My Horse, A Rope, And A Tug of War
by Eleanor - May 18th, 2009.Filed under: Sage herself.
My first step today was simply letting her get used to the rope around her neck again; she was eating when I approached so I let her continue.
The rope still seems to have some power over Sage, but she is trying really hard. As soon as she was comfortable with the rope back on her neck, I introduced the halter again.
She stayed with me a fairly long time although she was avoiding the halter. I never chased her down if she walked away; I waited until she came back to me. I really want her to have some choice in this whole process. I have never had to do this with any other horse, so on the one hand I feel pretty inadequate and inexperienced. However, she at least knows me and has a bond with me, which for Sage is probably the most important thing in this whole process.
Today I was able to get the halter fully on her face and up over her head twice. That was big progress, and she only stopped me and backed away as I was trying to tie the halter. As soon as she feels the rope halter come down over her poll she gets the panic in her eyes. I walked back with her a few feet and then let her shake the halter off of her head. I was going to try once more after that, but it became apparent that Sage had met her limit and so she walked off to the far gate of the pasture to be near some other horses. I let her be and figured that we had definitely come farther today.
I have a new halter coming that a friend has developed and is now selling online; I will keep you posted on it and get a picture up with Sage modeling one on a future post. These halters are really lightweight, have an easy on, easy off snap buckle, and could make a really big difference in all of this. My friend is making me a breakaway halter as well as a regular strength halter so that I will have options.
I have also ordered a Blocker tie-ring so that Sage will never have to be in a position of being freaked out while tied and unable to pull away. If you are unaware of these tie rings, please check them out. I have only boarded at one barn that had them, and now they make a model with a clip so it is completely transportable, including bringing them into a trailer for use.
Its an easy solution to help lessen the panic that a horse might go through if they are spooked while tied up, so I encourage you to look into the Blocker tie ring.