On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 12:05 PM, Nancy Sturm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Or even a horse with no issues. I have come to believe it is really hard > for a horse to change owners and barns
Nancy, you are so right. I think the adjustment period for a sensitive horse to a new home can vary so much and be responsible for some people to think that they have been 'swindled' or sold a 'bad horse'. People get a new horse and expect it to be what they expected it be. Yet here is a horse that has to get comfortable/confident with a new herd, new surroundings and new people. Even if the horse, at its previous home had people confidence, herd confidence and thing confidence now he is in a whole new set of surroundings, horses, people, routines. The horse may be stoic and not look nervous or unsure, but he probably is. Our barn/paddock area is kind of in the middle of a wooded hilly area. The horses have trails thru the woods to get to the open pasture, but still surrounded by woods. A pretty different environment for most horses. My horses are handled, brushed and trained/expected to behave in a certain way at least twice a day. Even mellow, trusty old, lovable Falki is not exactly the same horse here that he was at Karen's. At first glance, it would appear that Falki is nervous and doesn't like attention. He gets a bit jumpy when Michael gets out the rake, but he's getting used to it. He's not crazy about all the grooming that goes on twice a day. Now, I don't groom him completely twice a day, but he is messed with, at least getting the mud off his face and some currying of muddy areas twice a day. He tends to move away from me when I try to groom him. Now granted, I expect my horses to stand unrestrained for grooming. He went from being part of a big herd and most probably just getting brushed occasionally to maybe more attention than he wants. Like with Gloi, I am training him to stand still for grooming and he is doing well. Some horses just don't like to be brushed as much as others. Gloi likes it more now than he did. It does help to find their favorite spots to be scratched. Falki loves clicker training and being with me and things are going great, but I like to take things slow and let the horse get used to his new person. Going from a larger herd where he has a bigger choice of friends to go to 'forced' choice of friends has to be an adjustment too. Falki and Gloi seem to be getting on great. I do see them run and play, but Falki seems to enjoy sharing the haypile more with Cassie than either going to his own pile or sharing with Gloi. I guess what I'm saying is pay attention to all the changes that your new horse is going thru and don't label them with negative attributes due to a reaction here or there that may be different that you were told or experienced. Take time to get to know your horse and let him get to know you, his environment, herdmates. Use gentle reassurances instead of assuming he's being bad and needs aggressive training. Even a little TTouch goes a long way to help you form a bond/trust with your new horse. -- Anna Southern Ohio
