The Equine Behaviorist - Case Study Blog

Mika Goes to Training, and Dirk Moves In

2011-07-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Mika and I never clicked, but I worked on desensitizing her, teaching her to be caught, and teaching her to have her feet handled. She went on to a trainer because she needed more work than I could give - and sometimes you have to admit when you just don't 'click' with a horse and have a personality clash. Mika and I definitely clashed! I'm thrilled to report she's done well in training - he even got her started under saddle. He said she wasn't great in an arena as she didn't want to collect, but she went anywhere he pointed her when they trail rode. She's going onto another foster home who will work with her and a trainer. I'm glad - she deserves someone she clicks with. And hopefully she'll find her forever home soon!

A week or so after Mika moved on, Dirk arrived. He is about two years old. He's red roan who I think will gray out, and he came from a neglect case. He was barely halter broke when he got here, so we had our work cut out for us! Fortunately he's sweet and he really tries. I think this one will one day be a 'pocket pony' - he wants to be right up in everything, checking everyone out.

He started out life here wearing a halter since he wasn't easily catchable. So I had to catch him each day before breakfast and before dinner. He pretty quickly learned that being caught led to good things (food!) and learned to stand quietly. Each day also included a brief leading lesson and I spent a few minutes rubbing part of his body. It is amazing what you can accomplish in just two 10-minute training sessions a day. Before long, i could catch him easily and was able to remove the halter and still reliably catch him in his stall or run.

We scheduled him to be gelded on July 7th, but the veterinarian discovered that he was a cryptorchid and referred us to a vet hospital. The vet hospital performed his surgery on July 20th. Because the veterinarian had to go fairly far into his abdomen to remove his testicle, Dirk has been on stall rest for two weeks now. He's supposed to be hand-walked daily, which gives us some training time, though. He's now leading very well from his left side and learning to lead from his right side. I can run his face, neck, sides and rump and I can run my hands up and down his front legs.

Now I've moved on to teaching him to pick up his feet. This is my process for teaching a horse to pick up his feet:

When I'm teaching a horse (of any age) to pick up and hold their feet, I first want them to be comfortable with having me rub their legs. I accomplish this by having them in a halter and lead in a confined space and rubbing at the top of their leg. If they move, I let them (but keep their head tipped in so they're basically going in a circle around me) and I keep my hand on their leg. When they stop moving, I take my hand off and stop rubbing. I pet/praise them and do it again. When I can rub the top of their leg without them moving off, I move further down and repeat. And I keep this up until I can rub up and down their leg without them moving.

If they're really goosey, I'll use a stick/firm crop to start rubbing them (using it as an extension of my arm). And when they're good with the stick, then I'll use my hand.

It normally takes several sessions until you can run your hands up and down their legs without them moving. Right now, I can do this with Dirk's front legs and I'm just starting to work at rubbing the top of his hind legs.

Once I can touch their legs, I'll rub down their leg and ask them to pick the foot up. The second I feel them start to pick that foot up, I stand up, pet/praise them and then walk a few feet off. Then I ask again. And repeat. When I've gotten them picking up their feet when I ask without
walking off, spooking, etc. then I'll ask them to pick up the foot with my hand on it and hold it up one second. Then 2 seconds. And slowly increase the amount of time they hold it up.

This takes time, but it results in horses who hold their feet up without fuss and saves you time and saves them stress in the future.

So that's where we are with Dirk. I'm going to keep working with his legs and his leading. And before long, I'll start introducing him to things like tarps, flags, and other spooky stuff... he's got two and a half more weeks of healing before I can start teaching him to longe or do anything that requires a lot of movement. I'm hoping he gets adopted soon - I'm going to get attached!

A Set Back with Mika

2011-05-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Mika is a pretty mare, a lovely mover and very smart. Smart is good - it means she can learn. BUT it also means she can learn bad habits easily and is always thinking about how to outsmart you. A smart horse keeps you on your toes.

Last week, we had a little set back. She had gotten much easier to catch in her stall and was more relaxed in general. I could rub all over her with the exception of her back legs, and I had been rubbing her with a whip (so I could more safely touch/handle her back legs). On Saturday morning, I caught her in her stall, lead her out, and picked up the longe whip. I was planning to work some more on rubbing her with the whip before letting her go in the pasture. However the act of picking up the whip startled her, she pulled back, ran through my hotwire fence and wouldn't let me near her. She was out in the pasture for a day, dragging a leadrope and making me a nervous wreck. I had put my horses up so they wouldn't get tangled in with her. And luckily she was wearing a break away halter, but I still worried she would get caught on something.

