The End of the Line

Not the lead line, but the end of my time with Daisy. I had posted Daisy for sale on Craig's List, but for some time there were no takers. Then I dropped the price and someone was interested.

Daisy had been inadvertently rewarded for treating people like other horses, in that she had learned that if she established her dominant position with a human, using the same horse tactics that she would use to get to the top of the pecking order in a herd (rearing and wheeling, making ugly faces and kicking), that the human would turn her back out to pasture and leave her alone. The food kept coming, so she was content.

From day one with Daisy, I used treats to reward her. Now, some of you will tsk, tsk at that. And with most horses, it might not work too well. But with an accomplished, aggressively dominant horse, you must give them a reason to WANT to do your bidding. If they are unhappy with you all the time, and are always seeking that golden opportunity to squish you, believe me, they will find it eventually!

I believe that Daisy came to be fond of me, and to feel that I treated her fairly. Horses have a very strong need to feel they are being treated fairly. Their creed is simple and it is rare to see one horse treat another with excessive and unnecessary force. It is important that humans, who are so often guilty of using more force than is necessary, pull in their horns a bit.

I've seen folks take hold of a lead rope and jerk the horse horribly because the horse didn't back up when they commanded it to do so. Horses are not "word oriented." They orient to body positions. And if they back up when asked to do so, they are handing the "top dog" position to the handler. Some horses are understandably reluctant to give up their status.

I've also seen some folks slap or hit a horse because it didn't IMMEDIATELY jump to do their bidding. Patience. Humans aren't always instant, (unless, of course, they are going through basic training) and horses aren't either, until they have had much practice.

I worked to get inside this complex horse's head and think that I did so. My hands closed slowly and opened quickly. I would ask and wait for Daisy to process the information and then move her body in the indicated direction. Once she complied, she got a small treat.

Since food meant more to Daisy than just about anything else, it was the obvious choice. When all is said and done, a horse works for a human because they choose to. Either they are fearful of the consequences if they not, and do not feel sufficiently confident and accomplished to "deal" with the human, or they genuinely desire to please the human.

So often we ask things of our horses that they would never have any interest in doing out in a pasture on their own! Flex the head. Practice figure 8's with lead changes. Do spin after spin after spin. Walk over and under strange things, etc.

Daisy certainly did not have to run to the pasture gate to meet me, and she didn't have to whinny repeatedly, happy to see me each day. I took it as a compliment that she did so. When I was working with her, my "excited squirrel" chittering at her was simply human chivying. She did  not have to cease whatever she was doing to elicit that response from me. She always knew that I was soft and squishy and weaker than she was. I took it as a compliment that my chittering at her caused her to do my bidding and stop whatever it was that had caused me to emit such noises (grin).

I felt a bond and a friendship with her. However, that bond did not extend to giving me exclusive and total confidence and control over keeping her safe.

I came to realize that the only behavior modification training method which seemed to work well with her was clicker training, a la Alexandra Kurland's methods. Three weeks into the daily sessions, Daisy would lower her head to the ground and keep it there until I clicked. She delighted in the clicker sessions and was wholeheartedly enthusiastic over them. But it was about as slow as watching grass grow! The last day I owned her, I decided to work exclusively on "happy faces." She was clicked and rewarded only for her head down and ears forward. Just as it is very difficult to feel cheerful if you slump your shoulders and put a scowl on your face, it is hard for a horse to be grumpy when their ears are forward and their head is down.

To progress from those two basic foundation steps to ever riding this mare would probably take a couple of years. Even being able to lead Daisy from her pasture to the barn (a good quarter of a mile away) would either take a stud chain and concentration on my part, or much more work with Daisy. I just wasn't up for the work!

Someone was interested in Daisy. I had them pick me up and drive me out to see her because I wanted them to know that they were getting the unvarnished, real Daisy. I didn't want to work with her before they came to see her. With a mare like her, the prospective buyer deserves to know what they are getting into!

I had already told the husband all about Daisy. Everything! Her beauty and the very low price must have lured them out. I was very honest with the wife, whose horse it would be. They repeatedly assured me that the wife knew all about horses, had done a great deal with them in the past, was very experienced, and had family who broke young horses and did a lot of trail riding.

I feel that the couple did not listen to what I had to say, or if they did, they didn't want to believe it of the horse. They were greedy and wanted that big, beautiful mare at the dirt cheap price. I haltered Daisy, getting the assistance of the wife, as one of my arms was still in the sling from the broken bone. Then I walked out of the pasture.

The wife worked with Daisy for nearly an hour. I never went into the pasture again. I thought that the woman was not very knowledgeable, snapping her fingers at the horse, and jerking the lead rope, but my quiet suggestions were not taken, so I stopped offering them.

The next day the wife called and said she wanted to buy the horse. Then the husband stepped in and we had a "good cop/bad cop" thing going. I was offered less than the asking price for mare, hay and 20 days board. They played hardball, saying take it or leave it. I ended up taking it, but the freebies left a bad taste in my mouth. I won't sell them anything again.

I felt somewhat badly for Daisy, however she is a big girl who has been taking care of herself for a long time now. The woman would be well advised to treat this horse with respect and fairness. If she does not, sooner or later, Daisy will kick her into next Tuesday. Daisy is a horse who will always exercise her opinions. No amount of training will ever change her personality much, short of literally breaking her spirit. Some horses are born like this. And you can read it in their faces!

I wish I'd given the facial characteristics more weight when looking at Daisy initially! You can really take some of the characteristics to the bank with you, if you will weigh the good and bad. This mare's personality is written all over her face! The inflexibility, stubbornness, determination, short fuse and ease with which she becomes frustrated is all right there in her facial features.

Today the soft cast came off of my arm and I can't wait to take a shower without the garbage bag on my arm this evening! I have thought often of Daisy and felt badly for the shock she will go through with this new, demanding, drill sergeant-type owner. But Daisy knows a lot more than this woman does, despite her bravado. In the end, I believe that Daisy will once more be a pasture ornament. Especially if she can hold out until the fall rains arrive.

At age 64, it reminds me of that saying about "old age and wisdom will triumph over youth and inexperience every time." The buyers thought I was just some foolish old lady, who didn't know spit from Shinola and who had been too easy going on Daisy. I believe that time and hindsight will eventually give them another view of things.

Trimming Daisy

I have been dreading the day our wonderful farrier would come out to give Daisy a trim because she is somewhat difficult to halter, and without two functional arms at the moment, it was an intimidating thought to have to keep her still to get her feet trimmed.

My daughter and I went out early, before the farrier arrived to work with Daisy and get her mellowed out. But fate had other plans. The peacocks down the road were screaming and that was setting off the horses in pastures around us. Daisy's head shot straight up and she was antsy. Oh terrific, I thought. Just want we don't need! Every 10-15 seconds a peacock would let loose with a humongous screech. It sounds a lot like a human screaming. It came through the trees at the far distant perimeter of the pasture and was a bit distorted. I wondered at the time if elk make some sort of screeching noise because we've got elk and deer and bear in abundance around here. (Later a neighbor reminded me of the peacocks right down the road.)

I did some target work with Daisy to get her to lower her head, but she was too anxious to keep her head down, and backed warily away when I raised the halter towards her neck. It didn't help that the two humans were trying to halter her much like a couple of guys running a sack race, each using one appendage to get the job done. While my daughter does have two functional hands and arms, she isn't accustomed to getting the halter around behind the ears before getting the horse's nose in it. At a time like this, fumbling doesn't earn one extra points!

My daughter was going to quietly brush her without the halter, but Daisy was too antsy for that either. The peacocks continued to scream (at each other, I presume).

When the farrier arrived, I walked to his truck to let him know that we had not able to happily halter Daisy. She had already created serious damage to my arm 5 weeks ago...I didn't want anything to happen to him.

Kevin, the farrier, has the serenity of a Buddhist monk. I think the only reason he isn't worked to exhaustion is because he lives in a small, rather rural area. If he were available in the Portland area, he would not be able to get to everyone who would want his services.

He smiled gently and asked if I minded if he gave Daisy a try. I said I'd be delighted. He walked in and asked her if he could touch her. He always asks a horse before he does anything--he never demands or orders.

In a flash, his nimble hands had the halter up and over her nose, and then buckled.

He picked up one of her big soup-plate feet and started rasping while I gave her clicks and treats. She has been trimmed all her life, and it appears that trimming was the ONE THING that has occurred to her which did not involve betrayal or abuse. She was perfectly delighted to have a real, live, human Pez dispenser in front of her, dispensing peppermint-flavored  horse treats! One by one, Kevin was able to work his way around Daisy's feet, while she stood quietly slurping and chewing.

When treats are dispensed fairly rapidly, it changes Daisy's breathing pattern. Her breathing slows and becomes steady, and that calms her. By the time her feet were done, her eyes were large and soft, and her head was down in a relaxed position.

What a relief that she has been trimmed. Kevin remarked that I might be experiencing all sorts of problems doing other things with her, but he was happy to trim a horse who stood that quietly. With the treats coming at the front end, she never thought about turning her head to stare at him, much less nibble at him. I'm sure the nibbling and nipping can get very tiresome to a farrier.

I have noticed that clicker training and treats will cause Daisy to relax after about 15 steady minutes of click - treat repetitions. She starts to slobber and relaxes as she realizes that things are going in a very predictable and safe way for her. About 15 minutes in, she will give a small sigh and visably relax, lowering her head and neck and softening her eye.

The problem is that the next day, we start all over again, with the classic stressed or nervous horse pose of neck and head sky high, stiff muscles in the back and withers area, lowered back, and "disconnected" hind end which is stretched out too far to the rear.

