And this is beautiful. I am really keen, (obviously I'm not going to let him eat,)
I am really keen that when he sees something
and he's nervous of it, I can regard it. Now, the sooner I can regard him, the more trust
we can create. Yeah, he's now asked to come forward. So he did a big breath and I stopped
and look, it's the stones. They're big, scary monsters but actually, it might be the bag
here but look what he's doing. He's right into me but they are scary so I'm gonna let him see this.
I haven't pulled him. I've invited him and he's gone and had a big sniff and then he's
come straight into me. So what happens is if I help him with these little things,
when something really big and scary happens, the first person he's going to look at
is me and how I'm feeling. So walking out is the way to make you confident but as long as you've
got no agenda of how far you've got to go, that you're actually just educating him and if, I mean
there's nothing really scary yet but if something was really scary, I'd get present and just wait
and then I would invite him to come along but my invite is never a pull. If you were frightened
of spiders and I had a big tarantula in a box and I grabbed your hand and pulled you towards it, you'd
never trust me again but if I said to you, I'll go at your pace, never gonna push you, always
there to help you but there's a million pounds if you can open the box. Yeah. We'll probably do it.
So that's my not pulling, dropping. I don't mind walking and facing him.
So at this stage, I don't mind if he is a little bit behind me
because I want to educate him and he's using me as a lead horse rather than being right next to me.
But already, look his confidence has just come up, he wants to walk alongside me,
his ears are pricked forward so it's not a bad move this going out stuff and as long
as you can support him, those two little areas there gave me so much cred in his life, so much.
I'm also saying it's okay if you're nervous
because we're not very patient are we as human beings? No. Then when they get nervous,
so that's more looking at the horse than any of the signs,
but it's really oh yeah, that's a bit scary. I was just about to say he's not generally very spooky.
I am giving him completely everything so I can see his character for what it is, not
that you have to come along because often horses look like they're doing it but inside for them
they're resisting. Yeah. So with a completely loose
reign, it allows me to watch him and go oh, you're a bit up here, we'll stop rather than
I'm gonna keep marching on and you have to come with me. Yeah. It is a very different place.
So I can also tell right now, he's a little bit shy about these two. He is.
And look he's stopped because he doesn't quite know how to handle this situation.
He's come back into me so what happens if I invite him, does he follow?
We know what the click is, you know, he's kind of like keen to meet now.
Good lad, good boy. So I let him, he's done his thing but I'm not going to let him
completely interact with that, we don't know them. They could just be riff-raff. If he got spooked
and he shot off, I would stop, he would come round me. If he was still anxious, he would
keep coming around me until he stopped and then we could go again. So at the moment, what's happened
is he's getting quite confident. He's actually wanting to go in front of me so I don't want that to
happen either. The ideal for me is that that rope can either be that way round on my hand
or that way and it feels exactly the same. Sorry, which way?
So, come round a little bit onto my left.
You see, if he was in front of me, it would be more comfortable like that (hand on top)
If he was behind me, it would be more comfortable like this (hand underneath)
The absolute perfect place is if you could hold it either that way or this way, and he wouldn't pull - this pretty much where we are now.
And I like this checking me out, every now and then
And if he doesn't- I will stop, wait for him to stop
and then I'll come forward- click, lovely
which means, if I do it a couple of times-
he's going to stop with me just reading my body language. If I hadn't had a play
with him, that type of movement, he probably would have been afraid of, because it's relative to
people not quite understanding him but now it's not, so there's lots of things that we can do.
All of this promotes a really confident horse when you are out riding.
And not a lot of people actually put the groundwork in but still expect a trustful bond.
Because it's very easy to move my helping him, to be on him, riding with him.
And the way that I would do that is very simple, with me riding I would get present, let his mind come down, and then to move forward I would put some energy in
And to slow down, I would come back and get present again.
So I would constantly communicate with him.
So it's really lovely- so I'm following his pace here -
Just so that I can build his confidence
And just look how lovely that is!
So nice and relaxed.
Okay he's all yours.
I know that's a nice big house but we don't live there, sorry.
That's it- lovely, well done.
If he's following you like that, you can stop. Stop, lovely. Wait and then off you go.
It's exactly the same you see both ways around but you see what's happening
is that you are striding off. I was following his pace.
Okay and I'm very good at expecting him to keep up with me!
Yeah, yeah! And I was there just for him.
Now, it doesn't mean that you can't change pace-
but you have to match it with him.
So he hasn't quite matched it there. So you have to go at his pace
And if there was anything like food involved, oh well he'd be right with you!
So loose rope- you've got a bit of tension in there. Looser, that's it, lovely!
So at the moment, what's happening is you're doing this to him "click, click, come on, click, click, come on" - it's exhausting!
Be with him.
Be with him, he's striding off again, well done.
I think, he would actually come out on his own.
He will, he will, but the more you're with him and the more he's with you, then it will happen.
