Shadow is now happy to be approached and have a lead rope attached straight away, he walks with me and is no longer anxious about leaving the herd. I’ve been trying the bridle on him each time I work with him, gradually he is accepting the bridle more and more quickly. I spend a lot of time rubbing shadow’s ears, head, poll, and neck, slowly he’s accepting that a) it’s ok b) there’s no punishment c) there’s nothing to fear. I introduced the sight of a numnah and fleece saddle in preparation for our next step of training.
The bridle was fitted with hardly any issues. We walked around to distract from the bridle being worn and then he spotted the saddle and numnah on the floor. Not even a curious interest, it was pure fear. As always Lunar was waiting close by and so I led her past the offending items and Shadow followed… curious but reassured that Lunar hadn’t exploded or been eaten by the ‘horse eating’ numnah!!
Gradually I got him to sniff the fleece, but as soon as I picked it up, he froze. His knees locked and his body went rigid. Not one to give up I persisted and eventually we succeeded. I was able to rest the numnah on Shadow’s back and then remove it with him remaining calm. Using positive reinforcement and praise I am changing Shadow’s feeling about things he has negative associations with. He is learning that new things aren’t always to be feared and that his reactions won’t be punished.