Now, she shouldn't have pulled away and run off. BUT I also did a few things wrong that morning. I wasn't wearing gloves, so it was easier for her to pull away. I also immediately went to try to catch her instead of letting her settle down a bit. The pressure of being caught is what sent her crashing through the hotwire fence to be out in the barnyard. And I was upset and angry which I know she could pick up on.

So that evening, I went out with a better attitude and her grain. She still wouldn't let me near her, so I took the grain and walked off. (And worried). By the morning, she had settled down. So when I went out with a calmer attitude and a bucket of grain, Mika walked up to me and I caught her.

So now Mika has a new set up. Her stall/feeding pen has been attached to the round pen. So she spends the nights in her feeding pen. In the morning, I catch her (she's again being good about being caught) and lead her into the round pen and work with her a bit. If she pulls away from me, I make her move around the round pen for a bit.

The first time she pulled away, I had her run around the round pen. I let her stop and she turned to face me, so I walked up to her. She took off, so I sent her off running around the pen again. We had to do that three times before I could catch her. Then I was able to work with her for a few days without problems. Then a few days ago, she pulled away again. I sent her running around the round pen. When I let her stop, she stood still and let me catch her. A few minutes later, she started to pull away. But you could almost see her thinking: If I pull away, I have to really work. Is it worth it? And she didn't pull away.

Unfortunately it'll be a while before she's going out in the pasture with everyone else. but she can see the other horses now and we're working on desensitizing her.

She's teaching me a lot about MY attitude and my patience. And she forces me to be in a good frame of mind when I work with her. She's too sensitive and she misbehaves when I'm not "there" mentally.

An Update on Cassie and welcome to Mika

2011-05-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not posting on the Case Study Blog in so long. Life and rescue work got busy - and the horses needed me to spend less time on line and at least a little time with me.

Cassie (aka Cassandra) was with me until the Bluebonnet Horse Expo in October. While she was here, her ground manners greatly improved and her riding skills advanced. When she went to the Expo, I was riding her both sidesaddle and in a dressage saddle at the walk and trot. She had gone through a brief time of crow-hopping when pushed under saddle, but a body work session donated by Charlotte Morris of Phoenix Bodyworks helped her move past that. Over time, she became better balanced under saddle and moved out more willingly. She was adopted at the 2010 Bluebonnet Horse Expo - before the Expo even began! A family came to look at another horse who ended up not being a good fit. They were interested in Cassandra and decided to adopt her, get her training and turn her into a hunter/jumper for their teenage daughter. I'm so proud of Cassandra!

I had several horses through here from October until the end of March, but none of them had serious behavioral problems. Then I got Mika. Mika was part of a five horse seizure conducted in Arkansas a few years ago. When the horses were seized, none of them were halter broke. Mika drifted through a few foster homes who didn't do much with her. One home did have a trainer work with her and get her somewhat halter broke, but then she moved on to someone who didn't do much with her. When Mika got here, she had a halter on but was nearly impossible to catch, even in a 10 x 10 stall/pen. When caught, she jumped if you moved your hands or tried to touch her.

So we spent most of April just working in her stall. I hate to leave a halter on a horse, so I took the halter off of Mika. That might have been a mistake because I couldn't catch her for the first week. If you tried to catch her, she spun around with her head in a corner. I would swing the lead rope and cluck at her until she faced me and then back off (giving her a little space to relax). After the first week or two, she knew that if I growled the "no" sound at her, she should turn around and face me again.

Once I started getting my hands on her, I started haltering her in her stall. With her in a halter and lead, I started rubbing on her neck. When she tensed or moved away, I kept rubbing until she relaxed and stood still. After another week, I started taking her on brief trips out of her stall and leading her around the barnyard. She learned to lead remarkably quickly, probably remembering some of her leading lessons for nearly a year ago.

After she was getting easier to catch and halter in her stall, I put a break-away halter on and put her out in pasture, hoping I could catch her again. The first night, I couldn't catch her and she missed dinner. Everyone else got to eat, and she loves her food. The next morning, she was much easier to catch. So her routine has become that she gets caught in her stall in the morning after breakfast, has a 5-10 minute training session, and then heads out to the pasture. In the evening, she gets caught and put in her stall for dinner.

The first training sessions were just getting her acclimated to being handled and touched. Like in her stall, if she moves around or gets nervous I keep rubbing her until she relaxes and stands still. She's a smart girl and is getting much better. I've also taught her to lower her head when I press on her poll.

Right now, I'm rubbing all over her with a long whip. My goal is to get her comfortable with something touching her legs so eventually I can teach her to pick up her feet.

