Hi Susan, >>>Yes, she does a lot of petting and stroking. He really started to let down at the end. He is smart and catches on to things quickly. Now, if I could just get him to be able to take a treat with a bit in his mouth...
This comment tells me that he is holding a lot of tension in his body - when the tail is tight, generally so will be the mouth. Have you done mouthwork on Andi? How are his teeth and when were they floated? Can he eat anything with a bit in his mouth? The TTouches can really helpful in reducing the kind of tension that he carries in his body and have a different response that just stroking and petting - so if you can use the TTouch on him and perhaps some counterclockwise circles in the beginning. Some horses seem to have more wound up nervous systems in terms of their response to things and I think hold the fear at a cellular level - I think it is also affects how they retain information. I have seen it change as long as they are taught in a way that they can really learn and you can release the fear in the cells. The book "Molecules of Emotion" really explains how this works. It has been my experience that simply 'sacking out' these horses only floods their nervous system and they learn to just freeze instead of actually accepting what is done - which is probably. The other problem is that when an animal is tense and they feel pushed there is a hormone called ACTH - a stress hormone, which actually blocks learning so even if they do something sometimes they aren't really retaining the information. I think you can work through this with him, the biggest challenge is the rider not reacting to their startles - and that is where Sharon will be of a big help I am sure. Robyn Hood
