Nancy Snyder’s Tail Waggin’ Wellness

07/19/2024

07/14/2024

"New HORSE Syndrome”🆕🐴

Yesterday, I wrote about a new term I have coined called “New Home Syndrome.” The post has gone viral, and I am really glad about that because what horses experience when they move homes is incredibly significant and poorly understood. It sets off a pattern of behaviour due to the psychological and physiological impact of completely changing their environment and routines.

I wish to introduce you to my next term, which I hope is also accepted as widely because it is just as significant and goes hand in hand with “New Home Syndrome.” The term is “New HORSE Syndrome,” and it is to bring recognition, respect, and appreciation to what can happen to many PEOPLE when they get a new horse. I personally got stuck in the vortex of “New HORSE Syndrome” for nearly eight years after I bought a flashy young warmblood. I believe if I had known about “New HORSE Syndrome,” things could have been very different and I would have been better at identify better help and solutions.

I am calling it a syndrome because the psychological turmoil, loss of confidence, and sense of hopelessness that can manifest in an individual connected to the event of getting a new horse are common and predictable. The things that resolve “New HORSE Syndrome” are also predictable.

Let me explain.

When you get familiar with something, you perceive it as predictable and reliable. Your nervous system down-regulates, and you can relax. Familiar things are all part of our comfort zones. Familiar places, people, activities, and tasks are easy to be around, engage with, and navigate. The familiarity of these things makes you feel a sense of certainty and hence security.

Think about a horse you got on with really well. It might not have been perfectly behaved, but you were familiar with them, so you found them predictable.

If you are like me, before I got my warmblood, I was the typical amateur rider. Horses were my hobby, and although I had ridden for most of my life, it was only on a very small number of horses. I was always surrounded by people that helped me out, and the small number of horses I experienced were kind and, as I discovered, forgiving of me.

When my flashy young warmblood was delivered by the trucking company after a four-day trip across Australia, I had no concept of what he was being confronted with. I gave him a single day off before I eagerly jumped on board.

As soon as I got on him, I felt weird. He was taller than the other horse I had been riding and moved differently. His movement was so big and ground-covering. This is significant for our nervous system and proprioception, as the movement of horses we ride regularly gets locked into our proprioceptive circuits. If we don’t ride many horses, as I didn’t back then, feeling a new horse is confronting to our sense of balance in the saddle. Not only this, but I vividly remember him abruptly stopping and turning his head right around as if to eyeball me. It was most likely because I was hanging onto his mouth and giving him go-stop aids at the same time. He would have been completely confused and confronted by how I was communicating with him and how unbalanced I was on his back. It felt like he growled at me; what I probably felt was his tension lift. He then proceeded to spook and shy around the arena because I had just added an alarming and uncomfortable experience to what he was already dealing with. I had never had a horse spook so many times over nothing. It was not fun. After a week of this spooking and shying, my nerves were shot, and I started dreading getting on him. And so began my seven-year battle with “New HORSE Syndrome” as I became obsessed with trying to fix my “sensitive,” unpredictable, and unreliable horse. It took me that long to identify that I was causing him trouble. But when you are stuck in “New HORSE Syndrome” you cannot see this.

What is “New HORSE Syndrome”?

I define “New HORSE Syndrome” as what happens to a person when the way a new horse behaves, responds, and feels is different from what is known or expected. This difference and shattering of expectations creates a sense of distrust and lack of reliability and safety. The rider then becomes overly preoccupied with risk management, emotionally monitoring the horse, and finding solutions to fix them. When efforts to resolve the behaviour or gain a sense of harmony in encounters continue to fail, feelings of guilt, shame, and a sense of hopelessness can be overwhelming.

This can lead to the person experiencing anxiety and a destruction of confidence as a rider; prone to lashing out aggressively towards the horse; riding recklessly in an effort to push through fear; or creating excuses or distractions to avoid riding altogether.

Sometimes the horse might be sold and another new horse acquired, where the same issues will surface. However, other times to resolve the discomfort caused by the conflict between their desire to ride and their fear, they might change their expectations and activities with the horse, opting not to ride it for various reasons. This reframing is a coping mechanism that helps them deal with the perceived failure and alleviates the psychological discomfort of not feeling safe riding their horse.

“New HORSE Syndrome” can be overcome.

It can be solved by helping people understand how to help a horse adjust to a new environment, routines, and rider. By showing people how to introduce themselves to the horse's mind and body through imprinting what I call their signature. Everyone is a different height, weight, and will do things slightly differently. Therefore, the horse has to learn about you and be given time to develop and practice responding to how you handle them and ride. This includes how you sit, hold the reins, use your leg, and communicate direction and transitions. You need to allow your and the horse’s mind and body to adapt and grow proprioceptive circuits to allow the physical connection between horse and rider to feel familiar, for the communication to be familiar, and for the routines to become familiar. All so everyone feels a sense of security and healthy stress regulation can occur. It is important to respect that a sense of trust is built by time and experience, and it needs to be strategically approached.