I'll start trying to keep this blog more up to date so you can read about the steps we take in her training and handling.

Welcome Cassandra

2010-08-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Cassandra was delivered about a month ago. She's a foster for Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society. She's an approximately eight year old, Thoroughbred mare. She came to the rescue from a bad neglect case over a year ago. There were 58 horses, and she was out with a bunch of mares on pasture with no food. She was very thin, and she was very pushy. When it came time to load her, she did not want to go in the trailer and kept rearing. Finally, volunteers used panels to create a make-shift squeeze shoot and get her in.

A few weeks later, it was time for her to move to her first foster home, but she refused to get in the trailer. She would rear and flip up whenever anyone tried, and it took hours to get her loaded. At her foster home, she was no better. Anytime she didn't want to do anything, she went up in the air. She didn't like going forward, getting vaccinations, leaving her friends, leading, standing tied, or just about anything else anyone asked her to do.

Once she had gained weight and was healthy, she could really throw her weight around and it was time for her to go to a trainer. She spent three months with him, and the majority of the time was spent working on her ground manners.

After training, she had a few months with a foster home and then moved here. She needed consistent handling and some riding time, and so that's what I was prepared to give her. I don't like rearing horses, though. It is the one thing that really scares me and I wasn't sure how I would like having Cassandra around.

After meeting Cassie, though, I've really come to like her. She hasn't reared once while here, and I think the trainer who spent three months with her did a fantastic job. She now leads, loads and stands tied. She knows how to longe and carry a saddle and bridle. She'll work on a longe line in side reins.

She was only ridden a handful of times, so she's very green. She wants to please, though, and tries to figure out what you want. The first time I rode her, she did not steer well at all nor stop well, but she listened to me and tried to give me what she thought I wanted, and that was a huge step in the right direction.

I think Cassie's earlier behavior issues mainly stem from a lack of trust in people. It was clear she hadn't been handled much at all, and I would bet that the handling she got wasn't consistent. And she probably got mixed cues from her handler, which left her confused. She likely figured out that she could rear and be left alone.

Now she's learned some important lessons. She's learned to move into pressure rather than rear. That makes leading, loading and tying so much easier. Sometimes she's a little balky when leading, and she can crowd you. However, we're working on those issues.

She's also learned that we humans aren't going to put her in a bad place. When we ask her to do something, we give good direction and praise her for her effort. This mare likes people and likes to please, and she respond well to praise.

She's going to make someone a nice horse. She's a really strong, well-built mare - she could be an excellent hunter, jumper, eventer or fox-hunter. I'm going to keep working with her and posting her updates.

Sabine Moves On - and Cassandra moves in!

2010-07-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Sabine's been with me since February of this year, and she's come so far. I can now walk up to her, pet her, halter her and doing anything (aside from riding her) that I do with my own horses. I'm really proud of her progress. Now it is time for her to move on. She's going to become the foster horse for a new member of Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society. She's now safe to handle and can continue to work on her ground manners until she finds an adopter willing to train her.

She's going to leave either Thursday or Friday morning. And I have to admit I'm sad to see her go. I know her new foster home will enjoy her, and I'm proud of what we've accomplished. I like Sabine, though, and so it'll be a bitter-sweet morning when she leaves.

But when she leaves, a new one will arrive to take her place. Cassandra is an approx. 8 year old, huge Thoroughbred mare. She's going to look like a giant next to my little Arabs. When she came to BEHS, she had the tendency to rear if you asked her to do anything she didn't like. And she didn't like much! She spent nearly three months at a trainer's place to get her over rearing. He put a few rides on her, and she'll come here for more time under saddle. I'll be posting updates as I work with her.

For her first week, I plan to just brush up her ground manners: work on leading, longing, carrying the saddle and bridle, etc. If she does well with all that, we'll move back into the saddle after a week or so.

Sabine Becomes A "Normal" Horse

2010-07-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Sabine came to BEHS not at all halter broke. She wasn't scared of people, but she really had no use for them. Since arriving at my place in February, she's learned to lead, be caught, be haltered, have her feet trimmed, stand for fly spray and baths and grooming, and wear a saddle and bridle. Although I don't tie her hard and fast (I just wrap the rope around a pole), she hasn't set back or even pulled back in months. Occasionally you can startle her - but she just jumps, moves away from you and quickly settles down. No one would ever know she was once an unhandled and uneducated horse. She really is a normal horse now!

She's also carrying a saddle and bridle. The bit bothered her at first - she licked and chewed. But now she wears it with no problems. She's had a western saddle and english saddle on, and neither bother her. She's got the basic idea of longing down, and she's doing well.

