Yesterday was a great day for Gwen, Phyllis and the staff at the Mane Chance rescue. After spending time with both the ponies and building their trust with the Trust Technique, we were all ready for the journey to a new home!

It was clear last week that Phyllis was ready for the journey, she was confident in the trailer (if anything we could not get her out of her new toy!). However it was Gwen, her Mum, that needed more time and ultimately, more trust. This method of working with the animals only regards one pace and that is the pace of the animal. This is determined by how much trust we have created together.

Once Gwen was ready we transported her first leaving Phyllis behind. I was a little concerned that Phyllis would be nervous when her Mum was no longer there, so I stayed with her until the trailer was back from delivering Gwen. My concerns were unnecessary as she did not react at all. It was however a very special time for Bob, the gentleman who had been looking after the ponies in their make-shift field. Bob is a very special man who had helped save these two from a very negative future. It was Bob who had named them Gwen and Phyllis after his late wife who died last year. It was very obvious just how much these two mean to him, as suddenly it was a reality that they would be moving.
Please don’t worry as their relationship does not end here. Mane Chance is only 20 mins down the road and Bob being retired (with time to spare) will be coming down regularly to catch up with them.

I am delighted with this next step and look forward to helping them in the future. Normally I would only spend 4 days with a rescue center but Mane Chance is only 10 minutes from my home…..so of course I will be there to help them with the next step of this lovely journey.

To be continued….

Yesterday both Gwen and Phyllis were in the trailer together.
They have been progressing very well, Alan has been doing a great job through the week and we have been seeing them once a week.

It was so important to build a solid and trusting relationship before even thinking about moving them. we have to remember that Phyllis has never had this interaction with humans before. And Gwen her mother was badly treated and has been running away from people every since.

With out this time being spent there was literally no hope for these two …… very sweet characters

We do however have a problem, it seems that Phyllis is so happy with her new play thing (the trailer) that she does not want to come out!!

Here is a mini clip of the last session

It was now time to take Phyllis and Gwen one step further and we introduced a horse trailer. Backing up into the carral, they were wary but looked to us for support. Being in a peaceful position meant that the horses confidence grew faster.

Phyllis showed her bravery almost immediately and we introduced a little bit of food. It was important to make sure that the use of food was directly proportional to the use of the present moment. The food allowed for motivation to move forward and the present moment allowed for that supportive feeling needed in a new situation.
It was so lovely to see Phyllis coming back to us for reassurance all the time and gradually her confidence grew and she took her first steps into the trailer. Before long, she was in and out without hesitance.
Gwen decided to take a little more time with the trailer but we were happy to work for as long as she needed and at her pace. She is now beginning to understand that the horse trailer is not a threat and she’s learning all the time.

With such lovely progress being made, we are off to see the horses again tomorrow where we will work in confidence, support and peace.
The journey to a better and brighter home is, quite literally, becoming closer every day!

See the progress we’ve made here:

After our last session, we left both Sara and Alan to carry on with the trust building. This is great as our main job is to teach staff so that they can use the Trust Technique confidently with their animal and future animals coming into the center.

Both Phyllis and Gwen are fantastic teachers. I know that this is a big process for everyone and to help these two un-trusting and wild ponies move to their new home is going to help Alan and Sara really understand the Trust Technique.

We returned to see how they were doing on Wednesday and it was lovely to see how they have progressed. Both the ponies are noticeably much more trusting. Now it is possible to touch them (albeit around the head)

This is a great step and we will be returning on Monday to help them with the next step forward!

Here is a mini clip taken on Wednesday:

Using the corral we started to give both Gwen and Phyllis the peace that comes with the Trust Technique. Gwen seemed to really enjoy the session. I think that feeling peaceful has helped to ease her pregnancy, let alone being beneficial for her to feel peaceful around people.

After bringing their mind activities down, it was then time to start small games that introduce human activity to them. Walking around and then touching her nose was a game that Gwen enjoyed. It is also teaching her that she can be peaceful when people approach her.

The big movement for this session was Gwen wanting to engage with us without food but more because she wants to be closer to us. This is a big movement forward as she is showing the trust and willingness to change. Our job now is to introduce new activities that progress this forward without pushing her too far so that we can grow this trust.

Here is a video mini clip of some of the peace and games!

Our first steps of building a relationship with both Gwen and Phyllis was to build a small corral so that we could be close enough to both of them and have the peace of the Trust Technique effect them.

Allan built an amazing corral

This then allowed us to get much closer to both of them and start using the Trust Technique to help them feel peaceful with humans

The plan is to use this space and build a relationship where we can introduce the rope, head color and leading them into the trailer.

This may take some time and I have been very impressed with everyone’s commitment in helping and appreciating that this time is so valuable for both Gwen and Phyllis. How long this will take is now purely to the pace of how Gwen receives the trust we are building with her. It takes great strength to move away from human pace and work at the pace of the animals. We are lucky that the people around from the field owner, police, locals and also the staff at Mane Chance understand the importance of the pace and relationship.

Gwen is very pregnant and in our quiet times it was clear that she is becoming uncomfortable and it was lovely to feel that we are helping her on this level as well. There is a big probability that she will be having her foal in this field before the move …….. How amazing that we can be part of this

Here is a mini clip of us starting a peaceful relationship

It looks like we have a mission a head of us!

Our first job is to help pick up two ponies, the only thing is that this is no ordinary pick up.

Gwen and Phyllis are mother and daughter and have been roaming around common land for a year and a half. Unfortunately this land is close to busy roads and there is a very high possibility of them becoming injured. The whole story is very confusing and just like many of these cases has a lot of human stuff behind it…… stories that will make you upset and possibly angry.

The human stuff is not mine and there is no need to share it! Our work is for the best welfare to both Gwen and her daughter Phyllis.

At present they have been rounded up into a two and a half acre field to keep them safe they have been in this field since November. Where they have had many people try to catch them, from two large organisations, horse whispers and just about every man and his dog. All have had to give up with ideas that they will need to be darted to transport them!!!

To add to this complication Gwen is heavily pregnant.

I spent about an hour and a half with them yesterday, they are good as wild specially the daughter Phyllis. They have understood that people bring food and will approach for this but not a chance of anything else.

It is clear that the interaction with humans has not been good and this is visible when you see Gwen as she still has the tether around her neck, I would imagine that this has started to grow in her by now:( The story says that she was found tethered to a goal post where she had gone crazy and pulled down the posts, a gentleman saw this out walking and cut her free from the tangled mess.

There is a serious lack of trust for people.

Other thoughts of transporting them is to coral them into a trailer, my feeling is that this is going to freak both of them out and hold no place to build any sort of relationship, especially when they are back at the sanctuary. I also believe that this could be dangerous for Gwen given her pregnant state.

This one is going to be a challenge as we need to help the two ponies and at the same time teach the rescue staff the Trust Technique and supporting the people who have already helped the two ponies both financially and with their time.

The one thing that I know for sure right now is that the Trust Technique only works at the animals pace. So one of my first jobs is to be able to create the right time and space to focus on making this happen in the best possible way for both Gwen and Phyllis, no matter what ideas the people have.

I will update what happens when we see them this afternoon and of course all of this work is being videoed so that we can share the whole process with our Trust Technique Members

Gwen

Phyllis

Tomorrow we will be starting a four day visit to help the horses and staff at the Mane Chance Sanctuary.

Really looking forward to it