault (in case of Join-Up) and that you are expecting your horse to react in a special way.
When you are afraid of getting a Join-Up done in the correct way you should go back to Monty's Join-Up-lessons and not start doing it with the filly, but doing it with an older, calmer horse like on of the Hunters. If you gained certainty with the Hunter you are able to go on and do it with your little filly. After Join-Up she will understand that you are speaking her language and that you are a reliable leader whom she can trust. Then I would advise you to go over to do the "Join-Up in a large pasture"-lessons with her and teach her how to be led (Dually-Halter work). And last but not least I would recommend you to do the lessons about "Georgias Phobias".
And here is my last advice for you: Do NEVER expect your horse to react in a special way! Horses can feel this, and then you won't solve your problems!
If you have any other questions do not hesitate to ask! Let me know about how you both are doing!
With greetings from Germany,
yours Jasmin
Hi Jasmin
You are so right here! I know I need to approach her with no expectations, but cant figure out how to treat her as if I dont know her. When I do try to be extra calm, I suspect that I just behave in a rather un-natural way. Another problem is that she is exceptionally well bred, and I cant help thinking of her as if she is an expensive china doll. I cant tell you how gutted I was by her leg injury, and it breaks my heart to see her bullied by the other horses. She really misses her Mum, who had cancer. Caesar Millan says you should never pity a dog as it fosters insecurity in the animal, and I think its true here too.
I will look out for the join up in a large pasture lesson tonight, and georgias phobias too. Wish me luck. Kindest regards
Hi Angela!
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I have never talked about china dolls or behaving as if you don't know her. But I think you should behave as if she was not headshy (and has never been so). Just try it out!
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Of course I'm wishing you luck! Let me know about how you are doing.
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Jasmin
Hi
Just viewed Spooky Kadina Chronicals - this pretty much is my filly, except she rarely tries to run me over.
Im trying not to stand back and view her, which was a habit of mine - looking closely at her to see how she is growing. Im sure being stared at like that spooks her.
She is much easier to approach and catch, and she let me trim her feet today in the paddock more calmly than she has ever done, and I have better control of what she does with her feet (standing still, moving backwards), but we still have a problem with leading forwards. She is very clingy towards her brother, which sets up some resistance in her attitude as she wont leave him. However overall she seems much more mature and relaxed in her behavior.
Angela
Hi!
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Sounds great!
It seems to me as if you have already changed your behavior, a huge step towards the trust of your filly. If you want to avaoid beeing run over by your filly, you have to use the Dually Halter really consequent and do the P.I.C.N.I.C.-thing (Positive Instant Consequences/Negative Instant Consequences).
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At the moment I am watching the Centaur Series. It is also about headshyness with horses that are really extremely headshy and hard to bridle. I think this might also be helpful for you, especially the videos about Abigail. In her case Monty shows how to do the P.I.C.N.I.C.-thing with the headshy horse by using the Dually Halter.
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If you want we could keep closer contact via email. Here is my address: renjaho@aol.com. Just type in your name in the field for the topic of your email. Then I will identify you.
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Yours Jasmin