Shadow, a shire horse who had been traumatised by a professional breaking yard, was sent to me to see if I could ‘undo’ any of the damage that had been done. He was wary, terrified of his own shadow, knew his own size and did not trust anyone but his owner.
I agreed to take Shadow on and see if my herd could help him find his inner confidence and this in turn would allow me to get close enough to him to help him. My herd are very good at showing other horses that I am someone they can trust and that nothing I teach is through fear or restraint but trust and partnership.
First, Shadow needed to settle into my herd, relax and realise that I am not the enemy. I work through trust, not fear and everything is made to be fun and interesting, the more we learn the more fun we have. I don’t set timescales; I work at the pace the horse is comfortable with.