I had loaned one of my books on Ttouch by Linda Tellington-Jones to a neighbor. Our neighbor has a little Poodle who has been very anxious and stressed by the move to our neighborhood. He barks at everyone and everything. So she wanted to try Ttouch on him each night. She returned the book, commenting that he was getting calmer.

I leafed through the book, scratched my head, and said, "Now why in the world didn't I think about Linda's methods before now??!" (Duh!)

So out came another of her books, which has line drawings and descriptions to help one assess the basic personality of their horse.

While Daisy has a broad expanse between her eyes and a medium to broad jowl which give her very positive traits, she also has a hard, pointed chin, straight-up ears, and other traits which give her inflexibility, stubbornness, and so on. "Nature" gave her sort of a 50/50 balance of the favorable and unfavorable, but "Nurture" enhanced the unfavorable and brought them to the forefront.

I plan to start some Ttouch work on her in the near future, including some Clouded Leopard circles on her hard chin, and to see if she will let me do some very soft work on her nostrils. The goal is to get to where I can work on her lips, gums and ears which will help her with her anxiety issues. There are other things which can help bring out her softer side, but it will probably take time to be able to do everything on the list. A tense horse often will initially resist work where they are all tensed up.

Moving Forward (even if it is at a snail's pace!)

I was able to go into the pasture with Daisy today because my daughter was with me. I'd given the surgeon my promise that I wouldn't go in with Daisy by myself until the fiberglass and ace bandage cast was off.

Both of us wanted to see if I could halter Daisy and have her pick up her feet calmly. In the past she's picked them up pretty calmly, but she does tend to get fussed over things occurring around her, and can swing round and bump a person, knocking them down.

Initially, I stayed on the outside of the pasture gate, and had her lower her head and keep her nose on the target to the count of 5. That was all she was up for and as she was too antsy to hold for 10 seconds, it was important to click BEFORE her head came back up again, so I went for 5 seconds. After a few click--treats for the head down, we both went into the pasture to halter Daisy.

She does not care for her rope halter, and I cannot say that I blame her. They are designed to make the horse feel pressure at the slightest tug. When I left her halter on her for a while, out in the pasture, it started to wear the hair off her face! She is very sensitive behind her ears and it hurt her there.

So I went back to the nice, flat, broad nylon web halter with the two homemade "fuzzies" on the crown and nose pieces. She liked that halter a lot, but prior to clicker training, she tended to haul me around almost effortlessly, like the caboose at the end of train cars.

I held the target below the noseband on the nylon web halter and had her touch the target through the noseband a few times and clicked/treated for that. Since I've had her, she's  never willingly put her snoot through a halter. When I put the strap around her neck first, THEN put her nose through the noseband, she puts her ears back defensively. Daisy has a lot of bad memories that I'm having to work through. My goal is to break down things that I want her to do into bite-sized nibbles, and not lump the little pieces of a lesson into huge lumps (okay, sorry about the overused "lump" as a verb AND a noun...I just couldn't think of better way to put it).

It helped to have her touch the noseband and the target just below it several times. I was able to slip the soft noseband over her nose without trouble. And she got a click and a treat for deciding to let me do that.

I still see unsure ears as I work with her. I brushed her and her ears swiveled back to keep track of me. She often stood with her ears "akimbo" (on the sides of her head, not to the front or to the back) and I get a feeling from her of, "Okay, I'll see what comes next...you haven't hurt me---YET."

It takes about 10 or 15 minutes of clicker work and treats before Daisy really relaxes, and heaves a sigh. She is a very tense mare. I don't think she tenses up when she sees me (she comes to the gate, whinnying for me, or for the treats). I think she is tense all of the time.

I was re-reading Linda Tellington-Jones's book "Getting In TTouch with Your Horse"  which is more about horse traits and personalities than it is about TTouch for the horse. I knew Linda in the 1960's, before she developed and expanded TTouch. She is truly a world class inventor/explorer into the realms of working with and bringing comfort to animals and she knows how to promote her subject. Not always as positively in the past as I would have liked, but she does get the message out!

It occurred to me that I should try doing Ttouch on Daisy to lower her head and reconnect her front and back which seems to have lost cohesiveness. I may even try a session of wrapping some track bandages knotted together in a wrap she has used to help an animal reconnect it's front and back halves.

But that will have to wait until after MY bandages come off!

Essentially, it was a good session today. Daisy picked up all four feet repeatedly, and appeared quite surprised, but very pleased to be rewarded by the click and a treat each time. She craves knowing that she did the right thing and getting positive attention for it. She wants to know that she will not suddenly be punished for not understanding something. No one would feel confident in such a position!

I finally got an email back from the Parelli folks. I'd written to the email which was purported to go to Pat Parelli. Of course, it was answered by one of his staff, about 3 weeks later. They were sorry to hear of my sad tale of woe with Daisy, but said that it is a story that has become all too familiar these days. Too many horses acting up or out, and too many riders/handlers getting hurt. They suggested that I consider either euthanizing her or finding a trainer who would accept her (and they enclosed a link to all certified Parelli trainers). This mare has been much too abused for anyone to have a successful outcome using traditional Parelli methods. I hate to even consider the outcome of that! And it would be a crying shame to put Daisy down. She's only 12 and there is a sweet, sensitive, loving horse locked away inside of her.

So clicker training is my only hope. Since Alexandra Kurland has successfully helped Fig,  a bay thoroughbred mare turn around and Fig was at least as bad as Daisy, possibly worse, this appears to be the way to go. Daisy responds very well to positive reinforcement, and that triggers an intense desire to figure out what I want and to do it. She has had so little positive reinforcement in her life, much less any which made sense to her, that she is surprised and delighted with our little 15 minute clicker sessions.

Today's work was making sure she remembered how to pick up her feet, also pressing the point of her shoulder to get her to back up, and pressure on hip and wither to get her to sidestep over. Also on starting to "milk the lead rope" to get her to drop her head to the bucket lid. She was still figuring that one out when I stopped the lesson on a good note and rewarded her with a big handful of treats. The end of a lesson should always end on a high note!

Behavior Shifts

I wish I could say that clicker training is fast (and sometimes it is when a horse just "gets it") but in Daisy's and my case, it's creeping along. Considering how abused she had been and how strongly dominant she is at present, this may be a long process, to get her to shift her trust to me and treat me as her "herd" (a herd being a  safety zone for her).

Pat Parelli comments that the things a horse needs, in order, are:
1--to feel safe
2-- to feel comfortable
3--to play
4--food and procreation

Daisy now whinnies enthusiastically at me. She looks forward to those positive clicker lessons which produce so many treats and cause her to feel some sense of confidence in actions. She feels safe while we are going through the clicker--treat lessons, until someone starts mowing the grass nearby or the horses in other pastures trot off. Then she feels the need to stick her neck up, giraffe-like, and stare at what is going on around her.

When that happens, I put the target down on the ground where she can see and reach it, and sit back and wait. Her fly mask compromises some of her vision, so I tap on the plastic bucket lid target to help her figure out that it is available and waiting for her on the ground.

Yesterday, I got very good results when I sat down on the ground just beyond her pasture gate. I could not be stepped on, but was close enough to manipulate the bucket lid-target and feed her treats.

As a major goal is getting her to lower her head and carry it lower, sitting on the ground and feeding her near the ground caused her to quickly figure out that it was just too darned much trouble to keep raising her head again each time. Why bother?! She started keeping her head near the ground to be ready for the next "touch and stay on the target" and the treat.

When I start working with her, I have to go back to "touch the target" but not ask her to hold her nose on the target, on the ground. She doesn't want to put her head down more than for a touch-and-go initially.

I wish I could halter her and go in with her, to vary the training and work on backing from a light touch on the point of her shoulder, but I gave my word that I'd stay out of her pasture until the bandages on the broken/dislocated arm come off. So all I can do for now is work on head lowering by working from the ground myself!

Daisy does not like her rope halter. It is not all that comfy to wear, and was not designed for comfort. She was fond of her webbing halter with the soft covers over the nose and crown pieces. I stopped using this halter when she dragged me hither and yon. It may e time to go back to it, and see if clicker training can make a lady out of her with it. After all, clicker training is about staying safe, AND not using force.

A Fresh Start

August 9, 2013-----I  had done some work with a target and a clicker with Daisy after the broken arm, but her "barging" and mugging me or treats got worse, so I discouragedly left her alone in her pasture for a few weeks. It is ni darned fun to be constantly worried about one's safety and welfare!

I have been attempting to work on clicker training with a target, clicker and treats with Daisy, however my only source of information on the mechanics of clicker training (the "do's and don'ts) was what I could glean from The Clicker Center's free information, and that just was not enough. One MUST get the DVD's and use the techniques shown to get the desired results, and keep the horse from becoming frustrated!

Being concerned for my future safety, I wrote to some horse sanctuaries in our state, telling them about Daisy and asking if they would accept her. Turns out every one of them is full up with sad cases who have been starved, and PMU mares from the premarin-making business. I also posted an ad on Craig's List, being honest about Daisy''s strengths and weaknesses, but...no takers.

So, after viewing the very comprehensive first DVD in a collection of about 19 or 20 by the experienced and capable Alexandra Kurland, I wrote to her and explained my dilemma. I only have the use of one arm right now. I don't trust the horse. I don't feel safe around her. She has many "hates" including longeing, round pens, being led out of her pasture, twirling ropes or any form of what she views as intimidation, etc. This is one abused mare!

