The challenge of training the rescue horse
I’ve been told by several horse trainers that training the rescue horse can be challenging, possibly even more so than training the adopted wild horse. But the benefits can be enormous, both for horse and rider.
In a previous post The Rescue Horse, I described our meeting a nine-year-old appaloosa mare, whom we decided to bring home last Spring. If Teyla (the name my husband gave her based upon the “T” and “A” branded on her hindquarters) could speak, I wonder what stories she might have to tell me?
The scrawl of brands across her shoulders and hindquarters seem to me a litany of her past bad experiences. And they’re not only written on her body. Those experiences penetrate deeper into the mind, heart, and soul of the horse―where they translate into behaviors like fear, shutting down, inability or unwillingness to engage, and lack of confidence.
How does the horse trainer break through that? How do you communicate to the abused horse that she’s not going to be hurt again? How does the trainer let the horse know that she’s now in a situation where the people around her will be kind and fair? How can you gently chip away at that protective coat of armor she’s wearing? How can the trainer gain the horse’s confidence?
These are all of the questions I asked myself as we loaded Teyla up into the trailer that Spring morning. Dennis led her up to the back of the Sundowner and she hopped in with surprising willingness. I guess she had no where else to go. As I climbed up onto the side of the trailer to check on Teyla before we began the trip home, I was struck by the horse’s two steely eyes staring into space, not outside, but inside. And I wondered what she saw there. I wondered if she would ever see me.
My experience is that bringing the rescue horse back takes a lot of time. A willingness to do the work. And some creativity. In the last few months we’ve made some progress, and I’m excited about it.
I’ll write more about undertaking this horse training challenge soon …
Flickr Photo Credits: Artamnesia;Hankerific
