Equus Trust

05/02/2023

🔹Session 4🔹
I promised you a video and you got it.
The mare and the owner had done a good job practicing since the last session. The mare could now stand still a longer time in the trailer and was calm enough to eat some hay inside. It was easy to close the bar and she accepted the divided wall on 3/4 with the tailgate closed. She didn't like to stand too narrow, so in that trailer this was good enough for her to get enough space to keep her balance. We also drove around the stable once. Then unloaded, lowered the level again and just let her go in and out a couple of times before she got a break.
After that I took over the lead line again and introduced them to the step by step self- loading technique. The it was the owners turn again and after figuring out the hand position, it went really good. So we stopped there.
They had now enough tools to continue their training without me.

Some weeks passed, while the owner could load the horse and they have now been away and could load in new surroundings as well. What's even better is that the owner listened to her horse's needs and bought a trailer that would fit the horse and made it possible to load without an assistant, helping to close behind them. So now she just sends the mare inside, while she can stand on the side and close the bar in a safe manner.
Never forget the aspect of safety, for both humans and horses.

Hope you enjoyed this story.
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Thanks.

02/02/2023

🔹Third session🔹
It was now time for the owner to do the join up with the mare. Then I started with the loading in the trailer. At first the mare didn't like to put all her feet inside the trailer. She preferred to keep an eye on everything going on around her than to fully step inside. She also tried to throw herself backwards a couple of times, on the sides of the trailer as that was her earlier routine and she had "won some of those arguments" in the past. I continued to keep calm, positive and not stressing her.
After a short while her anxiety turned into curiosity and she started to explore the inside, step by step. Soon she figured out the dually halter and the sweet spot in the release and just continued to go in and out after that.
I could also let her load herself by standing inside the trailer and invite her in with a smiling line.
After a break it was the owner’s turn to walk in and out with her horse, which also went very well.

As homework they were asked to continue training this, going in and out and slowly extend the time inside the trailer without closing it, as the mare still wanted to back out within a minute and check everything that was going on around her. They had now enough tools to work with on their own, before our next session, to make new positive memories for the horse to remember and build her trust on.

The 4th and last session together, 2 weeks later, is coming soon, with a video of the 3rd and 4th session and the final result of their training.
That's when the mare loads herself!

Don't miss it.
Follow Equus Trust for further updates.

02/02/2023

🔹Session 2🔹
Fantastic progress with a full Join-up and follow up, and after a short break we played “the river & the lake” (using plastic tarps on the ground and increasing the difficulty level, in small steps) to let her trust to follow the dually halter, find the sweet spot in the release and teach herself.
When she understood what to do and trusted me, it was time to let her owner continue with the exercise, after another short break.
What a big change we saw! A proud mare, relaxed and very synchronised with her owner and followed her, both with lead line on and without. Only through the horse’s own body language, equus, we accomplished such a big change.

For the next session we are ready to load in the trailer.

To be continued..

25/01/2023

🔹Session 1🔹
Last spring I started to work with an Irish, sensitive and high in energy mare and her nice and gentle owner. They had come a long way in their relationship but they still had some issues to work with. The horse is a clever girl but spooky and unfocused sometimes and demands 100% perfection in body language, to dare to trust fully and relax. She's a great teacher in that way. Also she didn't like to be alone, without her herd and showed anxiety when leaving her friends. Therefore it's important for her that her human is calm but also confident and present.
The mare had most probably never been loaded in a horse trailer before, only in a horse truck, which made her ask questions when trying to load in a much smaller space, as she liked to be in control of everything around her. If she got in by force, after hours of trying, she blasted out again.
So we started from the basics, no force, stress or violence. First session we did a Join-up and schooling in the dually halter and some leading exercises, walk, stop, back up and turn, to help her get synchronized with the handler.
That was enough for the first day. It's important to look at the horse and make sure we finish on a positive note before the horse is tired, mentally or physically.

To be continued...

25/01/2023

25/08/2022

Thank you, Magic Dream Arabians for putting your trust in me and letting me work with your beautiful horses!❤️

19/05/2022

This is how I prefer to start a young horse, no force, no violence and a bond built on trust. Short sessions and focus on the basics, groundwork and then start, stop, back up and turn with as small aids as possible.
This is a beautiful, big boy, after Florencio I- Rohdiamant- Weltmeyer that I worked with in Sweden, some years ago.
He is a very sensitive, future dressage horse who had a rough start in his life and therefore he gets easily stressed if it's too much pressure on him or when something new is happening. But he would also give you his heart if he trusts you...

Do you need help with your horse?
For more info about my services, go to Equus Trust where you will also find my contact information. I'm now based in Chania, Crete.

18/05/2022

16/05/2022

Introduction offer: 10% discount including one free training session!

Monty Roberts Dually Halters available now, for only 70€, including one free training session (only in Crete) in how to use the Dually, fitting instructions, schooling and some basic leading exercises.

The Dually Halter is a patented schooling halter which effectively rewards horses for acting in partnership with the handler. This useful training aid will help get the most out of your work when leading, loading, long-lining, crossing water, as a bitless bridle and more.
Your horse will teach himself to come off the gentle pressure of the soft, round nose band on the halter when asked, both forward and back. The release of pressure is the reward. Horses find the halter’s comfortable sweet spot and move with you to maintain it, without pain, knots or poll pressure.

But remember, it just doesn't work, until the horseman knows how to handle the Dually Halter and until it fits properly. Those things are essential.

Send me a message if you are interested. The offer is limited.

09/05/2022

08/05/2022

08/05/2022

07/05/2022