“New HORSE Syndrome” may be a transient hiccup when the horse and rider can adjust to each other and trust is built. But for others, it can be a long suffering that is mentally, emotionally, and financially devastating. Not to mention all the horse accidents that happen when non-trusting riders make bad choices with non-trusting horses.

If this has struck a cord with you, please ask for some guidance, there are those of us out there that understand this very common yet poorly understood experience of what is really going on❤

---------------------------------------------------------------
Please hit the SHARE BUTTON to spread the idea if it resonates with you. ❤

‼However, please do not copy and paste and plagiarise my work as it happens all the time and it is really not cool. ‼
---------------------------------------------------------------

07/01/2024

LOVE this! ❤️

06/30/2024

A LESSON IN HOW HORSES THINK

You don’t see many Haflinger horses in Australia. Even fewer when I was a kid than nowadays. So when a Haflinger gelding named Enrico arrived at the riding school it caught my attention. Enrico had been bought by Laura who was a very nice lady in her late thirties. She had seen him in a paddock every day for months and finally got the nerve to go to the house near the paddock and ask if he was for sale. Laura had grown up in France (her dad was a diplomat) and had great childhood memories of riding through the countryside of Normandy on her Haflinger mare.

Enrico’s owners were very glad to be rid of him. He had been bought from a dealer for their daughter, but it had all gone terribly wrong from day one. Enrico was almost impossible to catch and when he was finally caught he couldn’t stand still long enough to get a saddle on. The owners had had enough and wanted him gone. They said that if Laura could catch him, she could have him. Well, it took some doing, but after finally running him into a neighbour’s stockyard and getting a rope around his neck, Enrico was caught. Laura later told me it took three large fellows to manhandle the little 13.2 hh Enrico into a truck. And that’s how he came to be at the riding school.

I got to see quite a lot of Enrico because he was kept in a yard about half the size of a tennis court and it was my job to feed him and clean his yard each day. He was a very skittish little guy and would take off to the far end of the pen and shake whenever I entered. Laura didn’t have much luck with him either. Every day she came and tried to approach him, but poor Enrico would run wildly as if being chased by the devil with a pitchfork. After a bit, Laura would leave in frustration. It wasn’t too many days before Laura told me she wondered if she had done the right thing by taking him.

I had almost the opposite approach from Laura. I would enter his yard with a wheelbarrow and manure fork and go about my business. I would let him run to the far end of the yard and figured that eventually he would be so used to the routine that he would realise that I was no threat to his safety. Each day Laura did her thing and each day I did my thing. Laura started using food as an enticement to ease Enrico’s worry and it made some change in him. But after three weeks it never got a whole lot better. Enrico would sneak a bite of food and jump away before Laura could touch him. And if she did move when he was nearby he would take off running.

I too wasn’t making fast progress. Enrico got better to the point that he would see me approaching the yard with the wheelbarrow and before I entered he would wander to the far end of the yard. But at least he wasn’t running wildly like he did the first few days. I still couldn’t get close to him without him shaking and threatening to jump over the top rail. As Yul Brenner said in the musical, The King and I, “It was a puzzlement!”

I didn’t realise that Walt was behind me one day when I was cleaning out Enrico’s yard.

“How ya goin with the taffy fellow, Matey,” he asked.

“Ah Walt, he is still really scared and won’t let anybody near him. Are all Haflinger’s like this?”

“Well Matey, I ain’t seen too many of ‘em, but ya know they were bred for carryin packs in them Austrian mountains, so I expect they would normally have pretty steady minds,” he answered.

“Well, this one hasn’t, Walt. He must’ve got swindled when they handed out brains.”

“I wouldn’t judge him too harshly, matey. I think ya can be pretty sure somebody has taught this little fellow to be as scared as he is,” Walt surmised.

“Do you think he can be helped, Walt?”

“Sure, matey.”

“How,” I asked.

“Change how he’s feelin,” Walt said as if the answer was too obvious and wasn’t I stupid for not knowing?

“Yeah, but how,” I asked.

“Well, don’t let him feel that bad.”

I was beginning to feel like I was missing the obvious here and Walt was trying to explain to me that water was wet.

“Okay, Walt let’s start from the start. I do not understand the point you are making here. How do I get a horse that is scared of people change to be not scared of people,” I asked in the hope of an answer that would make sense to me.

“Alright matey, let’s take the way you clean the yard as an example.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Well matey, why does the horse run to the other end of the yard from ya when you come in,” he asked.

“Because it is the furthest point from me and he feels safer being far away from people,” I answered.

“That’s right, but why does he still do it after three weeks of the same pattern? Why ain’t he learned that ya ain’t gonna kill him and he don’t need to run to the other side?”

“I don’t know. Because he’s dumb?”

“No matey. It’s because it works for him. When he first arrived and ya came into the yard, he ran to the other end. Ya left the yard and he was still alive. Ya taught him that if he goes to the other side of the yard when ya come in he will survive. So each day when ya take that wheel barra into the yard he wanders over to where he knows he will be safe. It is a pattern that has successively repeated itself over and over for three weeks. He has learned what he needs to do to stay safe, so why should he change it? If he changes the pattern, he knows there is a possibility he might die. So he figures when ya on a good thing, stick to it.”

