Chessa makes progress

For the last couple of days I have been working with Chessa, my little (almost) 6 month old filly. She has been very resistant to human touch. I decided that in order to change that she must learn to trust me and I her. So each day I have spent time getting her used to my sound, mannerisms, and methods. Each day I try and gain her trust as I feed her and talk to her. The ritual is that when I come to the barn, I open up the round pen for her and her mom Star to go in to get their feed. The rest of the herd stays in the outer perimeter and get theirs separately. Chessa and her mom picked up on this very quickly and without any hesitation. Now Chessa won't even wait for mom, she is in the pen before Star even has time to swish her tail.

After everyone has finished licking the last morsels of feed from their pans, I open up a stall inside the barn and Chessa and Star go in to get another handful of feed with the stall door closed behind them. I enter the stall and this is how I can actually get my hands on Chessa. Note: I would never attempt this unless I was absolutely sure of the horse that I am working with. Star had a very good trainer and she is very calm and trusting of me around her baby.

The stall is a 12 x 12 stall, so there is limited space for the horses to move about. At first Chessa will bob and weave to try and avoid me, but I won't give up. I must position her mom so that I can kind of wedge Chessa between mom and the stall wall. She will try and back up as I approach her and then once I actually have my hands on her, she will stop resisting. The first couple of times I tried this, she had the look of absolute panic in her eyes. I must say I was a bit nervous myself. However, I remained calm and assertive but gentle. Rubbing her down her back and neck, as well as her rump and upper legs trying to get her used to my touch.

Now after almost a week, the transformation is amazing. She actually approaches me in the barn. While we still have a long way to go, she is showing more and more trust. Today, her resistance was minimal and she lowered her head almost right away when I begun to rub her. Last week, she would not let me get close to her, much less touch her. Yesterday, I was feeding her from a bucket that I held. Today she was allowing me to put her halter on and off repeatedly without too much protest and let me give her a rub down.

The jubilation that I feel inside is so wonderful. I am employing techniques that I have learned through watching my "horse whisperer" daughter and seminars I have attended and books that I have read on horses. I think it is amazing how smart these horses are and I find it fascinating to watch them "get it" when you are trying to teach them something new.

It is going to be fun watching this spirited little girl take her baby steps in this journey that I plan for us to take together. I invite you to join us as I post updates on "our" progress.