Mistakes teach. I wanted to re-shoot this little video I made about Magneto’s progress with the saddling and unsaddling process. Then, I realized its teaching value was greater by showing the mistakes I made in this video. Magneto has a bad trigger around saddling that is improving. When I finally realized his trigger, I gave him a year off and decided to restart him in a completely different way and even in a different location. This time, I did the whole process loose and invited him to participate with a few treats as payment. I wanted to work totally off his will to join me in the process. Look for the moments when I race him and do not respect his concerns. See if you can catch them. After the video, I have posted still shots where I could have moved slower, gotten present, and waited until he did not object or react by increasing his concern. All in all, I am very pleased with his progress in getting over what was a really bad fear of being saddled. He used to shut down in a frozen state, with a completely frozen look on his face, frozen eyes, clamped in tail, and a super tense body no matter how gently one put the saddle on him. He was also scared of the bridle and the rein coming over his head. The slightest brush or noise after saddling could unglue him completely, causing him to fly into a series of bucks whether you were on the ground or in the saddle. When I finally understood that his response was born of a deeper place than the conscious brain and that he was reacting from a set nervous system pattern to a traumatic experience around saddling, then I began to make progress as I addressed healing his nervous system instead of trying to “train” the reaction out of him. To do this, I am careful to stay below threshold and to bring his mind back down every time it starts to come up too far. If I can keep him calm and far from a freeze response, he can begin to make new associations with being saddled, and that is what is happening. The advice to myself is to keep my focus on the horse and to slow down even more. Wait out that last bit of concern and resistence. Saddling And Unsaddling Magneto
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Bernie and I both participated in the Mustang Summit and Equus Film Festival in Aiken, South Carolina. It was a lot of fun to hang out, watch and participate in the various programs being offered over the three days. On Saturday I gave a talk about deepening connection to your horse with the Trust Technique and Bernie's film the Lost Sea Expedition was the 7pm feature film on Saturday night. It was great to see the Lost Sea Expedition back on the big screen where it looks so beautiful. It was also a blast to meet this years group of mustangers and to watch them work with the lovely yearling mustangs they drew. All in all a really great weekend so well organized by Lisa Diersen. The best part for me about the whole event was to see how relaxed and well cared for the young mustangs were. A truly lovely event from start to finish. Mark Your Calendars For This Upcoming Event At REIN Rescue In Rutherfordton, NC. October 10th 2024.9/22/2024 Change is in the air. Fall is upon us. Autumn is a transitional season. I see the changes in physical ways, the coats growing longer on our animals, their metabolisms ramping up, the colder air that makes them frisky, the lower light in the mornings and evenings. This time is also reflexive for me as I think where we have come from this summer and where we stand now in relation to that. Many of my equine clients have come miles due to the lovely mindfulness practice the Trust Technique offers and their dedication to helping their horses with it. I think of Rebecca’s horse Ali, who when I first met him early this summer, stood in his stall giraffe-like in his hyper-vigilant, sleep deprived way, who has relaxed so much that the difference in appearance when one approaches his stall is so evident that it gives me goose bumps. Rebecca has been so dedicated to working with the Trust Technique with Ali that when he does still get freaked out by something in his pasture he runs to her instead of his pasture mates. Ali has learned through Rebecca’s use of the Trust Technique that she is aware of him and his concerns and that she will help him to be calm with the things that worry him. Trauma takes a long time to fix all the way but Ali is definitely on a healing path. He is sleeping. He is eating better, and he is relaxing more and more and not always hyper-vigilant now. This is a lovely thing to witness. To read two earlier articles about Ali’s journey click the links below. Unfreezing Ali's Nervous System With The Trust Technique: Re-balancing The Sympathetic And Parasympathetic Branches Two Different Vagus Nerve Responses To Longterm Trauma In Horses And How The Trust Technique Is Helping Both Horses To Re-regulate Their Nervous Systems About a month ago I was asked to help Trayce and her borders gentle and halter train to feral horses named Izzy and Ivan, who Trayce had rescued out of a kill pen two years ago but had not done much work with besides caring for them. Read their initial story here where I present a slide show of the first work with Izzy. Building Trust With Ivan And Izzy Using The Trust Technique Izzy and Ivan have come a long way in a very short time. Izzy now takes her halter peacefully and is starting to lead and have her legs picked up. Ivan the shyer, wilder sibling has progressed too. He is now accepting pats and is allowing people to come up to him in his pasture. We are going at just their pace and every step is full of peace and respect. I am so proud of the great job that Trayce and Dauby, Karen and Sue and the rest of the team at Renovatio Farms is doing. Below are some pictures of the work with Izzy and Ivan and two little videos of the first work with Ivan and Izzy. Their progress speaks for itself, the dedication of their human support team and the effectiveness of the Trust Technique approach. First Work with Izzy: Getting her to follow me with the Trust Technique First work with Ivan: Getting Touch Using the Trust TechniqueI was recently asked to help with two feral Clydesdale-TB cross siblings, Izzy and Ivan, who have not been fully gentled. The mare, Izzy, is a five-year-old. She has been haltered a few times in the past (not consistently) and has been led a few times. The gelding, Ivan, six, has only been handled when he was gelded and when he was shipped with Izzy from the Bowie Kill pen in Texas, where they were found facing slaughter two years ago. Trayce rescued them. Trayce is a busy woman with a full-time business running a boarding barn, training horses, and teaching clients. She also had health issues that required medical attention when she took Ivan and Izzy on. For that reason, the two have not had much handling but have otherwise been well taken care of. They need to be gentled so that they can get their shots and have their hooves trimmed. So far, they have been lucky that their hooves have worn down enough on the surface of their paddock not to need trimming. My work with Ivan and Izzy will be to teach Trayce and some of her boarders, who have volunteered to help, how to work with Ivan and Izzy using the Trust Technique to get them used to being handled, haltered, lead and worked with. Watch The Slide Show Here Of The 1st Work With Izzy |
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