“I never thought of it like that, Walt.”

“That’s because ya think like a human does instead of how a horse does, matey.”

“What can I do to help him,” I asked.

“Well, the horse runs to the other side of the pen because he thinks that works for him. Change that. Show him it don’t work for him no more.”

“How do I do that, Walt?”

“Lots of ways, matey. For instance, when he runs to the other side, go towards the other side and make like ya have to pick up poo nearby. When he runs somewhere else, head that way as if ya have to go and check if that fence rail has a nail stickin out. When he goes somewhere else, wander over there and see if ya dropped ya watch on the ground not far from there. Let him work out that runnin ain’t workin. But don’t do so much that ya force him to jump out of the yard or run ya down. Do enough to get him to search for another strategy other than runnin to the opposite end, but not so much that he thinks he will die. Eventually, he will figure out takin off to the far side ain’t workin and he will take a moment when he will stand facing ya and look at ya. That’s when ya walk away. Build on that each day until in a couple of weeks ya will walk into the yard and he will stand quietly and check ya out. Then ya on the way to him feelin it’s ok to be caught.

Of course, I needed to get Laura to go along with this new strategy because we both had to be consistent if it was to work. She was very excited because she could see the sense in Walt’s thinking. It took about a week and a half before both Laura and I could walk into the yard and approach Enrico to pat him.

It has been a long personal journey to understand the concept that I could effect a change in a horse’s feelings by teaching him that the feelings he has don’t work or are not in his best interest. He can change the way he feels and change his ideas because I can show him a different way to respond which will work better for him. I’m not talking about just teaching him to do what I want him to do but to actually change his feelings about what I want him to do. This is a tough concept to grasp. I wish I understood it better than I do. But I think each year and each horse gives me more insight.

Photo: Haflingers on the run.

06/27/2024

06/14/2024

A picture is worth a thousand words...image credit International Canine Behaviorists

05/19/2024

05/17/2024

Credit: Emily Cole Illustrations

03/27/2024

Proof your dog, peeps

Credit to Hathaway

03/22/2024

03/08/2024

Bringing a dog into your home is a great decision that can have a positive, lifelong impact on your family. These fluffy animals are the best companions anyone could ever ask for. They would play with their humans all day every day if it were up to them. Moreover, they are super loyal and would neve...

02/28/2024

Lorsque vous accueillez enfin vos chiots de 10 semaines, veuillez garder cette image à l'esprit. Leurs os ne se touchent même pas encore. Ils marchent si joliment avec de grosses pattes souples et des mouvements bancals parce que leurs articulations sont entièrement constituées de cartilages, de muscles, de tendons et de ligaments recouverts de peau. Rien n'est encore bien ajusté ou n'a encore de véritable prise.

Lorsque vous les faites courir de manière excessive ou que vous ne limitez pas leur exercice pour les empêcher d'en faire trop pendant cette période, vous ne leur donnez pas la chance de grandir correctement. Chaque grand saut ou course bondissante et excitée provoque des impacts entre les os.
En quantités raisonnables, ce n'est pas problématique et c'est une usure normale qui s’opèrera.

Mais lorsque vous laissez le chiot sauter du canapé ou du lit, l’emmenez faire de longues promenades, vous endommagez cette articulation en formation. Lorsque vous laissez le chiot se déplacer sur des carreaux glissants , vous endommagez l'articulation.

Vous n'avez la chance de les faire grandir qu'une seule fois. Un corps bien construit est quelque chose qui vient d'un excellent élevage et d'une bonne éducation. LES DEUX, pas seulement un.

Une fois adulte, vous aurez le reste de votre vie à passer à jouer et à vous engager dans des exercices à fort impact. Alors gardez le au calme tant qu’il est encore petit et offrez lui le cadeau qui ne peut être offert qu'une seule fois.

05/19/2021

04/21/2021

04/13/2021

My new dream!

03/22/2021

Coming in May

The Animal Energy World Conference is an annual event showcasing International Speakers who share their knowledge, expertise and skills for all animals including energy techniques, research, education and welfare, emotional and behavioural issues, wildlife and endangered species, essences and mental...

03/05/2021

Truffles is not your typical cat. Danielle Crull rescued Truffles in 2016, and with the help of treats, she taught Truffles how to sit and give high fives. After seeing how quickly the cat picked up these tricks, an idea came to Crull. An optician, Crull owns a glasses dispensary for children in Mec...

02/28/2021

Love your animal, except for that one thing they do that drives you crazy? I totally get it. And you are not alone. I have 18 years working with animals and am trained in animal communication and I would love to support you if you need support. Drop a gif or emoji in the comments or send me a private message and I’d be happy to set some time aside to support you.

02/05/2021

01/23/2021

🌞🌞🌞

01/18/2021

Some ideas for those of you starting to head back into the office.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

12/17/2020

HOLIDAY FUN!!
First 5 responses get a free consult to hear what your pet wants for the holidays. Type “Tailwaggin” below