Today I have had a lovely day, my sister came over to ride an as I have beenlooking after Maries horses we had one each to ride. I played jumpies on Bill, which is great fun compared to Drummer as we actually jump!! lol!
Anyway, back to the girlie....she came to say hello when we arrived but when we got Drummer in she started to stress..we tied him in sight and she chilled out, plus Brook and Shadow stood near the fence to keep her company....it wasn't until we pooh picked and they followed us down the field that she got wound up....I don't know how to deal with seperation anxiety!! I have just ignored it for the moment and hope that she learns that they will come back. I know I shouldn't worry, we have a long way to go but I think it may be our biggest hurdle.
When I got Olivia in she was quite stressed but I took her for a walk round the car park and I was REALLY pleased with her....she started by almost totally ignoring me, everything had her eyes on stalks, but I persisted with changes of direction and halts and although she was not looking at me, she followed!! Gradually I asked her to look at me, gently turning her head in my direction and as she relaxed I asked more of her, turning on the haunches and backing up a step etc. The whole session was no more than 10 minutes and at first I thought I had made a mistake trying, she was not concentrating on me and it took me half of that time to even get her attention, but I'm glad I did....suddenly her eye softened and her head lowered and she started to lick and chew, accepting me and following me. A relationship started!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Well done Em, that sounds like an excellent start to her schooling! :-)
ReplyDeleteHello i think you just need to give it time with the separation and remember that she has only been there 2 whole days ;-) seriously though see how it goes over the next couple of weeks and then worry about it if its still a big issue in the meantime think of a plan!! xx
ReplyDeleteIt's very early days Em, and a big move for Olivia - it's the first time she's been away from a herd she knows in her life! Some horses take a long time to settle. I didn't have a proper bond with my horse Pip for years - but I'm hoping it won't take you that long though lol. Olivia is a very sensitive girl and I think once you gain her trust she will then look to you for reassurance. I'm not surprised that she got stressed when the others went but I think most horses would react in that way, especially in new surroundings. None of mine would be happy on their own! I am sure that once she gets into a routine and the more you handle her, she will start to relax :-)
ReplyDeleteAlso meant to say Em, that she is very responsive to the clicker and it will be a good way to get her attention (unless she's hugely stressed!). Anyway well done so far!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what Gill said. The more I handle Rija, the more she sees me as her herd and isn't so worried about being "alone" - because she isn't alone!
ReplyDeleteI meant to say - a comment on SU made me giggle ... someone posted a thread, "Does your horse hack alone?" And one of the replies was, "No. I go with him." Made me giggle anyway! :-)
ReplyDeleteLol, I like that :-D
ReplyDeleteI know its early days and I am totally NOT stressing about it, just writing my thoughts. She has settles brilliantly considering and when I went up this morning both her and Drummer were covered in dry slobber! Yuck!