Wicca Training 22 June 2023

As it's been quite hot recently I decided to start Wicca's training in the morning instead of waiting until afternoon. I went out a bit after 9 AM and Wicca was eager to come follow me. But as soon as she saw I had the halter, she walked off. I had to follow her for many steps before she finally stopped and turned toward me. We had a minor dance, then I put her halter on. I tried to walk her back to the stable, but she stopped multiple times. She was just wanting to be stubborn and willful, so I waited her out. After a bit of ignoring and Dan driving the Colorado past, she walked happily.

We made it to the stable, I tied her, and went to start grooming her. Trixie, not wanting to be alone, followed us in. And then, being Trixie, left her nose right on Wicca's butt. Wicca did not like this, but being tied, could not make Trixie leave. And so I grabbed Trixie's halter and tied her a short distance away (in the shade & the breeze).

Back to grooming Wicca, Dan kept coming in and out of the stable area. Wicca decided this was concerning, maybe a threat. It isn't, she needs to come to understand that, but it meant she was nervous the entire time. All her sensitive areas were extra sensitive, but for most of grooming, it was not a big deal. She was fine with me cleaning her front hooves, but the back hooves, not so much. For the left rear (done first), she kept wanting her foot back and to reposition herself. I let her have the foot, but did resist a little bit. I think that resistance was not a good thing, because when I got to her right rear foot, she would not give it to me.

Refusing to give a hoof is not ok. She's not allowed to do that, I need to be able to clean her feet and the farrier needs to be able to trim them. But the reason for refusal is relevant to how we handle the situation. She was refusing because she didn't feel entirely safe and didn't trust that I'd release her foot if she needed it. So rather than fight her, I allowed her to be nervous. I went into the area she thought a threat might come from and stayed there a bit, relaxed and calm. I then came and stood next to her, talking to her quietly, being a safe companion. I'd ask for her foot every so often during this, and she kept not giving... but she kept being less firm about it. I could feel her shift more of her weight off of that hoof each time as she tried to decide if she was safe enough or not. Finally she picked up the foot for me. I cleaned it quickly but carefully, and let her move the foot around as I did so. This seemed to help her, she likes knowing she can still move, even when I am holding her foot, and that she's ok.

Foot clean we moved to the light saddle. She was back to acting like this was absolutely terrifying. I responded by letting her examine it each step of the way, gave her a chance to calm down. Put the saddle on her back, she's scared. Be near her, quietly, she calms down. Attach the girth? Very scared. I had put the saddle on her from her left side, then walked to the right to attach the girth. She shied away from me each time I reached for her, and I was worried if I walked away with the girth hanging loose from the right side, she'd touch it with her leg as she moved and spook. Rather than risking that, I took the saddle back off. I walked to the left side, put the saddle back on, and then tried to lower the (still attached) girth on the right side.

Though I tried to lower it gradually, it was still a very scary thing for the mare. I moved the girth down a bit, let her tolerate the scary thing for a bit, then brought the girth back up to the not-scary position. I then touched her with my hand, reaching around her chest, everywhere the girth had touched and been scary. She felt that was my hand, and felt that it was ok. She relaxed a bit. So I started to lower the girth again, very intentionally touching her with it exactly where my hands had touched her. She was not scared of it this time. What a smart, willing mare.

During grooming she had been sensitive about things touching her belly and girth area, so I was expecting very nervous behaviors as I pulled the girth up. But I ran my hand along her belly as I reached for the girth and she just accepted it. Almost no nervousness at all. Good girl. She let me tighten the girth with significant patience, too.

Saddle secured, we went for a walk through the areas that had been making Wicca nervous. This is how she likes to deal with her fears – for her to confront them, explore and learn about the scary thing, but with someone to help her. We explored the scary space and she seemed completely unconcerned about the saddle. This is good progress, a very positive thing.

After a brief exploration we came back. I tied her and removed the saddle – no need for her to stay in the saddle while I introduce the bridle. This bridle is an English bridle with a nose band, a thing Wicca and I haven't used together before. Wicca is extremely willing to accept a bit and doesn't seem to mind a well-fitting bridle at all, but her head is difficult to fit. As I tried to put this bridle on, I found the nose band was too tight and the headstall/cheek pieces were too long. I shortened things to the second shortest hole and completely loosened the nose band. The bridle went on her this time, but was still too long. She finds an ill fitting bridle extremely uncomfortable (... duh. A piece of metal in the mouth in an unpleasant place? Of course that's extremely uncomfortable), but I held the cheek pieces shorter for a brief period. When I could keep the bit in the right place, she was calm and happy with the bridle. But adjusting the bridle on her head was not going to happen (as soon as I tried to get my hands back to work the buckles she was moving, trying to get away from the bit-in-the-wrong-place). I took the bridle off and stopped at this point. She'd been through enough today. I did shorten the bridle to its smallest holes, standing next to her as I did so, but that was just so she'd see the bridle be handled and not be a threat.

After this I took the bridle in and groomed Trixie. Trixie was happy for the attention. I did not want to ask more of her – she's not a hot-weather horse – so just some grooming and releasing her. After releasing Trixie I released Wicca (don't want Wicca to be able to bother a still tied Trixie, Wicca can be a brat).

And that was our training session for the morning. A bit challenging, but a very good training session, I think. Wicca trusted me and found that trust rewarded. That's the most important aspect of the day.