Alexandra wrote back, suggesting that I put a string on a basin, and shove it under the pasture gate. I could work from the safety of the other side of the gate, and reward Daisy by dropping treats into the basin. Id the basin got scooted too far inside the pasture and away from the ate, it could be brought back by pulling on the string.

So, armed with my trusty foam square on a dowel and some horse treats, I gave this plan a try, this time following the tips and tricks that I'd seen on the video. No more standing with my hand in my treat pocket! That encourages mugging by the horse. Things went very well. It was the first time that I had felt safe around Daisy! Wow!

There are 6 basic foundation steps in horse clicker training: 1) Target (teach horse to touch a target), 2) "Happy Faces" (reward when one ear, then both ears flip forward, as it is difficult for a horse to be grumpy when doing the equivalent of smiling), 3) Backing (working on backing from very light pressure, then teaching to back in a square pattern and working with horse to teach it to organize its movements in a small space), 4) Lowered head (Teaching horse to lower head to ground, then learm to hold that pose for 10 seconds), 5) Grown ups are talking...please do not interrupt (Teaches horse to wait patiently and not mug you for more treats so horse does not treat you like a vending machine), and 6) Mat work (horse learns to stand with front feet on a mat or piece of plywood eventually for long period of time).

These 6 lessons expand in many different directions over time, helping to teach happy trailer loading, ground tying, patience, to not crowd the handler and a myriad of other lessons.

I presented the target and Daisy touched it, I clicked with my mouth (I was using a real dog clicker until Daisy was very familiar with the click=--treat sequence, then was able to just make a click with my mouth). After clicking, the target was removed, then the treat given,, but low and behind her outstretched head. The horse comes to learn that th position for receiving goodies is with the neck arched and head lowered and towards the chest.

I had been resting my hand in my pocket, where the goodies were, or sometimes reloading my hand with the next treat before presenting the target again. These things will lead to a frustrated horse who mugs the handler for treats. After watching the video "Clicker Training 1" I keep my hand out of y pocket until it is time to present a treat. And there is a space o time after the click where I remove the target and reach for a treat. This interval is necessary for the horse to learn that the treat WILL be forthcoming and to be patient and relax.

I alternated with a bright yellow bucket lid, and foam target on a stick as targets. Tomorrow I'll take the 1liter pop bottle (minus the soda pop, of course) that I painted  white and  try using that for a target because it is more portable than a bucket lid or foam on a stick. One could jam an empty 1 liter pop bottle into a large pocket in a jacket and have a target when it is needed.

I am four weeks into the soft cast, and have two more to go before the bandages come off. I've promised my family and the surgeon that I will not go in with Daisy until then. Once I can go into her pasture with her once again, I plan to start out asking her to touching the target, which she is very good at, then see if I can progress to haltering her and working on a little backing and possibly a little standing on a rubber door mat.

Daisy makes grumpy faces often, and her head and neck shoot up like a giraffe. It is stressful and wearing for her as well as for me. When a horse's body is often stiff, it is hard on them.

I worked a bit tonight on "Happy Faces" but made a boo-boo! Well, she and I are learning this together. She makes mistakes and I make mistakes. Clicker training is about letting the horse try things to figure out what gets him the click and treat. I get over-anxious and am accustomed to correcting the horse, when what works better is to let the horse think and figure it out. For example, putting your fingers lightly on the horse's point of shoulder and WAITING for the horse to back up. Not pushing the horse. Increasing pressure over time if the horse doesn't get it. And removing your hand at the slightest attempt to shift backwards.

Daisy didn't put her ears forward, which is "Happy Faces and earns a click and treat. I can get one ear forward, but rarely two. She would shoot her head up and both ears would go hard forward at a sound or another horse, but she'd be looking to her left or right, not straight ahead at me. I clicked and treated for the ears forward but now realize that was not the thing to do. When you get a problem...back up to a prior step. In this case that would be clicking and treating for just one ear forward, and the attention on me. The goal is both ears forward, and the chin tucked, neck arched nicely--a lovely pose.

The photo is of a prior day, in the round pen, before my "accident" with her...but illustrates her naturally high head. And that is a "normal" pose for her at the moment. Her head can go much higher than that!

As Scarlet O'Hara commented in Gone With The Wind, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Working to get clicker training right

I'm typing with my right hand as the left will be in a sling for another 4 weeks or so (see previous post: Disaster Strikes! for the details)  and sometimes get a bit lazy when it comes to operating the shift key, hence this title not in caps. It may also create more typos, but I'm trying to get to them before publishing.

Daisy came to me with no respect for my personal space. As we've begun clicker training,  I've positioned myself rather than ask her to move. While waiting for the next clicker training disks to arrive, it occurs to me that I am not teaching Daisy about space requirements if I do the adjusting!

It may be time to take an old door mat out to her pasture and work on getting her to stand on the mat with "STAND" as the command. That will give us something to work on while awaiting Alexandra Kurland's DVD's.

I would like to be working with Daisy  in a halter and lead rope, but find it very difficult to halter her with one hand. She has been halter free for about three weeks now, ever since my accident and her head is shooting up when it needs to be down for the fly mask to be put on or for her to be haltered. But then, she' only had a few days of clicker training so far.

Another exercise we could work on is touching the target when I am holding her halter at the same time.

Starting Over

Although family and friends expected me to "get rid" of Daisy, my daughter encouraged me to think the issue over carefully to make the right choice, and not one based on the emotions of the moment.

Lying in bed with an arm in a sling gave me plenty of time to go over the events. The unmistakable conclusion was that I had pushed Daisy beyond her limits and that she is a sweet natured horse who would not benefit from someone romping on her. In such an instance, she could kill herself or them.

It was clear that she must be brought along slowly with true clicker training methods. No more handing her treats, just "because." That had developed a tendency to mug me for more treats. No, she must do what is asked to earn the treat, and to establish confidence and strengthen lines of communication between her and me.

Fair enough, but how would I obtain the education, the "how's and why"s" that I needed? A lifetime with horses, being sensitive to their emotions and training them does not give one all they need to know to do the right things and pursue the most beneficial avenues! There simply is no use trying to re-create the wheel on your own, you might say. So what to do?

Enter GiddyUpFlix! Much like Netflix, they have a large library of DVD's and or a modest subscription fee they will send them to you and you can keep and view them as long as you continue to pay the monthly subscription fee. Such a deal!

. I went for the 3 disks at once, so that I wouldn't get to the end of "Part 1" and have to wait for "Part 2" to arrive. I like to get the global all-in-one picture as well as partaking of the info in bite-sized pieces.

So far the staff at GidduUpFlix has been responsive with custie service and putting disks in the mail.

So I received the first DVD in the mail yesterday. Being on the West Coast is nice because the disks are shipped from Washington state (for the geographically challenged, also on the West coast).

The beginning stage of clicker training is for the horse to learn to touch a target (no not a bullseye, but a Frisbee or foam on a stick or road cone) with its nose. The larger targets are more easily viewed by a horse, as their eyes are up on the top side of their heads and they have to focus by raising or lowering their heads for a sort of "manual" focus.

I used an electric roast carving knife to cut two squares from a foam rubber single bed mattress thingy. They sell these to go in campers and the like so you aren't sleeping on plywood. Ours came out of the motorhome and was pretty well used up.

The two fat pieces of foam rubber were then used as the "bread" and a sturdy 24" dowel was the "filling" for this target "sandwich."

I duct taped the foam pieces together and around the dowel somewhat where the foam left off and dowel stuck out.

Daisy sniffed at the new target but she didn't have any interest in it. I was patient and rewarded every slight try but she just wasn't getting it. Then my daughter, who was watching the proceedings, suggested that I place the treat ON TOP of the target.

See next post for what happened next.

Disaster Strikes!

Last Monday I did not have my full attention on Saisy as I led her from the pasture. A friend had unexpectedly stopped by the barn area just before this, and she had angrily jumped on me out of the blue. I don't mean she literally tackled me...it was a verbal attack, unexpected and very cutting. The force of her attack had shocked me as I didn't think I warranted it, and I was left hurt and replaying her emotions in that attack, like playing a song over and over again to clarify unclear words in a song. Was my request to leave a volunteer position a half hour early so I could remove Daisy from her pasture so they could mow the tall grass there wrong? The only time that the owner of the property could do this was that day and time.

I looked at Daisy, covered in a hard, black, and in some places sticky substance all over her nose and body. A white horse now turning grey-black. She must have a bath as the stuff was making her miserable and drawing flies.

I walked through the pasture, pulling up the weeds and grass but did not find what was causing this to coat her hair. (A friend said later that it is the sugar in the tall grass's stalks...the Juice" or sap. I don't know but that sounds reasonable to me.)

As I led a reluctant Daisy out of her pasture, she froze. She didn't want to leave the closest thing she had to a "herd"--two horses across the driveway from her pasture and up the road a bit. She'd watched them for hours and days, probably longing to join up with them. Daisy always thinks like a wild horse as she has taken care of herself,for the most part out at pasture most of her life.

I had been thinking that it would be an interesting experiment to take her over to meet them, standing outside their pasture so they could meet, and I could circle her away from them if it didn't go well. Daisy always does better when I recognize her need to figure things out for herself and investigate when she feels the need. For example, when I was keeping her in the stall and miniscule turn-out area, and would put her lead rope on and lead her down the barn aisle towards the outside, she needed to stop and stare intently at the now vacant stall where Buck used to be. She became exceptionally fond of the big, calm, older gelding who had confidence that she lacked in their surroundings,

She seems to be saying, "Don't rush me" when she needs to stop and peer into the open tack room door. It has been well said that horses are paranoid, fearful, scaredy-cats. As the ultimate prey animal, that's how they are hard-wired to think and feel. Daisy needs to check out her surroundings to be sure something is not lurking within the shadows. Unless or until she is comfortable transferring leadership to me, she will continue to be in charge of her own safety, at least in her mind.

