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.
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