Helping The Hyper Alert and Pushy Horse

Meet Moose
I did a lesson recently with Nora and Moose and thought it would be good to share. Much of what comes up in his "coping mechanisms" is very common with horses that are bigger in size.

His history is a bit convoluted, but it's clear that from his constant high alert default mode, his previous human experiences caused distrust.
A challenge with a horse like him, when he's unsure how to cope, is he either shuts down and doesn't move or he can literally run you over.
It is easy to get distracted by his big-ness rather than realizing it is a reflection of his mental and emotional state.
In this session, we initially worked on spatial pressure when he was tied. Every time she'd go to groom he'd step into her or mentally avoid her. So this wasn't about grooming, but rather how to engage his brain and curiosity while defining boundaries especially.
We wanted him to be able to acknowledge the pressure of being approached by humans and stay engaged.
Then we worked literally a few steps at a time in refining his ability to 1st look, then move in a balanced manner, when led. His typical default is to take his left shoulder and aim it at the human, pushing them out of the way.
I see so many people trying to address the shoulder, which is the symptom, rather than the source, which is the horse is mentally elsewhere.
As soon as we got his brain engaged, & follow the feel of pressure, we could then ask his body to soften- jaw, neck, shoulders, knees, hocks, etc.
This picture was taken at the end of the session. There was a lot of yawning and chewing. And in Nora's words, "I've never seen him look so relaxed."
Did we have to run him or work him hard? No. Did we have to have him "practice" with other horses coming and going or learn to tolerate the rain pounding on the roof or other distractions? No. All we did was create a safe place for his brain and body to be, and his initial need to mentally look for an escape and physically try to avoid, dissipated.