So, I got Daisy moving by moving back along her body and giving her a light whop with the end of the rope, instead of short-circuiting her thought processes with a treat as I'd usually do.  I kept feeling the sting of my friend's words and disapproval Eas I in the wrong? How could I have managed to get that tall grass mown on another dsay when clearly, it had been stated that the one day was the only option?

Daisy shot past me. I turned her in a circle. She was upset asshe'd shoot past me again and she was not able to go back towards the other horses, nor return to her pasture.

Horses are gifted empaths, who, have a much more difficult time blocking out awareness of your emotions than they do of being aware of them! Daisy knew I felt upset, unsure, and wasn't focused on her. I was an unfit leader at that point for any prey animal. I didn't stop to disengage her hind end which was pushing her forward in her anxiety. I didn't disconnect the road her fears and frustrations were taking her down at an ever increasing rate.

I had been viewing a Parelli DVD, over and over, watching Pat send a horse's back end away from him with the end of the rope. Now Daisy was going around me, crow-hopping. I could have stopped rthe action there and should have. I chose instead to try to swing the wimpy, soft dock line, a quaryer of an inch too slim in diameter, at her big and rapidly approaching rump. No good. It was like using a long piece of cooked spaghetti.

She lashed out at me with both heels, and connected with my left arm, dead center (see photo below to view that massive, muscled hind end!). I flew about 10 feet through the air. She pulled the rope out of my hands and trotted off to investigate the two other horses. I knew from the looks and numbness of my left arm that it was hideously damaged. Fortunately, my daughter had bought me a cell phone lanyard and insisted that I always hang the cell phone around my neck when with Daisy.

I called for help, then struggled to my feet, my left arm dangling in a sick way, managed to grab the lead rope and jerk Daisy back into her pasture before collapsing under a tree.

It was a tough rest of the day, culminating in surgery that evening. I was fortunate that the rigjt surgeon was contacted and that he was able to put "Humpty Dumpty" back together again. Having an orthopedic surgeon of that caliber in our small town area is a huge blessing to the community. I believe that he gets mostly senior citizen joint replacement work so this must have been the odd challenge that he could really sink his teeth into.

Initially a friend placed an ad for Daisy on Craig's List for me. She was honest, which is always the best policy (too bad the seller wasn't honest with me!) but everyone who called and heard the tale shied off, recommending that I put her down or rehome her at a rescue place hor horses.

My daughter, who is very sensitive and a remarkable empathy herself came home from tending Daisy and remarked that she felt a twinge when she read over the Craig's List ad I put together yesterday. We chatted about the curious set of odd events which had brought about the blow up and subsequent injury. "You watched that Parelli video and pushed her too fast" she remarked. That was true. Although treats work best with Daisy, I worry about needing her compliance someday and finding myself without them. So I'd decided to try a different method. And I'd insisted that she do my biddibg without getting her trust yet.

Pat Parelli says, "It takes as long as it takes." I'd forgotten that. Humans tend to want to "school" horses, i.e., give thenm a task and insist that they accomplish it. Why? Because I said so. That is "predator" thinking. Behaving like a predator blocks the process whereby a horse comes to give their safety up into our hands. They can become resigned that they have no way to fight us and win, but that is not the same thing.

I learned valuable lessons from this incident. And those lessons are the opposite of what my lifetime of impressions and learned responses to horses' antics has been. I grew up in a very egocentric horse area where the horse people dominated their horses to a high degree. The horses were used to feed the human riders' egos and oten the horses were used until they became lame, then a new horse was acquired and the old one dumped. I read cover to cover constantly of training theory while growing up...everything from "Western Horseman" magazine to Alois Podhajsky of the Spanish Riding School. There were only occasional nuggets of natural horsemanship scattered throughout.

One lesson that I will never forget from this point forward is to be aware of a horse's escalating emotions and immediately "pour water on the fire" rather than allowing them to continue to escalate!

Another lesson is that I need to learn more about clicker training. I started using a clicker followed by a treat, but soon quit holding onto the clumsy clicker. Yet the sound, followed by a treat got through to Daisy remarkably well. It was what gave her the first feelings of relief and confidence that this human did something pleasant to her consistently. She latched onto the concept of try to figure out what the human wants and rest assured that there would be no punishment for boo-boos, and instant and clear confirmation when she got it right, followed by a tasty treat. She was onboard for that by her third click!

For those who can sit down and buy Parelli DVD sets, I salute you. My piggy bank is simply not that big! So I joined GiddyUpFlix for $11.95 and have made a list of the DVD's I'd like them to send me. While one can pay a higher subscription price to be sent more disks at a time, I'm starting out small with one disk at a time, but if this works as well as I suspect it will, I'll probably soon upgrade to 3 disks at a time. (Note--soon upgraded to 3 disks at a time--which is vey helpful if you finish the first video in a set and want to see the next two right away.)

The library of DVD's is immense and has many natural horsemanship trainers' videos, including the Parelli's. Wow!

So, while the compound fracture and dislocation is healing, I have a lot of DVD's to be watched, one at a time as they are mailed to me (free shipping both ways), then I put the viewed one in the mailer and when they receive it, they send the next one.

I have made a viewing lust of DVD's from their "problem horse" category (LOL).

The ad for Daisy has been pulled for now. She needs to be de-slimed. My daughter says that she looks just awful and is miserable with that hard and sticky black stuff all over her. There is a spray-on product we will buy which takes off green stains and probably this black stuff which may just be jucier green stuff after it dries on the horse,

It's problematic when you want to wash a horse or do some other thing with them, yet they have not given their complete trust to you yet. Fortunately this miracle wash product is spray on, wipe off I think. I'll post a review soon after we try it. Although Daisy casts a jaundiced eye towards all spray bottles, she will stand still for being sprayed if the treats are forthcoming on a regular basis. She gets her right side sprayed, then gets a treat. After the front legs are sprayed...here comes another treat.

It's hot and muggy these days, and I've had trouble with the polyester cushioning material inside the half cast...heat makes me break out in a terrible rash inside the bandages. So I've stayed inside. But I'm going to have to go out in the heat and help my daughter clean up Daisy. I do hope they will use some other material when the hard cast is put on, although folks who have been there tell me that one's skin dries out, flakes and itches regardless (sigh).

Why Level 1 doesn't work well unless you quickly incorporate Level 2

The Parelli complex has been set up with the assumption that you have far more money than you want, and that you are just dying to get rid of a pile of it, which the Parelli company will kindly remove from your bank account or the old sock under the bed. Going under that assumption, they have outlined a great way to progress, but most of the explanations and "what to do next" and "how to do it" are contained in DVD's that you must purchase.

Now, I'm sure that those expensive DVD's are VERY nicely done, and clear, and just what the doctor ordered. However, by the time you pay for your monthly Parelli Connection (on the Internet), and get yourself a carrot stick with a rope, and a rope halter, and a 22 foot longe line and a 12 foot lead rope, without which it's darned near impossible to progress, many folks will find themselves out of money, and possibly short on food as well until the next few paychecks can repair the hemmorhage to their bank account.

I fall into that category, and didn't purchase my stuff from Parelli (well, other than the Parelli Connect membership). I'm using a homemade longe line which is 7 feet too short, and a quarter of an inch too small in diameter, making it difficult to latch on properly during those times when Daisy gets a gleeful gleam in her eye, and turns tail and hauls bootie for the opposite end of the small arena, jerking the thin longe line right out of my hands. Of course, she always turns around and trots back to me with the glow of success in her eyes. I just sigh and pick up where I left off. Punishing a LBE for a playful move would rain on their parade, pop their balloon, and nurture a sulky animal. It would be about as mean as stepping on a puppy. However (!), I WILL eventually acquire a longe line rope that I can hang onto and when I can, I will quickly take a grip and a stance at the beginning of her game, and she will come to a screeching halt.

There's a lot to be said for a rope halter. Originally, I didn't want to use one, as my predominantly Right Brain Introvert horses wanted to feel safe, secure and all wrapped up in a soft coccoon. LBE's (Left Brain Extroverts) have no such insecurities! They must be able to FEEL the pressure of a halter to understand what you want, at least in the beginning. I have no doubt that Daisy will come eventually to respond to a feather's touch, but that will be down the road a bit. At the moment she needs the "cues" as surely as a dancer needs phyiscal cues from their partner. And lacking those cues and the cause-and-effect thing of the rope halter, she simply becomes hedonistic and does her own thing.

This, however, does not mean that she doesn't care about me. And I hope if others are reading this, who have a Left Brain Extrovert on their hands, that they will take heart. Daisy is a loving, caring horse and I believe that once a human becomes non-scary to the horse (who is a claustrophobic fear-a-holic by nature), and once patterns are established that the horse can depend upon to happen today, tomorrow and forever after that, and if the horse is treated in a caring and loving manner, they tend to respond by bonding with their human.

Bit I digress...What I started out to say was that Parelli gives you quite a bit of instruction (written and video) on the Level 1 Seven Games (Friendly, Porcupine, Driving, Yo-Yo, Circling, Sideways and Squeeze). But unless you purchase a comprehensive DVD, it is not stressed adequately that a horse can become pretty sour if you concentrate on just those seven games, and don't incorporate Level 2 at the same time. Level 2 has you using elements of those games to get your horse to, for instance, go around two road cones, in a figure 8 pattern, Or using the Squeeze Game to help a horse release claustrophobic fears of a trailer.

