I had asked Erin to ride Fancy today. Flying lead changes are still a training item. Also today, the future new owner of the stable moved in. Erin Patterson will continue to train a few horses there and then change to giving only riding lesson at the facility.
Mini pig and two mini babies had moved into a stall adjacent to the arena. Three sheep and a young llama moved into another stall. These stalls are attached to the indoor arena.
When I asked Erin to ride my horse today, I had no idea aliens had moved in. My horse and I were in the arena when Erin attached herself to the halter and attempted to lead Fancy to her saddling area.
There was No Sound or Smell that humans could hear or smell coming from the alien creature stalls. When Fancy put one foot in the stall aisle, she reacted! She immediately screeched to a halt, head up, alarmed blowing and quivering! When a horse reacts like this, they go into their prey animal brain. Prey animals are eaten by predators. It’s how nature works.
“The horse is doing one of two things; it’s doing what it thinks it’s supposed to do, or it’s doing what it thinks it has to do to survive.” — Ray Hunt.
Humans could not smell or hear anything different. The pigs were in sawdust. It’s difficult for a human to believe the piggies made sounds and smells humans can’t hear from that close.
Erin got her past the stalls with slight bolting…to and from the saddling area. She rode her with only one big spook in place. (I love spooks-in-place.)
Fancy had safe impusion and avoidance techniques while Erin was riding. There were no flying lead change attempts….Ha! I was amazed at my brave horse.The ride ended with Erin deciding to spend time with Fancy at the alien stalls.
First was the pigs. The new owner was in the stall with the pigs. She picked up a young one. My horse was able to see the pig when held by the human. Fancy managed to come to the stall and smell. She quivered for about 5 minutes. When the pigs are in the stall , my horse cannot see them. She can only smell and hear them. It was good for her to see a pig.
Next, Erin led her to the llama and 3 sheep stall. The llama was visible. She poked her nose out of the stall and Fancy touched her with her nose. She is not scared of a visible alien. She did not see the sheep, nor did they make any noise
They returned to the pig stall. The owner was feeding them. They were invisible again and making snuffly noises now…..Aliens who might eat Fancy!
After Erin unsaddled my horse and handed her back to me, I got a chair and sat next to the pig stall for about 15 minutes until I was winter frozen. Fancy was still worried.
Pigs, sheep, and llama will eventually get their own fenced-in lot. I predict two more days until she ignores the pig smell and noise.
What a great desensitizing experience for Fancy!
I had read an amazing book titled Horse Brain Human Brain. The Horse Brain portion explains the horse’s brain, smell and vision capacity. It explains it in words is mere mortals can understand and takes it beyond the prey animal concept taught in our Parelli learning. Author is Janet L. Jones PhD.
PS: scream