Building confidence in the abused horse

[earlybp]

I am by no means a horse expert, but I've worked with many abused dogs and cats. After having boarded Eduardo at Hytyme's for nearly a year, I've finally moved him to my farm, and now have day-to-day contact with him. The past two weeks have been very interesting, and have given me a lot to think about, in terms of working with an abused horse.

Last night, Eddie found an open gate, and got out of the corral. I found the gate after he did, and closed it, not realizing that he had already let himself out. Then I noticed him standing in my driveway.

I said, "Eddie, what are you doing out here?" Eddie headed towards the other gate, and cowered. He's 15.3 and he actually cowered down and shook. He was shaking all over. I said, "It's okay, buddy, Come on." He shrank from me until I picked up his little bucket of grain and offered him some. Then, he followed me through the other gate and got his grain and settled down.

I was surprised. I'm not sure what triggered this. But I think I understand him better for it. He could have run from me. He could have run me over. But suddenly, he felt small and helpless and very very afraid.

It made me realize that there have been a lot of moments where Eduardo feels afraid and helpless. When he hides behind the fence when the farrier visits. When it takes a half-hour to put his turnout coat on. Whenever I try to put a lead rope on him. His first instinct is fear.

I know that horses are like rabbits. It's what makes Eddie and Bert head to the other side of the pasture whenever the neighbor's llama looks at them sideways. But Eddie has a whole new level of paranoia. It's like Eddie expects the worst, all of the time. Everything is going to hurt.

My goal with Eddie is to help him overcome his fear. Here's what I'm doing:

1. Introduce things in small steps. It took a couple of encounters with the turn-out coat before I could put it on him.
2. Lots of soothing touch
3. Have him live with a good example ("Look, Eddie, Bert's letting me brush him.").
4. Give him choices ("you don't have to put on your lead rope. You can stay here if you want, but I know you want to go out to pasture, so in order to do so, the lead rope has to go on.)
5. Observe the tiny changes in his demeanor. (Eduardo doesn't like it when I say his name "Eduardo". His ears will go back a little on the "do" part of his name. It may sound like "no" to him, I think. He responds better to Eddie. So "Eddie" it is. This observing behavior is important, but difficult. I keep feeling like I'm missing something, Or that I'm putting too much importance into that tail flick).
6. Don't stop exposing him to new experiences. It's easy to want to baby him, but in a way that validates his fear.
7. Lots of specific praise. ("Hey, nice haunch turns at the gate. Now we're facing the same direction. Cool.")
8. Ask before doing. ("Can I brush you?") He doesn't really have a choice. I'm going to brush him, but at least he sees the brush coming and can prepare himself for it.
9. Be Consistent. Eddie and Bert have specific spots where they eat. They get fed at the same times every day. Their schedule is the same every day, in terms of pasture time, and grooming and feeding.

These things are pretty simple, but they seem to be working. I don't have all of the answers, and I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot with Eddie moving forward. We have a long way to go until he's under saddle, but I'm confident that we'll get there (or, wherever it is that we're supposed to be!).

[jenm]

Good for you, earlybp. It sounds as if you are doing a wonderful job with Eddie. God Bless You for understanding his fear and working with him in a loving manner. Eddie had a very soft landing and I look forward to updates on his progress.

Keep up the good work!

[earlybp]

Thanks! I hope so. It's so worth it. When I see him playing or relaxing, it's awesome. He's got a great personality.

[wendyp]

Hi Bridget,

You are very perceptive, and that is wonderful for Eddie. Can I share what Mark Rashid says about working with abused horses? His philosophy is to treat them just like any other horse. If we tip-toe around their issues (and I'm not saying that you are doing this, just generalizing), then we are validating their concerns. If we act like putting on a lead rope is big deal, it will be (again, just an example). But, if we just go about our everyday chores/duties/ and treat the abused horse just like any other horse, he will start acting like any other horse. If we treat them differently, they will act differently. Our mental attitude is so important......One thing that I learned at the Mark Rashid clinic in Colorado was this: In my job as a loan officer, I am constantly anticipating any problems on a loan, and fixing them before they happen or before they get too far out of hand. This does not translate well into my horsemanship..........I anticipate anything and everything that can happen, and by golly it does happen!!! Horses operate differently than paperwork. When I anticipate, they accomodate. So, I am trying to work on NOT anticipating, and just doing things as they come. Doing things as normally as possible, with just positive thoughts. I have found with Kasey (cber mare, very jumpy) that if I go into her corral and talk real soft and move real slow (both things are out of character for me - you know me, I not quiet!!!) she acts like she is waiting for the other shoe to drop. If I go into her corral, just like I would with one of the other horses, and talk normal, move normal, pat her if I feel like it, etc, she is much more relaxed - she still might flinch, but if I don't make a big deal out of it, she doesn't make a big deal out of it. Also, if I act normal, then I am consistent, and consistency is also very important. Kasey can come to rely on me to act a certain way - if I am trying to talk softly, walk slowly, and I forget to do that, then she is back to being apprehensive. Consistency is very very important.

Sorry to have rambled on...............hope some part of it was useful!!!!

WendyP/Bend, OR

[earlybp]

Wendy-
That's really good advice. It's the thing I have the hardest time with, too. I am guilty of tip-toeing. Sometimes I put way too much thought in how I'm going to be, and of course, the horses are thinking, "What? Why is she acting like that?"
I find if I approach too softly, Eddie is immediately wary, like "What do you want? Why are you sneaking up on me?" Treating him like he is a normal horse means that I have to start seeing him as a normal horse instead of seeing him as a scared boy. You're right, horses will accomodate our opinions.
So today, instead of "Poor baby"ing him about the very scary llama that lives next door, we went over and faced the llama (with two fences and a road between us, but still, we were nearly in spitting distance). Eddie handled it for about 2 minutes, and then shot off like a rocket to the other end of the pasture. Later I saw him approaching the llama, trying it out on his own.
I love Mark Rashid. I'm re-re-reading Mark Rashid's "Horses never lie." Are you doing anything with Kathleen this summer?