Why should horses be all that different than humans, in that no one wants to have their nose stuck to the grindstone all the time. Give us a something to hang a concept on, and we "get it" a lot faster and more happily. I read about a nun in a parochial school who taught math by teaching the kids how bets are wagered at the track! This was in a different age and time than the one we now live in, but the kids ate it up and became marvels at figuring. It gave them something to "hang their hat on," instead of leaving the concepts dangling.

While watching a free video of Pat working with a horse to get it to do the figure 8's around road cones, walk over a tarp with a lack of concern and so on, it became clear that many of us (me included) tended to take a closer, tighter micro-managing grip on the leadrope when the horse was cutting capers and behaving in an unreliable fashion. As long as you have a longish rope and a rope halter, it works far better to give the horse a bit of rope when possible, letting it caper around you and move it's nervous feet, while guiding and directing with the carrot stick, forcing the horse to start focusing on you as you incorporate some of the seven games.

A horse which is thinking, "Uh oh! Watch out for the road cone" or "Oh my, look at that enormous, scary ball" and which is worked closer and closer, allowed to evade but is brought back time and again, gets into a rhythm, relatxation, retreat cycle which allows you to bring the horse nearer and near until they find that what scared them is no longer an issue.

And all you need to blow it is getting into a "forcing" mode. Traditional thinking says that the faster and sooner you can force the horse to submit, the better horseman you are. The truth is that it takes as long as it takes. Take the time to do it right the first time. A true horseman (I refer to myself as a horseman, but I'm a woman...just as I tend to call all post office mail deliverers postmen even when they are women) understands where his horse is coming from and understands the process it will take to bring the horse out of its natural fears. Dominion and submission is about "look how fast I brought that about." Natural horsemanship is more about thorough. It's about helping the horse work through the issue so that the issue no longer exists. This isn't always done in one session. Indeed, shorter sessions work better. Everyone has a certain window of best learning time. It's more effective in the end to use that window, and not push on the days when the horse has drawn a curtain over the window!

So what can I do, with only a puny round pen, to take Daisy into Level 2 exercises? Well, the pen is large enough for a small tarp. She is annoyed/bothered by things she has to walk over, but it will hold her attention which otherwise wanders because going around and around in a round pen is BORING! And repeatedly asking her to reverse direction is aggravating. She wants to know what the point is. Can you blame her?

I plan to take out an umbrella (we should get a lot of mileage out of opening and closing that, then leaving it open on the ground and playing the Squeeze Game past it. Ditto for a plastic bag on a Carrot Stick. But I don't want to focus primarily on "scary objects" only, because horses need games where they can move their feet and think. So some poles may be utilized as well. Parallel to her line of travel and she can go between a pole and the arena fence (Squeeze Game). Crossways and we have cavelleti's.

Anything which allows me to work with her on about 10 feet or a bit more of lead rope will allow her to start managing her actions and learning more about communication signals from me.

Fllies and Frustrations and Leg Wraps, Oh My!

After speaking with the owners of the barn property, and realizing that they were not willing to do anything to mitigate the harrassment of the other boarder's horses towards Daisy, I decided to take matters into my own hands and do everything that I could to make things better.

The first stop was our local feed store where I picked up a fly mask and commercial fly spray (sigh). I hadn't wanted to use chemicals on her, but they were of less concern at the moment than the damage the flies were going to do to her. I didn't want flesh-eating fly larvae embedded in her skin, didn't want her to become allergic to fly bites and mosquito bites (have known other horses to developed this condition and it's a bugger-bear to treat), and didn't want her to develop an eye infection from all the fruit flies drinking her eye fluid. She had started to develop a small amount of yellow gunk at the corner of her eyes.

Fortunately Daisy seems to have worn a fly mask before. She accepted it, including the sound of the velcro being torn away from itself, with equanimity.

I put Bag Balm on the wounds on each pastern, then a spot of toilet paper, then a leg wrap. She was less saguine about the leg wraps. When she felt something going around her leg, she would lift her leg up in protest. It was the wrapping of the fetlock area which really bothered her. When the leg wrap went further up her leg, she was fine.

I sprayed a gnat on Daisy's hair, and the thing instantly died. The flies dissippated to a large extent, once the two wounds on her front legs were covered up. After spraying the fly spray on her body, the rest of the flies left en masse. Her delicate pink skin under the white hair was no longer the delicacy they'd envisioned.

While using relatively harsh chemical fly spray (Endure)--which is said to work even when the horse sweats--on my horse doesn't fill me with confidence, the feed store owner has been using this stuff, she claims, for years now, and her horse is still kicking. I hope to be able to move on to a less manured area with fewer pests, but for now, fly spray is the best defense.

By the way, I was using Avon Skin So Soft, a bit of Dawn detergent, baby oil and water, with a few drops of eucalyptus oil added for good measure. The concoction stinks to high heaven (shoot, just the Skin So Soft is enduringly smelly!) but after two days in the canning jar, it didn't repel the flies anymore. And even on the first day, although I followed the recipe to the letter, after a few hours, and a good roll in the grass, it stopped working.

The next step was to more closely inspect the covered turn-out area and try to determine what she was contacting with thich was allowing her to tear open flesh on the pasterns. By golly, it was very hard to see, but there is a sort of heavy, sharp, thick wire piece sticking out of the gate. Short, and very sharp. I covered that part of the gate, from left to right, with the bubble "pillows" that come in a long attached length, and taped that thingy to the gate with duct tape. If any of the "pillows" end up deflated, I'll know that was the spot she was pawing or striking to tell the other horses in horse-language, to bugger off and get out of her personal space.

Horses are terrific, effortless empaths, who have more trouble tuning out a person or other animal's feelings than they do picking up on them! Daisy knows full well the feelings and intents of the two marauding boarder's horses. She has felt my frustration and irritation with them as well. And they have felt the love and observed the caring I lavish on Daisy. They would like to remove her and insert themselves in the mix. I don't blame them for wanting better care, but there is nothing that I can do to help them, except continue to progress in "ah-hah!"moments in natural horsemanship, and hope to help spread the information and knowledge in my own little area (isn't that what they call "blooming where you're planted?")

I had the opportunity to mention Daisy's plight to a very well-connected friend yesterday and she said she'd make some phone calls and see if she couldn't scare me up a better place for Daisy. I will make some phone calls also in that regard.

I said I'd ignore everything but blood...but this is ridiculous!

Another boarder has horses which often are kept in their stalls, but when they are turned out into their large paddock, they come up to Daisy's small covered area and stick their heads and necks as far as they can into her area, and taunt her. These horses are hungry! They are kept "lean" and they are NOT happy about it.

Daisy strikes out with a foot, trying to tell them in horse language to get the heck out of her space. They, being loose, are fine, but Daisy, in a confined space, has battered her pretty front legs around the front of the pastern area.

She was just starting to heal up when the people started turning their horses loose again. This morning she had dried blood on both front legs and the wounds were larger. This is very frustrating, to board where horses can walk up to a barn/covered turn-out area and raise Cain. However this is the same barn which uses water from a ground water run-off stream, with Round-up, fertilizer, oil and gas running into it, and where the manure pile is open and accessed by the previously mentioned, hungry horses.

I shared my concerns with the owners of this place, but they didn't want to put up a steel stake and wire second fence to keep the marauding horses away from the four stall barn where my horse is kept. There are no other boarders in this barn at the moment, so my horse is the only one getting "the business" from these two horses.

I have requested the "honor" of Daisy being moved to a different place on the property when that becomes available. I'll still have to haul in all her water, as I don't want her coming down with cancer or something equally awful from drinking the bad water, but she'd have pasture, a stall for shelter in bad weather, and she'd not be standing on blacktop anymore. Can you imagine: putting down blacktop in a small covered turn-out area?! And it is not flat, so urine pools in the dips in the blacktop.

This just goes to show that now all folks who follow natural horsemanship and the Parelli's ideas are wealthy folks with covered indoor arenas and expensive Parelli equipment (grin). I salute those who are that well heeled, but some of us are not, and one can still utilize natural horsemanship methods...it just takes a bit more thought and effort.

Gee, did I happen to mention that the owner of the two marauding horses who have been tormenting Daisy also has cluttered up the smallish outdoor arena with her trail obstacles, to the point that one can only circle the outside track because the inside is completely filled with barrels, road cones, a tilting bridge, a platform, a long narrow "bench," and poles? The bench, platform and bridge are too heavy for a human to move--it would take a tractor or ATV and a rope. I inquired nicely, and was advised that the boarder who owns all that stuff would not want it shifted.

I have attempted to work on Level 1 games in the arena, trying to navigate around all those clunky obstacles (I moved the lighter weight stuff to one side while I was using the arena, then moved it back after I was done, however the heavy obstacles each took up part of the space of a third of the arena, so taken all together, the arena was STILL unusable for the most part). Daisy clonked herself as she'd come around and being very green, was of two minds. Things to avoid in her path, she wanted to follow her own ideas, naturally, being an LBE, and she'd collide with a large,  heavy object. More blood (sigh).

So I took to working with her in the round pen, which has its own problems. Never mind that the boards are rotting and you have to lift way UP on the gate to latch it (groan--it's heavy). Round pens were never designed to give you a whole lot of space, right? So the whole pen becomes an enormous "crutch" to the horse and its education. If you work a horse in a round pen, the fences confine the horse. When you branch out to open space, many times the horse will "branch out" also, and not the way you want it to, either.

I did borrow some road cones and brought a tarp, to give Daisy something to work with, but she needs to be encouraged to do figure 8's around road cones and there is very little space for that in a round pen. She needs the room to be forced to use her mind to think about where she is putting her feet, instead of "falling asleep at the switch" so easily in a round pen.