Tonight, I groomed her, picked up all four feet, fly sprayed her and saddled her - all like a normal horse. She's even moving over when I put pressure on her side when she's standing at the tie rail. We went out to the round pen and longed at a walk and trot - no problems. She's not crazy about cantering on the longe, but we're working on it.

She did so well with everything that I added a new thing today: I put my foot in the stirrup and hopped up and down. She put her ears back, but otherwise she didn't even move. I did this on her left side and right side. Then I got a bucket, stood up on it, and leaned over her back. I patted the saddle, wiggled it around and put a little weight on her back. No response.

This mare is doing so well - it really is time for her to be adopted and get trained to ride. She's ready for someone who knows what they're doing to continue the work I started. I am SO proud of her!

Sabine meets the Saddle

2010-07-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

Once Sabine had learned her other lessons (leading, picking up her feet, giving to pressure, being groomed, being fly sprayed, being hosed off), her next task was to learn about the saddle.

By this point, Sabine really knew my routine. I pulled out the saddle pad and started waiving it around. She just stood there and looked at me. I tossed it over her back, and she moved a little but quickly settled down. She did so well with that lesson, that the next day I repeated it. And when she stood quietly, I also added a saddle. I used a lightweight English saddle as I really just wanted to get her used to something on her back and to the feel of a girth. She did so well that I took her out for a longing lesson.

When I first tried to longe her (without the saddle), she had no idea what I wanted. But she pretty quickly picked up on the idea of going in circles and stopping when asked. The saddle didn't phase her one bit. I also added a bridle, and that made her think. She chewed on the bit and it took a few sessions before she accepted it. But she did accept it all.

Feet and Fly Spray

2010-07-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Sabine also needed to learn to lift her feet and have them held for the farrier, and she needed to learn to stand for the farrier. She was "learning to learn" - that's a phenomena where animals (and humans) learn each task faster, because they've learned how learning works. In Sabine's case, she was learning I wasn't going to hurt her. And if she stood still and relaxed, I would stop bugging her more quickly. Because she was learning more quickly, I worked on these two tasks in the same session.

For her feet, I decided to use a philosophy I had learned at a recent clinic. That was that each thing you do with a horse should be "just the next thing". That means that you prepare them with your previous lessons, and then each new lesson is just an extension of the previous ones. It also means that you approach the new lesson with the idea that it is no big thing - you are just doing "the next thing". And your confidence projects to your horse.

This worked well for teaching Sabine to pick up her feet. I had already taught her to let me rub her anywhere. So I started rubbing her neck, then rubbed her shoulder and then her leg. When I got to her pastern, I learned into her a bit, and picked up her foot. The second she took it off the ground, I let go. I worked on both front feet until she was picking them up with minimal pressure. This took a few sessions. But once she got that and was consistently picking up her foot, I moved to the next lesson. I then asked her to hold her foot up for five seconds. In the beginning, she moved around and I just held onto her foot until she stood quietly. Before long, she was holding each front up for 5 seconds. I then increased the length of time by 5 seconds each session until she was holding them up for 30+ seconds and standing still.

Once she knew how to hold up both front feet, I started picking them out and then running my hands all over them, mimicking a rasp, then slapping with them with my hand to mimic a shoe going on, etc. When she was good with the front feet, I repeated the lessons with the back feet.

During the same training sessions with the feet, I worked on fly spray. In the beginning, I used water in a bottle so I wouldn't waste fly spray. I started by spraying it around her, not at her. If she moved off, I stayed with her and kept spraying until she stood still and relaxed. Once she did well with that, I started spraying her - starting at her front legs and shoulder. Again, this took multiple sessions, but once she got it, I started using actual fly spray.

And throughout all these sessions, I reminded Sabine of her lessons in giving to pressure. I asked her to back, lower her head (in response to poll pressure), and flex to the left or right.

I taught her to stand for being hosed off in the same way - hosing slowly, stopping when she relaxed, and keeping with her when she moved around. She accomplished that lesson in just one day.

Sabine Meets the Rope

2010-07-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

After Sabine was leading well and letting me rub and brush on her, I realized I needed to desensitize her to a rope moving around. When I would go to catch her, she would jump and run off if the rope touched her. This wasn't going to work.

So I started by having her in a halter and lead and I had another soft cotton rope in my hand. At first, I twirled the rope in the air. Again, if Sabine needed to move she could, but I kept her going in a circle around me. I only stopped twirling the rope when she stood still and relaxed. Within one 10 minute session, I could walk all around her twirling the rope.

