Problem Horses - Aslan's Story 1 - From Fear to Trust [Slideshow]
Aslan is a very special pony, who had some unfortunate experiences in his past which caused him to lose all his trust in people and especially their tools and what they will do to him. He is here for 2 months to get help with his deep fear and to find trust again. This is the very beginning of our relationship. First of all, I have to convince him of my good intentions.
That's why I would like to share in great detail his journey and progress while he is here at Haras Plessis. My goal is to help him regain trust and confidence in people, their tools and finally the rider.
Earning trust is key number one
This is his first session. Aslan is since 3 days at Le Plessis, and all I did so far was to go and spend a few minutes in the field. He would come to sniff my hand but not allow to go past his nose in order to scratch him. Worse even when I have a halter in my hand. On day 3 I decided it was time for the first session.
Only friendly games in order to prove to him that I have only good intentions.
Remember he had made a lot of experiences where he felt forced, scared and pushed to do things he didn’t understand. So my plan was to give him very different experiences.
Earning his trust is key number one, so he would open up to me and allow me to work on his bigger fears later on. Pat Parelli says that there are a lot of domesticated horses but many of them have never been tamed – Aslan is one of them.
He is a very interesting horse regarding learning to understand the body language of horses – pay close attention to his facial expressions and muscle tone – I will point out several important key points which can help a lot when dealing with horses like him.
Slideshow with detailed descriptions of the session
Read more about Aslan