[wendyp]

Yes, Kathleen is doing two clinics at my house - one in May and one in September. I have one spot open in the May clinic.....hint hint.....and I haven't even started to thing about September. It's limited to 8, and we have 6 standing participants that come to every Kathleen clinic.........we're addicts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let me know if you are interested - she is well worth every penny of the clinic fee.

WendyP/Bend, OR

[wendyp]

Oh, I meant to add - you know that *alot* of horses have a innate fear of Llama's - it's something about the way they smell. So Eddie isn't being unreasonable in not liking them. My rock solid QH gelding - who spooks at nothing - will RUN from a llama. Eddie's just a smart horse. Might be easier on both of you to choose something less traumatic than a llama to 'act normal' with!!!!

WendyP/Bend, OR

[Tockita]

While I have worked with dometic babies, (one was severely neglected) and more recently my mustangs, Cordelia was my first abuse victim. Some folk say clickers work great on abused horses because it helps them concentrate on the click. I believe that is true, but my stangs can be muggers if too much hand feeding goes on.

What I ended up doing with Cordie is the same things we were doing with the stangs at Lifesavers. approach and retreat on good behavior. Since she couldn't even look at me at first, I ended up in a pipe pen moving her until she would look at me then I would back up. It took me 2 days of clinic (letting her rest and relax at times) to be able to halter her. At home she got to where I was petting and brushing the stangs and I would reach out for her. If she wanted to walk or trot away I followed and mirrored her turns. She learned to give up and just let me brush her. Both she and the wild ones seem more relaxed around folks who are strong with them. She is still more comfortable in a larger pen with company then she is to be approached when alone in a stall, but she is so much better!

[earlybp]

Tockita-
I did some clicking with him early on, and he did respond well to it. I'll dig it out. It took me six hours over six days to get his halter on, using a clicker, but now I can take it off and put it on at will.
It's good to hear being strong works. It makes sense, too. I mean, who wouldn't want to be around a strong ally.

[kw]

You sound like a very caring and perceptive horse owner!

I do agree with Wendy on the treating him like a "regular" horse. I've found that every time you do something normal with a horse like this and they survive something that scared them, their self confidence begins to grow.

My now retired TB was a total bundle of scared nervousness. It took 6 months before he made eye contact with me! There were a couple of things I did. One was to figure a way to make him exhale. For example: I taught him to do a turn on the forehand. We would stop and wait for him to give a big sigh. I'd tell him, "Good boy", give him a cookie and move on. Sometimes the sigh came quickly, other times took awhile. Patience is key. When we started showing, and he would get worked up, we'd do a turn on the forehand, wait for the sigh and continue. It truly helped him.

The other thing I did was to reassure him with an exhale and a smile from me. When he would start to focus and worry, I'd quietly chuckle, smile, tell him, "You're alright" and let out a sigh. He would look at me and start breathing again, LOL! It really helps you as the leader convey good vibes.

I hope this makes sense, but when a horse is breathing and chewing, they're OK. So my goal was to get him to take a breath and lick and chew. You don't necessarily have to do a turn on the forehand. Try to find something that's easy to learn and that becomes a safe zone trigger.

As a little time went on, and he began testing me a bit, I found a bit of a growl as reprimand was plenty. The first growl he ever got startled him. But again, he survived, wasn't hurt and his trust in me grew.

Best wishes to you both!

[earlybp]

Thanks KW- I can see why breathing is really important. When my younger son gets upset, I say, "Deep breath, buddy, deep breath". It makes sense to do that with Eddie too, and to have this calming mechanism in place for stressful events.

[watermarkfarm]

It sounds like you are doing such a nice job with this horse. He is lucky to be with someone so sensitive and perceptive.

I agree with the person above who said you have to sometimes just go about it as if the horse is normal. Sometimes, I think the horse picks up so much on our thoughts and feelings that if we are overly focused on the horse's issues, somehow he picks up that he needs to continue those patterns.

Lots of positive experiences, make sure your body is relaxed and that you breathe while handling your horse. I talk out loud quite a lot. It sounds like you are doing all the right things with this guy. What a difference another year will make!

[earlybp]

Thank you!
This morning, we had a breakthrough. Eddie let himself out of the corral while I went into the garage to get his morning grain. He was eating the grass on the lawn, and then, as I came back with the grain, he was sniffing the privet hedge, considering a (poisonous) bite. I yelled, "Hey!" and he popped his head up and ran towards me and the corral, and through the gate. It was nice to see him run towards me. His expression was one of "Hi, here I am." He got a "Good boy!" and a few pets, and then an extra helping of grain (he only gets about a cup to begin with).
I had a scare just thinking of him eating the privet. It's like he's a toddler. You can't take your eyes off of him for a minute.

[MustangAppy]

I love this thread. I took a Parelli clinic, and also learned that even though Pal clearly loved me, he was still nervous a lot of the time. What I learned from the instructor there was "firm but fair." I wasn't being a good leader, I was trying too hard to just be his friend, and since he didn't want to be the leader, he was concerned a lot of time about just about everything. As soon as I stopped acting like this or that might be a big deal, he settled right down. For example, if I walk into a strange arena, even if it is dark, he will follow me right in. He would never walk in on his own, but because I will do it, it's okay. Praise when they are doing things well is the ultimate training tool. I rescue Alaskan Malamutes, and I quickly figured out what works with the dogs pretty much works with the horses. Different biscuits, but the same techniques.