I volunteer at an equine assisted therapy facility, and recently I was asked to work with one of the mares.
She was trained up for a show-jumping career, but had an issue with her cannon bone that meant that the jumping and all the training for it hurt her. So she was adopted into an equine therapy program as a therapy horse. She's sensitive and "spooky".
Her spooking, bolting, and anxious behaviors have pushed people away from working with her. That, combined with another injury a few months ago, caused behavioral changes that didn't go away even after she recovered from the injury. (aggression, isolating herself from the herd, even more spooking etc). Which then meant even less people wanted to work with her.
Medically, she's OK. Mentally, and emotionally? Nope.
That's where I come in. I volunteer 3-4 times a week, sometimes 6, and when horses have a training program, sometimes I'm asked to take it on. Which is the case here. I'm assigned to help this mare every day until she's feeling better.
I'm currently 2 weeks into working with her and here's the status:
1 At this barn they use treat training, and the response with treats is- she fixes on the food, and blocks out everything else. She also gets more excited and I didn't think those bursts of sporadic energy would help her stay calm and focused. So I've taken out the treats for our sessions. She's not a fan of that.
2- She's more relaxed, she tunes into my cues better, and basics like grooming and hooves are going much faster. *she is frightened of curry combs, among other things*.
3. Handling is easier, she's moving her feet willingly, she's doing Join-Up at least once a session now and we always end on a good note.
4 We still get spooky behaviors but nothing to a level 10 so far. I've kept it lowkey and slow, so that's no surprise. The first two weeks have been a lot of trust-building and testing to see just how spooky she is and some of her triggers. *She is afraid of curry combs, as one example*.
5- She is starting to socialize more with the herd and she comes willingly into the arena to work. 2 weeks ago, she did not. Now she does. I had to pull her out today because she wanted to stay in the arena. Progress.
In theory I'm supposed to use Parelli games/treats with her, but my gut instinct is that it's not right for her. So I'm looking for inspiration here. Monty's program looks to be excellent and might be just what we need, though I'm not too confident in myself in using it, because I'm a beginner to Join-Up...
I suspect the Dually halter might help her, combined with the groundwork and desensitization we're doing already. But I'm a beginner to this and maybe there's something else we should work at first?
-Are there any lessons here that might be helpful to Sunny and I? If so, can you tell me the title so I can find it? If you've had success with a case like this I'd love to hear about that too.
-I've also been SO curious about the Dually halter. If it's worked for you I'd love to hear about it.
She was trained up for a show-jumping career, but had an issue with her cannon bone that meant that the jumping and all the training for it hurt her. So she was adopted into an equine therapy program as a therapy horse. She's sensitive and "spooky".
Her spooking, bolting, and anxious behaviors have pushed people away from working with her. That, combined with another injury a few months ago, caused behavioral changes that didn't go away even after she recovered from the injury. (aggression, isolating herself from the herd, even more spooking etc). Which then meant even less people wanted to work with her.
Medically, she's OK. Mentally, and emotionally? Nope.
That's where I come in. I volunteer 3-4 times a week, sometimes 6, and when horses have a training program, sometimes I'm asked to take it on. Which is the case here. I'm assigned to help this mare every day until she's feeling better.
I'm currently 2 weeks into working with her and here's the status:
1 At this barn they use treat training, and the response with treats is- she fixes on the food, and blocks out everything else. She also gets more excited and I didn't think those bursts of sporadic energy would help her stay calm and focused. So I've taken out the treats for our sessions. She's not a fan of that.
2- She's more relaxed, she tunes into my cues better, and basics like grooming and hooves are going much faster. *she is frightened of curry combs, among other things*.
3. Handling is easier, she's moving her feet willingly, she's doing Join-Up at least once a session now and we always end on a good note.
4 We still get spooky behaviors but nothing to a level 10 so far. I've kept it lowkey and slow, so that's no surprise. The first two weeks have been a lot of trust-building and testing to see just how spooky she is and some of her triggers. *She is afraid of curry combs, as one example*.
5- She is starting to socialize more with the herd and she comes willingly into the arena to work. 2 weeks ago, she did not. Now she does. I had to pull her out today because she wanted to stay in the arena. Progress.
In theory I'm supposed to use Parelli games/treats with her, but my gut instinct is that it's not right for her. So I'm looking for inspiration here. Monty's program looks to be excellent and might be just what we need, though I'm not too confident in myself in using it, because I'm a beginner to Join-Up...
I suspect the Dually halter might help her, combined with the groundwork and desensitization we're doing already. But I'm a beginner to this and maybe there's something else we should work at first?
-Are there any lessons here that might be helpful to Sunny and I? If so, can you tell me the title so I can find it? If you've had success with a case like this I'd love to hear about that too.
-I've also been SO curious about the Dually halter. If it's worked for you I'd love to hear about it.
Yes, welcome to EQUUS Online University! Mr. Roberts methods truly saved my horses lives. I'm so grateful for this university and I hope you will find it encouraging, insightful, rewarding and most of all fun for you and Sunny.
Six years ago I was gifted with my first horse and I was very green with little to no experience training horses. I saw Mr. Roberts Join-Up with a very abused and afraid horse on TV and knew immediately that the relationship he received with that horse was the one I wanted with my new horse.
I'm familiar with Pat Parelli's games and treat training because both of those methods were tried on my horse where she was formerly boarded and, similar to Sunny, my horse became mouthy and anxious for the treat instead of learning the desired behavior. With Parelli games, my horse was very confused and the trainer got exasperated with her and the relationship I had dreamed of obtaining with her looked farther away rather than closer to achieving.
I now have a place for my horse at home and for five years my horse and I have been able to explore Mr. Roberts principles. Because she was a very confident, friendly horse, I started with mostly Dually work. The lesson videos I mainly studied the principles of were, Dually Halter, a Course on Leading Your Horse, Dually Dance with Chris Morris, Dually Halter: The Four steps.