Next, I rubbed her with the rope. She took that well - it wasn't much different than my hand, the curry or brush. But she did not like it when I started tossing the rope at her. Again, if she moved, I stayed with her. It took several sessions before she would stand quietly while I threw the rope over her neck, back and rump (her rump took the longest).

Sabine's next lessons

2010-07-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Once Sabine was leading well, she had a lot of other lessons to learn. To be a productive part of society, she needed to learn to stand tied, be fly sprayed, have her feet handled and eventually even be ridden. But we had to take things one at a time.

Before she could learn any of those things, Sabine needed to learn to be touched. I started by rubbing her neck - the only place she would let me touch her. If she needed to move or walk away, I let her but stayed with her, continuing to rub. If she stopped moving and relaxed, I stopped rubbing her and moved out of her space for a minute. Then I would go back to rubbing her. Once she was good about one spot and would stand still and let me rub it, I moved further down her body. The same rules applied - if she moved, I kept with her and when she relaxed, I stopped.

It took many, many sessions that lasted maybe 10 minutes spread over several weeks until I could rub her anywhere - her face, her neck, sides, belly, and even her legs. Once she was standing still and letting me rub anywhere, I repeated the process with a rubber curry comb and then with a stiff brush. Each item went a little quicker, but it still took multiple sessions.

Meet Sabine

2010-05-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

I'm currently fostering Sabine for Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society and she's going to be the case study for The Equine Behaviorist as long as she's with me.

Sabine is an interesting case. She came to Bluebonnet in August of 2009 along with five other mares. The rescue received a call from the local sheriff's department saying they had six abandoned horses they needed homes for. According to witnesses, someone backed a truck and trailer to the end of a dirt road, opened their trailer door, and let the horses out. Then they took off. Someone who lived on the road ran the horses into her pasture, but she couldn't keep them nor care for them. When a volunteer went out to see them, some of the horses were in good shape and some were underweight. Several of them approached the volunteer and acted friendly. When she went back with a truck and trailer, she discovered that while she could halter some of the mares, none of them led well. One of them could not be caught and was very skittish. But surprisingly all but the skittish mare jumped right into the trailer when she opened the door (and she was able to eventually catch and load the skittish mare).

She got them home and began getting them halter broke. Sabine then went to another foster home who did not handle her at all for three months, and she got here in February of 2010. When she arrived, she was barely halter broke. She crowded into your space, jumped at anything that moved and would not back in a halter and lead rope at all. My first job was to get her leading and then to get her to respect my space. Horses can't lead well if they can't give to pressure. So the first day she was here, I started that lesson. To teach her to give to pressure, I put her in a rope halter and led her out of her stall to an open and fairly flat area. I stood by her withers (next to her body, putting me out of kicking range for the most part) and picked up the lead rope. At first, I put the smallest amount of pressure and when she tipped her nose in at all and her feet weren't moving, she got a release. She could move in circles, back up, go forward, etc. and I just stayed calm until she gave in. Once she was doing this reliably to either side, I began to ask for her to tip her nose further and further. Now Sabine will turn her nose almost to her side to very light pressure, but this took many lessons before she was reliably giving to pressure.

Her next task was to learn to give to pressure on her poll. I did this by putting one hand on her poll and one on the bridge of her nose. I put gentle pressure on both and even wiggled her head from side to side. If she dropped her nose at all, she got release and praise. Over time, I asked for her to drop her head further and further. Now, she drops her head in response to very light pressure on her poll.

She also had to learn to back up. To do that, I stood to her side and squeezed the rope halter right above the knot under her chin. At first, I had to use quite a bit of pressure before she would back - and in the beginning I released pressure if she even leaned her body back. I believe in rewarding tiny tries in the beginning - so the horse understands you are asking for something and that you will let up pressure when they respond. After a few times, I then ask for more movements. Now, Sabine will lower her head and back up with just a small amount of pressure on the lead rope.

None of these lessons were learned in the first day. I just began asking for the smallest of tries in the first day, and I built on those responses over the next days to come. I worked with her maybe 5-10 minutes at a time, once or twice a day. Generally we had one of those short training sessions when I was leading her out to pasture or back into her stall.

I do not like horses who crowd, and when I'm leading a horse I like their feet to stop moving when mine do. Backing a horse out of your space can help teach them to be more respectful, so once she learned to back to fairly light pressure, if she crowded me, ran past me, didn't stop when I asked, or didn't stop when my feet stopped, I backed her up. Backing up is hard work, and now she leads quite well. She doesn't crowd, she normally stops moving when I do (occasionally she needs a refresher course!). Just with those skills, she's a much nicer horse to be around.

But we've got more to cover. So keep reading, and I'll keep posting updates.