Second-Chance Horses by Callie Smith Grant

Author:Callie Smith Grant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Inspiration;Horses—Anecdotes;Horsemanship—Anecdotes;PET006000;NAT016000;REL036000
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2023-08-11T00:00:00+00:00

17

With Harmony

Hope Ellis-Ashburn

A horse owner for nearly forty years, I thought I knew a thing or two about all things equine. In fact, not only have I owned horses for most of my life, but I have also studied them academically in college. If not an expert, I certainly considered myself well above average when it came to knowledge of their care and handling. But enter one determined donkey, and I soon realized how little I really knew.

Harmony’s arrival on our farm brought the need for quick attention to farrier and veterinary care. Initially, Harmony’s needs were paramount to everything else. However, the kind of handling required to get her immediate care was not something I wanted to do in the future. I longed for her to receive the sedative-free, pleasant handling that my horses were accustomed to receiving. The first step was for me to develop a friendship with an animal who had little desire to enjoy my company.

A small bag of treats and a large dose of patience brought about my first success. Spending time hanging out in Harmony’s lot at a mutually agreed upon distance apart slowly began to bring her some measure of comfort with and curiosity about me. I offered treats from my outstretched hand but never forced myself on her. Over a period of several days, she would greedily snatch a cookie from my hands and then quickly back away. I never gave chase, instead allowing her to decide when she felt comfortable enough to stand still and slowly chew her treat without feeling the need to disengage from my company.

Eventually, she allowed me to touch her muzzle and later her head and neck. As our relationship began to solidify, I thought about the best way to halter her without destroying our tenuous level of trust. I chose a thin cotton rope for the occasion, one that I could slip into the palm of my hand and hold as I stroked her. Slowly, she accepted the feel of the rope over her entire body. Even so, the first few times I tried quietly looping it loosely around her neck, she resumed her habit of quickly backing away.

I had recently learned some of the basics of positive reinforcement training, so I began using the treats for more than establishing a relationship. I began to use them to reward Harmony for exhibiting desired behaviors. In this manner, when she stood still and accepted the rope, I rewarded her with a treat.

While positive reinforcement training can be used with almost any animal, including horses and donkeys, what happened next, in spite of our successes, demonstrated that Harmony would continue to exert her independence in surprising ways.

My plan, once Harmony stood quietly with the rope looped around her neck, was to use the rope to accustom her to the feel of a halter. In other words, I would position the rope on areas of her head, such as behind her ears, under her throatlatch, or around her muzzle—areas where I hoped she would soon feel the slight pressure of a halter attached to a lead rope.

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