{"id":4710,"date":"2014-07-23T13:52:46","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T03:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=4710"},"modified":"2019-04-20T17:06:02","modified_gmt":"2019-04-20T07:06:02","slug":"giving-horses-choices-beautiful-boronia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/giving-horses-choices-beautiful-boronia\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving Horses Choices – The beautiful Boronia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BoroniaShire\"Yesterday at my Young Horse Day workshop I met a wonderful soul in Boronia, a young shire mare. I was asked to work with her because she wouldn\u2019t be caught, especially in the paddock with the other horses.
\nShe would give up in the yard as she knew she was unable to get away, and her owner saw her as a \u2018problem child\u2019, especially when she kicked out at her when the pressure was on.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t had that much to do with the larger draught breeds but when I was a youngster, I remember being in total awe of the brewery teams of Clydesdales, struck by their stoic no nonsense natures and work ethic, as well as their hugeness.<\/p>\n

The feeling I got when I looked at Boronia was of a gentle \u2018old\u2019 soul \u2013 her beautiful eyes hid behind a long dark forelock like a shy little girl, and that\u2019s what she turned out to be.
\nWhen I stepped into the yard with her she moved away, so I talked to the workshop group while I wandered around without looking at her directly but taking notice of her responses. Without a direct line approach or thoughts of \u2018I\u2019m going to catch you\u2019, she didn\u2019t feel the need to move far or fast, so with some approach and retreat I was able to almost get within touching distance \u2013 in fact I was able to stoke her shoulder at one stage but she shied away from my touch.<\/p>\n

I had a bag of treats with me as her owner admitted to using food to try and \u2018bribe\u2019 her into being caught but Boronia became good at snatching a mouthful from the bucket and moving quickly away. I intended to use the food as a reward, so to let her know I had some I put a few pellets in my hand and encouraged her to allow my hand in her space.
\nShe wasn\u2019t that interested in the food \u2013 or in touching my hand, even after tolerating my hand coming in and out of her space, which alarmed her at first.
\nSo I just kept my body turned slightly away from her and tried making myself small to see if that attracted her attention. It did and she dropped her head to my level and relaxed a bit more, content to just be close to me as long as I didn\u2019t try to touch her.<\/p>\n

After a while my knees got sore from squatting so I slowly stood and rested against the yard rails, explaining my methods to the people, and with the attention off her Boronia became curious. We were talking about her past where she was raised in a large herd on a big property without much attention to anything more than the basics of handling, and had come to her present owner very undernourished after a drought sale. Once she was caught she would allow you to do anything with her and I immediately got the feeling that she was \u2018shutting down\u2019 to cope with the handling she\u2019d endured \u2013 not that it may necessarily have been harsh, but in her eyes, she was scared and shutting down became her way of coping. This made her appear to be very quiet but she showed definite signs of withdrawing when too much pressure was put on her.<\/p>\n

I discovered that perhaps for the first time in her life, Boronia was being allowed to interact with a person on her terms \u2013 she started to sniff me, brushing her long whiskers against my shirt, then my hand.
\nShe eyed the bale of hay in the next yard, to tell me she\u2019d rather eat that, so I grabbed a handful and she tucked into it then followed me around the yard to get more as I moved away from her, and allowed her to \u2018catch me\u2019 \u2013 perhaps another first.<\/p>\n

Then she got tired of the hay and was happy just standing near me as I talked some more about how we could reward horses in different ways, such as being like another horse, just hanging out or giving them a good scratch.
\nI reached out to her neck and chest to see if she\u2019d like to be itched and sure enough, that was her favourite spot. When I stopped, she carefully moved her big hooves closer and asked for more, inching forward each time I stopped.<\/p>\n

When I decided to finish the session with her, she was chewing contentedly, with a soft eye and a smile on her lovely big Shire horse lips.
\nI invited her owner in to experience Boronia\u2019s acceptance of people because I knew she\u2019d overcome a big issue \u2013 she had never been given the choice of interacting with a human \u2013 it had always been the human\u2019s idea and forced upon her which was why she didn\u2019t enjoy being caught.
\nIt was very special to see her owner amazed that she could walk right up to her \u2018Bronnie\u2019 and give her a big friendly rub \u2013 she took off her halter after some encouragement and vowed to spend more time \u2018making deposits into her account\u2019 with her, to make up for all the \u2018withdrawals\u2019 of the past.<\/p>\n

The next horse I worked with was a lovely seven year old paint broodmare who hadn\u2019t yet been ridden. She was a bit touchy about picking up her hooves and the workshop participants were keen to see some \u2018join up\u2019 and liberty work.
\nAfter explaining that I don\u2019t do the traditional type of \u2018join up\u2019 where you deliberately send the horse away until it asks to be allowed back in, I introduced myself to the mare and started rubbing her body to find her favourite itchy spots.<\/p>\n

\"Paintmare\"After a little while she decided eating grass was better and moved off, so I gently encouraged her to keep moving and waited for her first sign of aknowledgement which was an eye and an ear focused on me \u2013 I turned away, taking the pressure off her and she willingly came right into me.
\nShe then stood for more scratching and I worked my way down to her front leg \u2013 but as soon as I\u2019d lifted it a little she hurried off \u2013 she had that choice being at liberty and it\u2019s a wonderful way to find out what a horse can truly cope with.
\nAgain, I encouraged her to move with the soft swing of the string I carry and after one trotting circle, she decided she\u2019d rather be with me.<\/p>\n

After that, she didn\u2019t try to run off again \u2013 just moved a little when things got worrying for her. I was able to pick up all four feet at liberty then taught her to yield her hindquarters from both a suggestion (looking at them) and the touch of my hand.
\nShe had some difficulty accepting the yield from her left eye and kept wanting to turn away and put me in the other eye, but after a few goes and having the choice to move her feet whenever she was worried, she could do beautiful yields with my hand on her side, where my leg would go.<\/p>\n

Throughout this interaction with her I used my \u2018clicker\u2019 (my tongue) and treats to reward her, as food was her favourite motivation. She\u2019d never had any experience with \u2018clicker training\u2019 but caught on right away without being pushy. This helped her enjoy her interaction with me and see that playing at liberty can be fun and fruitful.<\/p>\n

So I too learned something from my Young Horse Day \u2013 we all have choices and by allowing the horses theirs, they will show us what\u2019s best for them, so the more ‘tools’ (or different ways) for doing things we have, the better.
\nThe students learned from observing that patience can be our greatest virtue, to take small steps and to consider the horse\u2019s point of view. There\u2019s always more to learn\u2026.<\/p>\n

Learning is a never-ending journey so why not let the journey be the reward \u2013 it certainly is for me, especially when I discover little gems of wisdom from the horses.<\/p>\n

(Photos by Ruth Tanner.)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday at my Young Horse Day workshop I met a wonderful soul in Boronia, a young shire mare. I was asked to work with her because she wouldn\u2019t be caught, especially in the paddock with the other horses. She would give up in the yard as she knew she was 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