My daughter suggested that I consider draping padding such as a blanket over the fence, so that Daisy won't be so likely to re-injure her front feet. Ideally, I'd like to fasten wire fencing material (hog

 

wire) over the entire space where the horses are sticking their heads and necks over, but part of that is a gate (which leads to the aforementioned open manure pile) and the gate should not be blocked. So I'll take a peek in the linen closet and see what we've got that is "expendable."

Learning To Stand Tied

When Daisy first "acquired" me, she would not stand tied. She moved claustrophobically hither and yon, stretching her lead rope in her anxiety to be able to get away from whatever might attack her.

Being prey to many other animals, horses are naturally claustrophobic. They are afraid of being confined or even tied up, unless they have been worked with to overcome that fear.

Wanting to brush Daisy and apply Hoof Flex to her hideously dry hooves, it was necessary to tie her up, or suffer the ignominy of a bottle of Hoof Flex all over me. So I tied her with soft, strong dock line, to a stout post with a stout ring in it, but gave her sufficient line that she could pace back and forth a bit. She'd pace to one side of the post, then turn and pace to the other side, periodically stopping to stare off into the distance, checking for predators.

After two weeks, I was able to tie her much shorter, and in that time, was able to convince her that Hoof Flex would not hurt her.

Adisy appeared to recognize the aroma of Hoof Flex and associate it with intense pain. The seller made an oblique reference to mud fever in one of her hooves, last winter. Small wonder, as she was kept in a churned up mix of mud and manure. I am assuming that the ignorant people applied Hoof Flex to her sore foot. That would burn like fire, as there is turpentine in it. Imagine pouring turpentine into an open wound. Major, horrible pain! Poor horse.

Foot by foot, day by day, I patiently worked to apply the stuff to her feet, and after each foot, I clicked a dog clicker, and gave her a treat. Not every horse would go for this, but she is treat-oriented, so food bits work best with her as a reward. She doesn't get them by "mugging" me though--she only gets them for doing something I've asked of her.

The clicker followed by a treat has also pushed aside her natural fear of the squirt bottle, Avon Skin So Soft (which smells like a French cat house--really smelly but the flying insects detest it) and so on.

Just as it takes humans a while to not only "get" a concept, but have it firmly planted in their brains as habit, so it takes horses a bit of time to get a habit firmly in their heads. Most days, Daisy stands tied, but I'm learning to recognize when she has become upset. In those instances, she needs to go into the round pen and run around me until she runs off the adrenaline. Only THEN can she stand quietly.

Make sense when you think about it. Why should horses be any different than humans in that regard? How calm are we when someone has just cut us off in traffic, and we've had to swerve or stamp on the brake hard to keep hitting them? It takes a while for the adrenaline to abate. The fact that I am not out there observing what is frustrating Daisy doesn't take away from her reasons for feeling frustrated.

In addition, humans can become couch potatoes, but most horses need to be able to move their feet. Munch and move, munch and move. Most of the horses where Daisy is boarded CAN munch and move, but we were the last in and so had to take the bottom of the barrel, as far as accommodations were concerned.

I am learning...Daisy is teaching me what I need to be aware of to better help her learn. When she is upset, I need to let her move her feet until she can get rid of the built-up adrenaline and pent up feelings. My mother used to comment, "Let motion equal emotion" and we often had the cleanest floors in town, as she'd get down on her knees and scrub them like crazy when she was upset.

Parelli's "Friendly Game" is one I need to get creative with and keep introducing things to Daisy. When she stands and stares at the scary object, that's when I need to stop and give her a slack line. When she loses interest, having probably backed a good 15 feet away, and starts looking for something to graze on, then I can reel her in and we'll start all over again.

The other game I want to start playing with her is the "Squeeze Game" on a longe line. I should note that I stand in the middle, and my feet do not move...only Daisy's feet move around me. This way she has to think about what she is doing, and is not mindlessly revolving around me. As she comes around at the walk, I plan to introduce myself between her and the fence, put out road cones which will get progressively closer and closer to the fence, asking her to pass between them and the fence, and then we'll work on STOPPING between the cones and the fence. Even a small object like a road cone is noted by most horses and creates something of a barrier that they feel they have to squeeze by. The Squeeze Game helps them become less claustrophobic.

Daisy Gets Picked On, Horse Style

Daisy is confined in a 12 x 12 stall with a 12 x 12 covered "turn-out" area beyond her stall. The turn-out area is blacktop, unfortunately. Some enterprising soul apparently decided they didn't want boarders to dig a hole to china, so they blacktopped all four turn-out areas. Grrrr! AND there are horses in a large field on the other side of the turn-out fence.

The horses on the other side of the fence have an attitude. In addition, they have room to wheel and posture. Daisy is confined from top to bottom and side to side. I keep finding the cheeky pony's poops by Daisy's fence, and one of the other horses apparently has been coming up and bothering her. Today when I arrived she had dried blood which had run down both front legs, and she was in a dither.

I took her to the round pen and let her run off her angst, then put her in her pasture for three hours of peace, quiet and grazing. Walking back to her stall, I found one of the horses on the other side of the fence lounging insolently along her fence line, "claiming" it. I quietly poked the rounded end of the rake handle between the fence boards, and the horse jumped a foot. Maybe that will give it something to think about. That horse and its buddy are nippy and disrespectful.

Most humans think if a horse is not making noise that it is not being rude, but horse body language says a lot and horses are gifted empaths. Even I can see that the "loose" horses are trying to boss and intimidate Daisy. This is a very poor set up, however for the moment there is nothing much I can do about it, except continue to show up four times a day and get her off the blacktop and away from the other horses for a bit.

What the other horses are doing is rather like little kids in the back seat on a long car ride. The one they are tormenting can't escape. They say, "I'm  not touching him! I'm not touching him!" but they are intimidating and tormenting the kid just the same.

Interestingly enough, the owner of these horses rides the horses harshly. They have taken the bullying and are passing it on down the line.

I make a halter, lead rope and longe line but fail utterly at a substitute carrot stick

June 24, 2013 (Monday)
It has become clear that Daisy knows she weighs a whole lot more than any human does, and when takes a notion to do something other than what I want her to do, she knows that she's holding "all the cards" as they say. I made her fuzzy pieces to fit over the noseband and crown piece of her nylon web halter. So when she went one way and I pulled the other way, guess who won those battles!

It was becoming clear that the Right Brain Introverts I'd known and loved had very little in common with Daisy. Now I was starting to understand why a natural horsemanship rope halter made such good sense.

Okay, it would have been very nice to have been able to have purchased a Parelli rope halter, carrot stick and so on, but the budget at this point in time cannot take such a hit. So I had to get creative.

Fortunately, there are many sites online which show you how to make different kinds of fiadors (fancy knots). I found one that was easier than the others, purchased some purple and white nylon rope and made a purple rope halter with white trim on the noseband and crown piece.

I made a lightweight longe line from more nylon rope and a swivel snap.

The other necessary item was a lead rope longer than the six footer I had been using. Daisy found it child's play to jerk that shortish rope out of my hands. A half inch in diameter soft nylon rope was the answer. It's about 15 feet long, so if she is dancing around, I've got more rope before I lose her.

Finding a substitute for the carrot stick has remained a problem. I tried a woode dowel with wrapped ends, with misgivings, and sure enough, it is not a good idea, as it can snap too easily and become a spear, is not strong enough, nor sufficiently flexible. Drat!

It took a bit of playing with the halter's knots before the halter was balanced, even, and fit her. This evening it fit well, and she went into the round pen to try the new halter and longe line with swivel snap.

Well, well! Daisy can feel the pressure of this halter and she is responding well to it. She also likes the very light weight nylon "longe line" much better than the traditional 25' nylon strap.  The nylon line doesn't pull on her head at all. Daisy seemed more confident as she went around and around me, and she watched me out of the corner of her eye all the time.

I'm still rewarding specific responses with horse treats, which she is very fond of. I think the real pay off for her isn't the good taste of the treats, but the tangible assurance that she did something successfully; proof positive that she is understanding human communication with her.

I

Meeting The Bad Shoer

Not knowing who to use, and being told that this folks had heard good things about this fellow, I called to book an appointment for him to give Daisy a trim. I emailed him photos of Daisy's hooves, both up close on the outer surface, and also the soles. In thinking back on things, he was a little confused, calling and leaving a message about my "Clydesdale horse.," She's a 15.2 hand paint mare!

I went out yesterday to work with Daisy so she'd be in an calm and happy frame of mind when he arrived. He showed up early, and was as curt and uncommunicative as he'd been over the phone.

Daisy was a very good girl. She stood like a rock for him. My daughter and stood near her head, and Daisy half closed her eyes with happiness to have both of us near her. Most folks who work around horses for a living will at least give the horse a touch or a pat. This man had no interest in her at all.

He brought out an enormous hoof stand, with a base like a Christmas tree stand. Huge. I wondered how he was going to manage with something that big as the diameter got in the way of the horse's other feet.

He picked up a front hoof and Daisy turned her head to look at him. She wanted to lightly touch him with her whiskers. She is not a nibbler nor a biter and in the week I've had her, she's been remarkably soft and careful with her lips, only nuzzling the palm of one's hand. Any other endearments by her are a loving look from a lowered head, looking into your eyes, or putting her head next to yours companionably.

I said, "Don't worry, she will not bite you." He responded in fear, "Don't let her touch me!" Okay, I thought, he's an odd duck but on with the trim job.

