Horse Behavior Specialist
Licensed 2 Star Parelli Professional
www.nancyslater.com
20 / Sport and Trail Magazine
Linda's Homework
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Part 2
t home, while bringing all the horses down to the lower pasture, I noticed a change in the mule. Josh followed CLOSELY behind the golf cart trying to catch up to me. He walked up to the side of it, reached out, and nuzzled my arm! Usually he hangs back, uninterested.
A
me, and I hurried to zone 5 again. He swished his tail as he realized I outsmarted him. Next he tried harder and reached out to hold me again with his whiskers. He messed up again and I got away to zone 5. I was surprised when Josh cut me off the last time and held me with his FOREHEAD!
Game over, he gently reached over to nuzzle my arm sweetly as I reached for the halter. He pushed his nose into the halter and we left together.
Back at the Parelli Center
A different mule showed up at the Ranch round corral. Josh and I met up with Linda, and Josh was CONFIDENT. He made the choice of walking right up to me and stuck to me. Linda had me send him out on a circle at liberty. Slow phase 1, quick 2, 3, 4 and tag the ground. He spun and faced me with the attention of a Marine, while Linda's horses who were next door, cut out of there! Josh got into a snotty, ear pinning, neck twisting trot, then broke down to a walk. Linda had me put my stick in front of him to tell him, “Yeah, walk!”. I agreed with whatever Josh did, “Ok, we'll do that”. I encouraged his behavior, no matter what it was, until his ears went up. He was interested! He started asking questions. He saw the game in it and he was pleased! He acted playful. He was bright eyed. It was different to see this side of Josh. I was used to seeing Josh as a reactive Right Brain Introvert (Parelli Horsenality Profile) from his experiences with humans. I loved to see him come alive, happy, and engaged!!
Note from Linda:
“It was fantastic, Nancy. Your homework from last time really paid off, you have his trust. So now the real Josh shows up and plays games with you- and you have to adjust to fit the horse that shows up. Ahem, the mule in this case.
I think it is worth sharing that being boring for Left Brain Extroverts is as disturbing for them as putting pressure on a Right Brain Introvert horse. The more I learn about this Horsenality, the more I see how much damage can be done by suppressing or boring them! Even to the extent that I helped my own challenging horse, Allure, to trust, but only now am I really understanding what provocative means. And he lights up when I do it.”
Starting my homework in the round corral, I headed for zone 5 (behind his tail), putting on a little pressure to pique his curiosity and retreating as soon as he looked at me. It took 25 mins before Josh dropped his defenses, lowered his head and yawned, and when he did, I headed to the fence to ignore him and he followed me. His let down time lasted over an hour! During that time, he did some crazy stuff: he rubbed his hindquarters on me, pushed his head into my arms, put his teeth on me, (no biting), put his jaw on my shoulder twice while rolling his eyes, and did lots and lots of yawning. Finally, he pushed his nose into the halter, and I thought, “Wow! Who is this mule?!”
The next day in the round corral, Josh walked right up to the saddle and pad I placed on the ground and touched both without hesitation. Then he figured out that he could stop me from going to zone 5 by cutting me off along the rail. It worked, and pretty soon he was looking like a cutting horse, keeping me held down. His ears were up, but he didn't touch me, so I slipped on by to zone 5. Game on! We spun and spun until he cut me off again. There was lots of licking and chewing and he had a sparkle in his eye, as he held me on the fence. Then, suddenly, his whiskers and breath touched me on my arm. He got me, and I held really still, but then he released me, and I hurried to zone 5 again. He swished his tail as he realized I outsmarted him. Next he tried harder and reached out to hold me again with his whiskers. He messed up again and I got away to zone 5. I was surprised when Josh cut me off the last time and held me with his FOREHEAD!
Game over, he gently reached over to nuzzle my arm sweetly as I reached for the halter. He pushed his nose into the halter and we left together.