It is now very cold here. -16 c as I write and -6 as we played at the yard. But still and dry so with exercise it was possible to stay warm ! Due to the cold weather and deep snow the horses had not been let out today so they were all getting a turn in the indoor school. As a result I could only play with Filly for around 20 minutes.
Waiting in her stable for my turn it was obvious that she was in a very dominant, biting mood. One of the girls said that she had reared at her earlier. Filly really does not do well on box confinement and is also in season, but that is only making excuses for her and this behaviour had to be dealt with.
We had a fine time in the box with her attempting to crowd my space all the time and bite, but keeping a watchful eye on her teeth and legs I stood my ground and made sure that she was the one who always had to back away, mainly using fore quarter porcupine with my fingers. In the box this was a bit of an extreme sport though and so I was glad when the school became free.
On entering the school I started with the YoYo game to make sure that I could back her out of my space. This went pretty well but she obviously thought that as games go this was a bit boring, so I switched up to circling game. Again this was ok but not really tackling the dominance issues.
Next I moved onto travelling circles. These make her think and so give her little mind less capacity to dream up mischief and also was a stepping stone to the pattern I really wanted to use, the Falling Leaf. This is a travelling circle but with a circle reversal every half circle so that she circles in front of me and to the side, but never behind. On the turn reversal she turns towards me and as I am continuing to walk forwards she has to be smart in getting out of my way. To an extent this is part of the purpose of the pattern. It is making her continually move out of my travelling bubble of personal space. If she tries to push into that bubble or even brush me I then have to be quick to use the driving game with the carrot stick, my elbow or whatever else is convenient to move her out of my space. To start with she was very very pushy as she came past the front of me, teeth flashing and the occasional mock kick attack. Of course these high phases from her just allowed me to match her energy and make it uncomfortable for her to be in my bubble. In situations like this it is very important to stay calm and not harbour a grudge from the last pass when she "attacked" and you failed to react fast enough. If on the next pass she is good and you then get in a revenge for the previous pass she has just been taught that attack is good and passive is not !! DO NOT play this game with any emotion. Just pretend to be a robot reacting as needed then immediately forgetting the past. Remember this all has to happen whilst walking with focus, giving the "aids" to change direction, swapping hands on the rope and stick. It takes practise, some of which I have done in the past using mental visualisation techniques, and some on less dominant horses like Bonitao and Billy.
As we played a change suddenly happened. She was no longer in my space on each half circle, mouth was actually shut (!) and no more little kicks. This took maybe 10 minutes and many passes up and down the school, with the odd full circle thrown in to keep her concentrating and not making assumptions about the pattern. The change was profound, and so mine had to be as well. I became much quieter with the "aids" and the stick stayed neutral. At last she found a position of peace, and she actually looked quite relieved about it. The ears were still pricked and mobile, eyes blinking and soft so this was not a fearful surrender. She had temporarily found a leader who did provocative games and defended his space as a herd leader should. That is what most horse look for to keep them safe in the wild, and for a while I provided.
Leading her back to her box was much easier than to the school and as a bonus there was her food on the floor. Just to keep the dominance going that bit longer I prevented her from getting to the food for a few minutes until again she again softened, then I let her eat in peace.
I know this battle will have to be fought again and again as horse are always striving for dominance in the herd. The trick is to not let this anger you but just to accept it and work with it. The alternative is to beat the spirit out of her so that she fears me, but then she would no longer be Filly and that would break my heart. Her fiery spirit is why I find her such fun to be around and play with. Complete consistency on my part will I hope make the challenges become less frequent and gentler.............
Well I can hope can't I ??
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