When he had used the nippers on all four of her feet, I asked him about the terribly splaying of her hooves. He seemed offended and said that he wasn't done yet--when he was done, her feet would look normal. That was my first concern. You cannot go from soup plates to tea cups in a day! This guy would bear watching!

He started rasping the left front hoof. He didn't round it, and left a chunk going off in the wrong angle. All he was doing was rasping down across the entire front of the hoof wall.

In concern I asked him, "Isn't that going to further weaken an already compromised hoof?" He mumbled some double-talk about tubules and that it was worse not to rasp that area down.

Now I was really concerned! This guy apparently didn't know what he was doing, and was going to trim hoof until the shape looked right, never mind what the long term consequences. Yikes!

He put that hoof down, apparently deciding to work on a slightly less splayed one. Obviously, my two questions had made him uncomfortable. Little did he realize that I was even MORE uncomfortable, as it appeared that I had a surly, ignorant, fearful person working on Daisy's feet.

I made a mental note to Google the heck out of any problem BEFORE calling in a "professional" from  now on. No more trusting in someone else with my precious horse.

Daisy's feet are sort because of the slant of her splayed feet. It hurts her to stand on three legs for extended periods of time. She's a trouper, and a good sport, but as the pain built up she needed to be able to put the fourth foot down briefly.

This fellow wanted to get her feet done and get away from the scary horse. I felt he needed the money, but would not have been doing this if he wasn't so desperate for cash.

When Daisy needed to put her right front leg down, he angrily went to a back foot. Daisy was still standing like a rock. Suddenly the fellow angrily threw down his rasp on the ground and exploded with no warning. "I'm out of here!" As he threw his tools into the back of his truck he blasted at me, "I can't work with you, with your negative reinforcement." He apparently had taken offense that we had told Daisy what a good girl she was. Being fearful and aggressive, he wanted a horse with rolling eyes, standing fearfully twitched, I guess. Never mind that Daisy had been half dozing with her head resting lightly on my daughter's shoulder. This would have been a happy scenario for a real farrier,  but this fellow wanted blood and guts, I guess.

I had to ask the man three times what I owed him for his time. He was completely out of control with rage. The third time he focused on what I was saying and responded that I didn't owe him anything. I felt that he wanted an argument or for me to beg him to stay or burst into tears and be at his mercy.

My daughter, who was horrified at his out of control behavior drifted quietly into the adjacent paddock and started to rake manure. I said, "Okay. Have a good day" and walked off with Daisy. I think he was stunned.

As I let Daisy into the arena he leaned out his truck window and tried to get my goat. "I don't have a problem with the horse, ma'am," he shouted,. "It's you I have the problem with." And off he drove.

My daughter came over to the arena and we stood and watched Daisy as she drifted around nibbling grass at the edges. I was glad she had not been fussed or upset by the angry little fellow. She had put her trust in us and we'd come through for her.

About 15 minutes later we decided to walk Daisy to her own pasture, which is about a quarter of a mile down the driveway. As we headed towards her pasture, much to our astonishment, we saw this man in his truck, coming down the hill from the direction of the land owner's home. We simply board here and this man had gone up to the "barn boss's" home, apparently to try to make trouble about me.

I believe that the barn boss and his wife have seen all kinds over the years, and although I'm a fairly recent boarder, I've paid my bill on time and Daisy has been well behaved. My guess was that they simply stared at the man as though he had two heads. They do not delight in malicious gossip.

After a lovely munch, we walked Daisy back to her stall and covered area. Later in the evening I went back to give her another session in her pasture, We're building up her grazing time gradually so that she can be turned out all day long at a later date. By now, Daisy was obviously sore. She stumbled and faltered a lot on the uneven ground and on the gravel when we had to cross the driveway. She had not done that before the trim.

I went home and beat the bushes for a decent farrier, and Googled splayed hooves. I liked the "Mustang roll" method, which rounds the fronts of the hooves, so that the splay does not continue to push up and work against the internal structure. The feeling of that stress must be a bit like cutting a fingernail too short, and it really hurts as it pulls against the quick!

I called acquaintances and located a farrier who was said to be patient and knowledgeable.

At least he sounder older and more knowledgeable than the 30-something man who'd left in a rage (don't get me wrong--someone two or five years out of shoeing school would have been warmly welcomed if they liked horses and knew how to fix splayed hooves). Honestly, that guy is a walking felony, just waiting to happen. When someone goes from zero to 60 unpredictably and that fast, with a hair trigger rage and loses it completely, they are a danger to themselves and to others. His T-shirt logo seemed to point to "short man syndrome" as well but that was another issue for another day. I hope he gets over his bad self someday.

So we will see if what the next farrier will say. I have been praying that we will not have to wait 6 or 8 weeks for Daisy's hooves to grow out before he can help her!

Daisy's Attitude Changes

The next day I continued using the clicker in the arena. When Daisy first comes out of her stall and covered area, she is bored. Left Brain Extroverts are playful, no matter what their age. They are first class fidgits as well. They think of things that THEY want to do, which seem far more important and interesting to them than what humans are asking of them.

If you fight them with "traditional" methods, you will be fighting a non-ending war until the horse either dies, or you crush its spirit entirely. On the other hand, the option exists to have the horse want to bond with you and "join up." There's nothing like the fire and spirit of a Left Brain Extrovert, when they are bonded to you and have learned about our human communication signals. They love it when they feel smart and successful (and nothing is better for them than such feelings).

I was careful to exercise Daisy on the longe line, trying to drive her first one way then the other across the small arena. Going in a circle is tedious for the horse, and they can get into a mindless rut that exercises their body but not their mind.

I would slap the looped part of the longe line against my boot or leg and make clucking or kissing sounds. I'd drive her one way and then the other. For a while she had a light in her eyes, but the time came when it wasn't too amusing to her anymore. Then I put my arm down, palm out--a signal she had picked up on the second day. It means to come to me and I will give her a treat.

We worked on backing up. The expression in her eyes changed to a soft and trusting one. I got several touches of her soft nose on my skin--sort of like the "touch and goes" that flyers do when they land and go right back into the air again. A brief sort of thing, but it was reaching out to me.

Unfortunately, she was very, very fond of success and treats. So much so that when I wanted to walk to her neck, then to her withers and barrel area, she would scoot around to face me, then back up enthusiastically.

Since punishment and/or chastisement takes the willingness out of a Left Brain Extrovert (LBE), I would smile and say in amusement, "Oh you funny girl. You have to do a trick to get a treat!" And I'd walk her forward, then I'd try again.

I'm finding that if I touch her mane and stroke her as I make my way along her side from the front, she is less likely to want to back up. When I face her head, eye balls to eyeballs, she wants to back up because that was where I was standing when she first learned that "trick."

So now I will be working with her backing up with a fence along her right side, to keep her straight. She wants my "business end" to be kept near her mouth at all times for easy asccess (giggle).

Horses don't know all the English words that we know and use, but they are gifted empaths, and when we speak, often we will project mental images of what we are talking about and horses pick up on those. Some things are too "pie in the sky" for them to know about, like finances, and so on, but the basics they often get.

I tell Daisy that she is beautiful (she is--she's a chestnut and white paint with halos around the outsides of the chestnut parts, some roaning, and black in her mane and tail). I tell her that she is extremely intelligent. Very smart. My attitude towards her is amusement and love. If she doesn't want to join me in a new "trick" or "game" I switch to doing something else. What she will remember more than "I got my way" is the battle. It's important not to lend any more weight to the negative experiences that she's already experienced. She needs to feel like a winner.

She has had to think for herself, and all those years in a pasture with other horses taught her how to think like a horse. She reminds me of a mustang. She thinks for herself, feels that being isolated from her herd (even if the "herd" consists of one puny human) is a death sentence, and she is very careful where she puts her feet. She's sure-footed in the extreme. She understands the herd mentality and knows how to make herself the alpha mare in horse language.

Yet despite all this, Daisy has a good and loving heart. I think some people under-estimate many horses' desires to please humans. Daisy wants to feel successful and wants my approval. No self-respecting horse will immediately and implicitly trust a human. I am working to be consistent and to build her trust in me.

I got a couple of unexpected surprises with Daisy---she is afraid of the longe whip (the cord on it) and of Hoof Flex. Her hooves were scaly and incredibly dry from running around in mud all winter. The mud, when it dries, sucks the moisture out of hooves. Just like working in damp dirt in your garden--your hands will be very dry that night.

Daisy wanted to inspect the brush with Hoof Flex on it. She got a good whiff and her eyes rolled in fear. It was obvious as she pranced nervously on the lead rope that she knew good and well what that stuff was. I was told that she had sustained an infection in one of her feet last winter (no wonder, considering the conditions she was kept in). They must have applied Hoof Flex or a similar smelling product to that sore foot. I got the feeling from her expression that it had burned. Imagine having a sore, inflamed hand and putting something on it that burns like fire. No fun!

I do not tie Daisy up very short. If she cannot move about a bit, her anxiety level will go through the ceiling. No one can learn when they are building up a head of steam composed of fear or anxiety.

She can move back and forth a bit, around the post she is tied to. I let her feet move around, which is like letting the steam out of a pressure cooker to lower the pressure inside. Each day I've been able to do her feet, by standing and watching her walk around, talking to her quietly, and when she stops, I bend down and daub some of the stuff on her hoof, commenting that it doesn't hurt a bit, does it.

She gets a click and a treat each time that I finish a hoof. Her faith in treats is so implicit that this is proving to get us over several hurdles, albeit slowly.