You're just a little bit ahead of him so stop there, wait, let him have a sniff.
Now you can face him and ask him to come.
If you get stuck with that, especially when you're on your own with him
rather than getting all tangled, just do this.
Face him right in front of him, so that you've got that. Now, if you want him to be on this side, let him come round to there.
Come forward, invite him in rather than having to get stuck with him
and then let him come up to you. So any block that you have and this is great
because there it is, I can invite him to come. I'm still walking and he's catching up with me.
I'm also respecting that he wants to have a look at those horses but there's no problem
with this, it's really directional, it's pretty much what you're doing in the school. Yeah.
Facing him so let him come to you. We're always so fixated on being like this aren't we? Yeah.
and then we're trying to pull them along so here you go
and that will promote them to actually be right with you.
Let him regard.
Don't override him. He's already been in a place of being overridden. The gentler you are with
him, beautiful, the gentler you are with him, the more he'll trust you and you'll be riding him so
quickly if you can regard those small movements. It's so easy just to go come on rather than just
that split second that says oh yeah, I'll help you with that. You know, you are here to teach him,
not master him, teach him and then he will just be totally with you, as a teacher.
Quite a crash course. I've shown you a lot today, bless you, are you remembering it all?
That's it so face him, walk backwards, give him lots of direction.
He's just walked straight to it, bless him - he's as safe as houses!
How can anybody be disregarding him, so comes backwards, walk backwards.
I'm desperate to find something you'll be afraid of! You walk forward.
I haven't found anything that he's afraid of yet.
He's gone a lot slower home than he went out!
He wants to do more. I was wondering whether he would get quicker coming home because he was at
Compton- Because he loved it yeah, he loved the explore, so he wanted to do more.
Just if you got present with him every day,
you wouldn't have any issue, I promise you that. So that would build the relationship but that
stuff out there was fun and I know you said about leading so I was going to have a bit of
fun with him but really getting present everyday, getting all of that tension out of him.
You know, he's not biting now, he's rubbing his nose on me. I'll give him a rub back.
He's a good boy and he's also, I know you've got treats but also, control that side. Yes. You know, if it's
too much, you know what to do but bless him, he was all over wasn't he at the beginning?
Yeah, no he's really he you know when he first arrived I thought that
I might have a problem on my hands because he was flinching, he was so insecure.
He's been a really nice chap to, you know, bring on and he- Face him.
Come on. That's it, ask him, lovely. Oh yeah, he's struggled to come from outside to in.
Lovely, really nice way of asking him to move.
I know it's very, very hard not to have tension on a rope and the only time I ever have tension
is when they put the tension on that I'm just keeping them in one place. Whenever you
go forward, whenever you ask him to go forward, always loose and you'll find they'll just come
more and more and more but it's tricky isn't it because if I did this with you,
what do you want to do, naturally. Pull back. Yeah and that's exactly what he does. Yeah so
you just got to have it loose. Direct him if he's got trouble, stop if he goes too far
and then you'll find the balance between the two and then he'll be right there but I would keep
the treats for outside playing in the school because then he'll run into that school wanting
to know what we're gonna do but I don't see any reason, I mean, how long is he staying here for?
At least a month. I mean, I don't see any reason why you couldn't walk
and trot with somebody following with somebody on his back with him naked
There would be that naked riding- they would be safe like that- he would be lovely. He would be comfortable for it too!
It would be lovely to play on that level.
But it's all the sort of attention that he likes and enjoys. Absolutely but yes, that everyday
present without the reward, fantastic because it will just have a, you know, he's a little excited
because he knows that you have got treats. He's got to learn when that happens very
specifically but just getting present with him daily would be fantastic. Yeah, I think that's
going to be a very useful tool. Okay, you can have your own space in here and we'll come out.
Are you gonna want to completely come out with us?
Obviously, please don't go.
That was very interesting, Mum.
But there is absolutely, I mean, from watching that video, the only reason he was behaving
like that is he didn't understand. Yes, yeah. And luckily, it was for a short period of time that
he was there, he wasn't abused for years. No. And to undo that is all those sharp things that you see
and even playing outside, he's changing direction quickly and he's following me. It's already
gone. Yeah. It's already going. I think if he stays here until the end of this month and then
I think Teresa's found somewhere that he can go and then she can take it from there. Yeah. She came up
and rode him at the weekend and they both got on really well together, you know, so it's really nice
because what I don't want to do is to get too attached to him because he's a bit like,
well, this one, Frankie, who, you know, he's a very people horse.
Yes, when you were saying that I got licked all over my neck and in my ear, very cute.
Yeah, yeah there's a bit of there's a bit of him in Fanta.
So you think that you'll get too attached to Fanta? Well a bit vice versa
as well because he's got to build his relationship up with Theresa. So really
Teresa needs to take this on. Absolutely. You know, because it's a horse for life for her.