dancing horses

dancing horses

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Carmen Faces Her Fears

When Royce finished with Carmen on Wednesday I asked him immediately when he could come back. He thought for a minute and then said he could come back Thursday after work. So I rushed home from work and brought the horses in to to feed them and got on my riding gear 'just in case'.

The weather was cold and blustery which was annoying in terms of it being, you know, JUNE, but good in terms of setting the stage for Carmen to lose it.

This time Royce brought a pool noodle attached to a stick. The idea is that it's scary, but because it was made of foam there's no way it can hurt the horse. He introduced her to it in the stall and she was understandably nervous but willing to trust him. We brought her up to the ring and he worked on helping her find a new way to address her fears.

Royce worked her on the lunge as he did the day before. Once she was working well he brought out the noodle. He explained that he starts by having the horse follow the scary thing. Horses run from what frightens them so when they follow they can't be afraid and become curious. I actually say it working. But see for yourself:

Carmen playing 'Follow the Noodle'

 

She was very calm about the whole thing and Royce asked me if there were other things. I asked him if he wanted to try the hula hoop. I view hula hoops as a fun toy and/or a way to practice Appariting (yes in addition to being a Star Trek geek I am also a Harry Potter nerd). Carmen, however,  considers them Circles of Death. She completely freaks out at the merest sight of them. I had one hung on the wheelbarrow outside her stall. For 24 hours she would take a mouthful of her food and then go as far as she could to chew.

Here's Royce working with her:




Royce showed me how he makes sure that the horse is focussed on him at all times. It was great to watch her wanting to look around and be brought back to Royce. It didn't take long before she was taking quick peeks but staying on task. This is her working down at the end of the ring where all the trees and grass wave and carry on.

I'm sure that there are lots of details I'm leaving out but the videos speak for themselves. You can see the trees blowing and I want you to see how she's working very hard to stay on task.



In the end we decided that riding was not needed at this point. I told him that I would ride tomorrow. Royce asked me when and I explained that I was on Fridays. He said that he really wanted to ride her so could come in the morning. He looked excited at the idea of riding her.

That seed of hope was becoming a seedling.



8 comments:

  1. You're a trekkie too!

    I wish I had some toys like that. I was amazed about the bag on the lungeline - I can imagine it on the whip, but on the line I'd be afraid I'd lose my horse and there'd be an accident because the bag was connected to the horse.

    I took Mag for a walk today and he was more frightened than I'd ever seen him - a neighbor had made a bonfire in his yard and it sounded like a group of people all cracking lunge whips at the same time, non stop, and even worse, the sounds were echoing off the hillside on the other side of the street so I honestly thought there were TWO bonfires for a while. It literally scared the poop out of Mag, and that never happens. I told him to graze but he was unable to, peacefully, he'd grab a bite and stand there head up eyes crazy, pondering the danger, but....thankfully that's as bad as he got. I grazed him until the fire actually burned down, so a very long time. Then he saw the neighbor's garbage sacks and skittered around me in a circle - yah, it wasn't a good day for us, but I feel very safe on the ground.

    Isn't it great to have a good trainer? I hope I have one too - not sure yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hear you about the bag. I started mine tied very close to me so I could roll it up if I had too. It slowly moved toward her.

      The bonfire was probably very scary for Mags. For Carmen I find asking her to graze does not calm her down. Asking her to work on something simple does. I think it gives her mind a place to go to rather than on the scary thing.

      Delete
  2. It's wonderful to see how mch you care about Carmen and your work together. My connection is too slow to watch the videos, but I get the idea of what Royce is working toward. And BTW, they do not elect Kings in Sweden. It happened in 1523 because Sweden had been under Danish rule. That king was sort of our George Washington, a true hero.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. And thank you for explaining the election. I was a bit confused. :)

      Delete
  3. Your trainer sounds awesome! Seems like Carmen has made great strides in her work with you and the trainer is helping to push the envelope further. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have such a good feeling about all of this.

      Delete
  4. Sounds like a great session for Carmen!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm catching up after a weekend away. I hope Friday's ride went well. This work with Royce looks very promising.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love the feedback.