Daisy is also fearful of the "business end" of the longe whip. Today I was able to talk on the phone and rub her with the whip because my focus was elsewhere. When folks have whipped her, they (obviously) have made her the central focus. As she stood and I chatted, I would reach into the fanny pack and get her a treat. She didn't need the clicker--that wasn't necessary at this time.

Another "boogey man" is the spray bottle of 50% Skin So Soft and 50% water. All insects seem to feel that Skin So Soft is certain death to them and I believe that it is. The smell is enough to wake the dead though. And she is a stranger to squirt bottles with the scary "whoosh, whoosh."

Everything that does not work has to be broken down into bite-sized pieces. So instead of squirting her, I squirted some on a small rag and let her sniff it. She looked at me like, "Surely you do  not intend to put that smelly stuff on me!" More nervous walking around and fidgiting.

So I put some on ME. And will continue to do so, not only for the massive mosquito population around there (yes, I realize they can carry Lyme Disease) but so that she starts to associate the smell with me (her loving "Mama") and treats. I had some of the smelly stuff on my left hand, so she got that with the carrot piece. Over time, she will start to associate the smell with me and treats, and will de-sensitize to it.

Since The Friendly Game comes first in the Parelli 7 Games, that's what I'm doing a lot of. I'd like to walk her places, as she gets bored easily, however her hooves will need some sort of protection first,(either shoes or booties) to keep the gravel roads from chewing up her feet.

I do some Porcupine Game on her to start her on the concept of moving AWAY from pressure, instead of towards it. Most horses move TOWARDS pressure and have to learn to do it "backwards" for them. So much of what we teach our horses requires THEM, not us to bridge the gap in the differences between horse and human!

Getting to Know Daisy

WEDNESDAY
Daisy clearly felt that humans were trouble. I wasn't sure exactly how tall she was, but she appeared to be around 16 hands high, and she expected to be given the right-of-way! Traditional methods would have a person putting a stud chain over her tender nose and jerking her around when she got into my space. Sadly, too often Left Brain Extrovert horses are viewed as annoying, bratty, argumentative, sneaky, annoying (yes, I mentioned that one twice, but they are very annoying sometimes). So they come in for more than their fair share of punishment.

But they can also be brilliant, loyal like no other, hilarious, clever, and can think for themselvesAND you,  if you are riding them and you find yourself in a really bad fix.

I sort of water-skiied with Daisy out to the small arena. It has a deep, sandy footing. Before long she knocked me with her big shoulder and down I went. She danced around me, as I rolled around to get to my feet. She never stepped on me and I do not believe she would have, no matter where I was laying. She is very aware of where her feet are.

Discouraged, I took her to a round pen and worked her there until she was sweating a bit. It was a warm day. By then she indicated by chewing and licking that she'd like to stop for a while.

Now that she was calmer, I took out the clicker and hung it on my little finger, ready when needed. I tried to get her to back up. It took quite a bit of pressure, starting with feather light and increasing until I was leaning on the rope. The instant she started to shift her weight I clicked the clicker and gave her a treat. And in that moment, her focus swung around from her surroundings and her own ideas to the concept that I had treats and was giving them out!

The next time I asked her to back up, it took less pressure on the lead rope and the third time she had got it. Now it only takes a feather light grasp and often she picks up on my intent before I ever pull back and she backs up.

Next, I attempted to walk her down the quarter rmile driveway to her 2 acre pasture. She was bored and eager to boogie, and I had a hard time with her. I took her back to the barn and reluctantly got a stud chain to limit her antics. That worked, but I felt very badly about having to resort to that, and determined to "lose the chain" as soon as possible. For now it was a safety necessity.

I tried to keep Daisy on the grass at the sides of the road because the gravel was painful to her feet. h=Her big, splayed feet were as dry as alligator skin and a chunk of her front hoof was just ready and waiting to fly off.

It took much circling and jockeying for position to get her to her pasture. She noticed the large stock tank of fresh, clean water first and took many enraptured gulps of the water. I let her loose and she thundered off, then dropped her neck to graze near her stablemate who was on the other side of the fence.

Daisy was now looking at me with interest. What a strange human! She wasn't sure I was for real, or would stay as reasonable as I appeared to be at the moment, but clearly, she was willing to see what I'd do next, since most of my actions had been agreeable to her.

The thought of going from where she was now, to being rideable and knowledgeable was intimidating. Could I do it? She'd had 11 years to become distrustful and disgusted with humans.

The Beginning

My daughter was getting married and she and I realized that I'd need a new "best friend" and bosom companion to love and serve. So we started beating the bushes, looking for just the right horse. Our budget was small and that didn't help much.

Since an elderly, sick or very plain horse costs just as much (and sometimes more) to maintain, I wanted something special this time around. I had been heavily involved in the horse world until my child was born, then I walked away (it was not easy!) and concentrated on getting her raised as well as I could. Somewhere in that time period, we bridged the gap from daughter - mom to best friends.

And now she had found the love of her life, and I was losing my dearest, and best friend. I will never lose her completely, and I'm getting a son in the deal (technically son-in-law), but the amount of time we will share together will be less. She needs to grow more like her husband and he needs to grow more like her.

So! I practically wore a hole in Craig's List, looking at horses for sale. Often I could read between the lines, and a picture truly IS worth a thousand words!

I prayed that exactly the right horse would become available at the right price and then one day in June, up popped the ad for Daisy. It's funny how often if you pray, and wait and are open to any option, the right one will land in your lap!

MONDAY
We drove out to see Daisy. She was utterly turned off to people, but she was gentle. And enormous. Sort of the Howard Huge of horses. Dried mud and manure were caked into her hooves. So hard and dry that I could not eve get it out with a sharp hoof pick! She stunk of manure and her coat was dirty. Someone had cut off her lovely tail to above her hocks and had cut her mane pretty short, which left her defenseless to the flies.

It's possible that in the cesspool of mud and manure she had lived in this last winter, that her mane and tail were badly tangled. It was too bad the folks who had her didn't realize that a bit of greasy conditioner rubbed into the hair would have allowed a person to work through the mess and de-tangle it. If the mess isn't impossible looking, conditioner and water work, and sometimes one can even use shampoo and water.

Daisy was purchased on the spot, and then the next hurdle was finding a way to transport her about an hour and a half to get her here. We were blessed to discover a wonderful man north of us on the coast, who advertises as a hauler on Craig's List. Tony was a compassionate and careful hauler. He had a nice three horse trailer and a good pick up truck, and he knew his business "from soup to nuts" as they say.

TUESDAY
Despite Tony's careful handling of Daisy, she arrived at her destination soaked in sweat, and whinnying her head off, She was hysterical because she'd been a pasture "pet" for so many years. She felt claustrophobic and terrified since she'd been "kidnapped" (in her mind) and taken far away from her pasture mate. Poor mare!

Despite her extreme mental distress, she had the presence of mind to back carefully and slowly out of the trailer and step down without hurtint herself or us. Impressive. She stuck her neck up in the air and stared out across the creek at horses grazing on the other side in a pasture. She whinnyed repeatedly at them, but the ignored her. Poor mare: she was speaking pure "horse" and they were half-humanized.

I started to wonder what I'd gotten myself into when Daisy couldn't stand still. When she did stand still, she would swing that big head around and clobber me with it. I was clearly expected to "get out of the way, stupid!" She claimed her space, as an alpha mare in a herd would do. In a herd, the other horses would give her room and basically bow to her dominion.

Daisy was afraid of the dark, narrow aisleway into the barn, so I opened up a paddock gate and went in the back way, to a covered area which adjoined her stall. A 12 x 12 "turn out" area which is covered.

She was afraid of the automatic waterer and afraid of the Rubbermaid garbage can which we dragged into her stall and filled with water. So I brought her a 5 gallon bucket in her covered area and filled THAT up with water.

The sellers had hay, so they said. I asked if I could purchase 10 bales from them, as it was nearly haying season and most of the feed stores were out of any hay at all. They were delighted with my offer and when the hay was brought into the barn, I discovered that most of it was moldy, bleached out, and basically only good as a ground cover. Was THIS what they'd been feeding Daisy? Yikes! Issh, yuck, phewey!  No wonder they had been giving her and their other horse a supplement. It's a wonder the horses hadn't had colic from the bad hay. Well, that or else they sold me the worst stuff in the barn. I hope they were dishonest enough to do that, simply so that their remaning horse would not be eating what they sold me. Truly dreadful hay for a horse.

I emailed the sellers to warn them that if they were feeding such hay to their remaning horse, they were courting a bad case of colic and a huge vet bill. I got a headstrong email back, assuring me that ALL the folks around their area fed their horses such hay as that. I doubt it! Most folks know better.

The next morning my daughter went with me to the barn. Daisy was antsy. Nervous and cooped up but she could see other horses at pasture grazing. I could not turn her out, as her pasture has (horse) chest high grass and she was given minimal grazing priviledges at the seller's place.

We brushed Daisy and talked to her, stroking her coat and admiring her. After a while she gave a big sigh and dropped her head to relax. She had been lonesome and scared, but these two humans were giving her a "massage" and obviously had no intentions of annoying her.

The next day I realized that what I had was a Left Brain Extrovert. I'd had the other three "horse-nality" types throughout lvfe, but not this one. A little Googling provided the lifesaving information that most Left Brain Extroverts respond very well to a clicker and little treats. Reward the slightest effort to do as you ask. Nevermind the fine tuning, if they try and fall all over themselves, reward them anyway. Reward them shifting their weight for the porcupine game. Never mind they didn't actually step to the side.

I strapped on a fanny back, grabbed the unused dog's clicker out of the closet, loaded up the pack with small horse treats, and headed to the barn.