Back to work....

Not Faith, obviously, nor me (God forbid!), but poor old Tilly. After having the best part of a year off work due to my pregnancy, the poor old girl is facing being conscripted once again into the world of honest labour, hauling my fat butt around the place.

Now obviously this will mean that Faith will have to face being in either the field or the stable on her own, now that Tommy is no longer with us. Now I’m quite sure that Faith would be absolutely fine in the field on her own if I was working with Tilly in the school, because the school adjoins both paddocks, so there would only be a fence between us.

However, if I wanted to take Tilly out on a hack, or if I wanted to keep Faith in the stable while Tilly and I were in the school, then obviously we would be out of sight, and I need to know that Faith would be OK with that. I could of course keep her out in the field on her own while Tilly and I were out and about. This would mean that she would still be able to see my neighbours horses who are two fields away. In theory this should help lessen her anxiety, but having said that, it didn’t seem very soothing to Tommy who injured himself badly in that same situation. So badly in fact that he was never sound again. Now it should go without saying that if Faith injured herself tomorrow and could never be ridden, she would still have a home with me for life, and be loved every bit as much as ever. But still, I’d rather she didn’t hurt herself. Also I think it is important that she should be able to stay in the stable by herself and not worry about it, as who knows what scenarios may arise in the future.

So with all this in mind, as well as the fact that Tilly is not in any physical condition to begin proper ‘work’ right now, I thought I would combine Tilly’s gradual re-introduction to ridden exercise, with helping Faith overcome her seperation anxiety.

So this evening I tacked Tilly up, mounted and just stood next to Faith’s stable for a minute or so. I then rode Tilly through the barn and into the back field, keeping within Faith’s line of sight at all times. Before Faith could get too worried, we turned and came back in and stood next to her stable. We repeated this about six or seven times over the next fifteen minutes or so, staying withing Faith’s line of sight the whole time, but not going back into the yard until she was standing calmly in her stable. After the seventh time, we left it at that.

So the plan is to progress like this in tiny increments, always staying within Faith’s line of sight. When she is happy with us being out in the field for a reasonable amount of time within her sight, then we will start disappearing from her view a second at a time. Obviously if anyone has any other suggestions as to how we should progress, all ideas are gratefully received!

Getting back into the swing....

This was the third beautiful evening that I have been able to get Faith out on to the yard again, and this evening she was visibly more relaxed.

We had a lovely groom, and as I managed to get about half a gallon of conditioner into her mane yesterday, having that brushed through was a more pleasant experience for both of us, and took considerably less time than it normally does. She was also brilliant having all her feet picked up and handled.
Nobody got any electric shocks this evening, although I still can’t work out what the trigger is.

Up until this evening Faith has not crossed the ‘drain of doom’ , even though the yard has been perfectly dry. However, this evening I wondered across to the other side of the yard to get something, and lo and behold Faith followed me! When she decided to go it alone back in the opposite direction however, she felt it necessary to execute an enormous leap over the drain, and nearly crashed into the wall of the stable block on the other side!

My neighbour happened to be exercising her youngster in our hayfield, and her companion mare was going ballistic in her paddock, hooning around and neighing her head off. Faith suddenly became very alert at this point, and grew to about 18hh. I stepped back from her, expecting her to rush towards the yard gate, but she just stood like a very impressive statue staring at the little mare running around the field. I went over and stood by Faith’s shoulder and just started scratching her withers and neck, and within seconds she visibly relaxed, and I clicked and treated every time her head dropped and her muscles relaxed.

I was even more pleased when I asked her to walk away from the spectacle, and follow me into her stable, which she did without a moment’s hesitation. So I gave her her jackpot, and left it at that.

A Shocking Experience!

Just a quick update from me, as Faith and I haven't really been doing anything very exciting.

We have however, encountered a bit of a hitch with our clicker training. Faith and I keep giving each other electric shocks!

This has never happened to me with any other horse, nor does it seem to correspond to what I happen to be wearing, and Faith is always naked anyway. My brushes are made of natural bristles, so it can't be them.

So every once in a while I click and go to give Faith a treat, but instead end up giving her a massive static shock. The poor girl is becoming very suspicious of me indeed, and I am slightly worried that this is going to have an adverse effect on our training. Some people have suggested to me that I wipe her all over with a tumble dryer sheet first. It may not work, but at least she will smell nice!

If anyone else has encountered this problem and found a solution, both Faith and I would be extremely grateful!