Safe Spaces

Arrow had been doing very well at dragging a yoke/single tree up and down the driveway but had a lot of trouble adding a tire to that yoke.  I typically kept the tires in my round corral and so when we would enter the corral she would trigger back to when I blew through so many thresholds, made so many assumptions(she had already been hitched to cart many times) and had hooked a tire to her yoke.  As soon as she saw that tire she panicked, hit the gas and ran for her life.  After taking out a board of the corral and hitting barrels with the flying tire, it finally broke loose and she was able to slow down.   So realizing the memory in the round corral, I decided to learn from where I had found success in re-starting her on this journey…..in the safe space of her barn.

So off I went to get the tire by myself and roll it back to the barn where she now stood, calm and relaxed.  When I rolled the tire up to the barn, she took a tense posture and snorted.  So we spent the next ten minutes or so approaching and retreating with the tire until she had the courage to drop her head and touch the tire with her nose.  Always start a horse learning a new thing with 95% of the environment being familiar to the horse and where they are already confident.  Then add the new piece.   I  moved the tire  all around her body so she could see it move in every area of her body and even bumped her legs with it as well.  I had her lead rope looped through a special ring that allows the horse to drift if she needed to get away but it also puts some drag on the rope so it is work for her to leave.  Prior to this,  I had spent several days of dragging this tire (myself, not attached to her in any way) behind us on a lead rope and allowing her to move side to side up and down the driveway until she settled.  I would drop the lead rope if she got too excited but always tried to get her to change direction so she could cross the flight line(cross her back feet as she changed direction) and in so doing, cross over mentally for a second from reaction to the thinking/partnership part of her brain.  This gave her some exposure while allowing her to find her release and realize the tire wasn’t a threat and she could control its approach.

Now,  I used baling twine to tie the tire to the yoke and hooked it to her harness traces.  I picked up the lines and asked her to “walk on”. She stepped off the platform of the barn aisle, took several steps and turned and went right back into the barn.  She turned and looked at me, I smiled, praised her and gave her a treat.  Then I waited for a bit.  Waiting for that tension to release, for a lowered head, normal breathing, licking and chewing.  The more mentally and emotionally difficult the task, the longer you need to wait.  Eventually I got what I was looking for,  picked up the lines and asked again.  She went out of the barn, around the tree and headed for the back of the barn which has some narrow spaces and the tire hooked the edge of the barn wall and broke away.  Good thing.   I brought her back to the barn, got the tire and attached it again and asked for “walk on” again.   We made it out to the end of the barn driveway and back and called it a day.   Small steps in a safe place, HUGE progress.

Using the same pattern, and now several days later, we have gone down to the round pen and back as well as up around the house and back to the barn.  It’s always good for Arrow not to stay away from the barn too long, but seems to respond very well if we check into the barn several times during a session.  Going back to the familiar seems to calm and detour her anxiety from building into a panic.  Someone said it well,”go further, stay longer, but always retreat back to what’s safe.”  I will continue to do this until we can go all around the property without getting worried and then I will try adding the blinders.  Hopefully,  if I lead her well and respect her timeline,  she will accept the noise and weight behind her without having to see the tire.  I am also hitching Twilight, her stable mate, to my buggy and then putting a lead line on Arrow and asking her to walk up beside Twilight.  She keeps an eye on the buggy behind her but has been able to walk, trot and canter beside Twilight in an open field.   She has even blown out several times during the whole affair which is a great sign of relaxation.  I am hopeful and this gives me encouragement to continue.