As background knowledge, Moose can't/won't (I'm not sure which one) stand near me at liberty while I pet him. And Dancer has become hard to catch again. But of course, I'm sure that's not anything new.
Sooo. . . .
Moose let himself be petted with no line on!! And while someone could totally ruin this moment by saying that I had treats, he still did it!! So, that made me really happy. And with that, he would've let me put the halter on him, too, had I decided to progress further.
Okay, but now this one is a shocker. Dancer actually greeted me at the gate today. I know, amazing right!? But here, let me just describe the magnitude of this for you. We have 3ish acres of pasture at our house. And she came all the way over from the other side of the pasture!!
[caption id="attachment_368" align="aligncenter" width="499" caption="Click on picture for a larger view"]
[/caption]Needless to say, that made my day. But wait, it gets better. She even walked inside the stall! (background knowledge: Dancer has not been inside the stalls ever since Bella came here, because she she got trapped inside a few times). And when I went into the pasture, she didn't leave! She actually stood there and let me pet her!
"How interesting!"
Now for a little lecture, oh the horror. Okay, so I just saw the 6th DVD of L&HB yesterday. The 6th DVD wasn't real long, but I learned an interesting tidbit of information. Linda phrased it better, but basically there are 2 kinds of fear in horses: fear of death, and fear of a loss of dignity or spirit. Horses who have a fear of death are usually the RB kind, and are looking to be safe. Horses who are afraid of a loss of dignity/spirit are usually LB and are dominant.
Reflecting on that, Dancer is not afraid of dying. She is definitely a a more LB type. So, that means Dancer would most likely have the fear of a loss of dignity or spirit. So, maybe that's why Dancer doesn't (I'd say didn't, but I'm being realistic here) like me. Somehow, I am bringing up this fear in her. Hmm. . .
This made me decide to really try to get her rapport. Before, I had an oookay rapport and focused on respect to such a degree that I lost all of the rapport. So, this time I'm trying to do things different. But it's still interesting that even when I'm being nice, she's still dominant. For instance, I'll give her a treat and then she will perk up and barge right into my personal space. So, I wave my arms, like "Sorry, honey you're too close!" Then, her ears go back immediately and she just gets angry. I'm realizing that I have to be a better leader, but how can I do that without losing her rapport or causing her to be fearful?
Ah, well. "Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still." There's my motto for today, lol!
No comments:
Post a Comment