Re-Educating the Horse: Building Try and Trust

You can enjoy a brief video clip here


This horse arrived for a re-start. Besides addressing his pain and physical issues, I also need to re-educate him on the human experience.

Everything was concerning and bothersome to him. It was apparent he had been aggressively handled by his on guard response to everything.

Helping him learn to slow down and think through what was being presented, then physically respond.
This helps to change his anticipative, reactive, mindless responses to becoming mentally available to hear and address what I'm offering.

Though he'd been exposed to western tack, I decided to use my jump saddle to create a different experience than what he expected.

I had to do initial foundation work of getting him to stand loose, quietly accept the saddle pad, carry just the pad and girth, and address each thing he resorted to when becoming concerned, to help drain his tension.
This was the first time I saddled him.

Horses can be incredible in letting go of bad experiences and regaining interest in human interaction if a human supports them along their journey.

This horse is used as a demo horse in the upcoming "Reading the Horse" online course. 
Course Schedule
Day 1 Pain in the Horse
Day 2 The Young Horse

Day 3 Reactive vs Thoughtful Horse
Day 4 Mindful Daily Activities
Day 5 Quality Basic Interactions
Day 6 Re-Engaging the Experienced Horse
Day 7 Replacing Fear with Curiosity

This not about "how to train" rather it explains the horse's initial thoughts and behaviors, and then how the human interactions influence the mental, emotional and physical changes in the horse.
https://bit.ly/horsecourseonline

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Sam