Starting in June we’ve been hauling out to a local boarding barn every Sunday morning. I think we’re on outing 13 or 14. Things started out pretty hairy with Cruise way over threshold and uber worried. Bordering on unruly. I’ve taken Warwick Schiller’s philosophy about this that any “misbehavior “ is about the horse feeling unsafe though, instead of thinking about it as a dominance thing.
Using TRT leading on a long line to bring his focus back, TRT clock face and behind/across for calming, and adding in the tension release technique have all helped. He’s gone from super worried and unruly in hand weeks 1-3, to rideable after ground work and lunging weeks 4-9, to getting off the trailer calmly and doing all the things quietly. Including cantering and walking the indoor on a loose rein.
We’ve been getting to the barn early when most of the horses are out, doing all the things and then quitting as the horses’ food is being prepared and they’re brought in. This last week we unsaddled but stayed in the ring and started working on his feelings about horses being loose in the aisles, the feeder’s dog darting around, and all the other chaos that ensues.
The plan is to add this under saddle when he’s pretty solid in hand. Then add a horse in the ring. Then add multiple horses. Then add cold weather, which is always a tension multiplier for him. I’m planning on keeping my stall over Winter and hauling as many Sundays as possible with the weather factored in.
I can’t tell you how pleased I was yesterday (on a cool morning!) to have him get off the trailer quietly and sniff the ground, and stay under threshold for ground work/lunging/under saddle/scary chaos ground work. It’s going oh so slowly, but it’s going!
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