Day 6- Got the halter on!

After moving her feet and getting her using the thinking side of her brain this is what we did...Rub Rub Rub! We spend a lot of time just rubbin' and lovin!

And then we desensitize more to the rope- you'd be surprised how many horses can't handle a rope swinging around their legs

Most of our time was spent rubbing her face, letting her know I wasn't going to hurt her

And asking her to give that nose to me a little bit...

Once I got her used to my hands, I rubbed her all over with the other halter.

And retreat!

She said...WHEW That was a close one! I almost died, but I didn't!

Ok...I guess you can rub me!

Don't I look pretty with a halter on!

Today Sophie thought a lot about the halter, wondering if it was really a lion trying to kill her, and trying to trust me enough that I wouldn't unleash the beast to ravage her face! It's hard because it had to ultimately be her decision, all I did was approach her with the idea that the thing wasn't a predator, and I had to take the time to wait for her to decide. And believe me...this took a lot of time! And do you see the expression on her face? It's relaxed. That's the only trick to horse training. You can't push them too far too fast and expect them to learn. How can you learn if you are terrified? If someone was holding a knife or something at you and told you to do a calculus problem OR ELSE...how would you feel? That's how a lot of horses feel I think when they haven't been taught how to A) relax in stressful situations and B) how to respond to whatever it is that you are asking. If I had pushed the haltering situation at best I would have ended up with a terrified horse that got away. At worst? She could have turned violent in an attempt to use that reactive side of her brain and escape! That's how a lot of problems start. Now we just have to repeat this lesson over and over until it becomes second nature...like tying your shoe or putting your underpants on. This is Sophie's first pair of underpants...I think she's wearing them pretty good!