Day Two

Well, I had to go to town today and could only work Lindsay this evening...wish I could be home all the time and have 2 to 3 sessions every day :) But there are other life duties that call, outside of my Mustang obsession!...

So today we starting talking around 5 pm. I started by assuming we would be where we were last night when we finished...I doubted we were, but thought it only fair I ask and let her tell me. ... Well, we weren't... She did turn and face me, but when I approached her to touch her again (in the same manner we did yesterday) she took off...That was ok though, no big deal. So I went back to the same techniques I was using before...changes of direction, asking her to come towards me and stand. Within ~20 minutes I felt like we were close to the point we were at last night and I approached her again. This time she was better, she reacted much like last night. She did back away, but slowly and allowed me to touch her for brief periods of time. Still primarily around the right neck and shoulder though, if I ventured much further she was very much out of her comfort zone. I attempted to gradually stroke closer to the edge of that comfort zone, but it just did not seem that I was going to be able to "broaden" it in the manner I was doing. So, back to the drawing board.

I had noticed yesterday that she was developing a very strong desire to keep me in her right eye. This was not apparent at first, but had built throughout the day yesterday. I really did not attempt to correct it at that point. I was so desperate to touch her, I felt like I would make the process take longer if I insisted she be equally adapt to me on both sides. They all have a preference and so far hers is right. That is actually very interesting to me, because most domesticated horses prefer their left. They tend to be more flexible that way and communicate better with us on that side. I've always felt we as humans are the culprit, we constantly do everything on the left. From the time they are born we are leading them on the left which not only makes them more accustomed to us there, but also more flexible and stronger when tracking in that direction. I love to barrel race and if you'll notice, most horses run to the right...meaning the first barrel is a right hand turn and the 2nd and 3rd are left...this is because these horses typically have stronger left hand turns thus it makes perfect since to give them 2 turns their good way. It is legal to run to the left, meaning the first barrel is a left hand turn, then 2nd and 3rd are 2 rights...and every so often you will see a horse that is stronger that way, but typically there is a reason. I also have always noticed that when I have dealt with so called "problem" horses, they typically become stronger to the right than the left. It's as if the left side contains all their negative human experiences and their right side is still a clean slate! The more I think about it, the more I feel like we create the horses "Strong" side as much as they do, if not more.

Back to Lindsay, I felt that it was ok yesterday to allow her to keep me in her right eye the majority of the time for the sake of being able to touch her, but I needed to now focus on her left as well. So I began practicing changes of direction asking her to turn towards me when she switched right to left, (this was when I was in her left eye). The first few times she did not understand and continued to turn into the fence, but after encouraging her to move towards me by moving my energy away inviting hers in, she quickly got the idea and began turning towards me, after she understood that request I began asking her to stop and face me either dead on or with me in a bit more of her left eye. .. Up until now when she would turn to face me she would automatically turn so as to keep me in her right eye. Well, it was a bit of a struggle at first...and I must say she still prefers me in her right eye, but she did begin to grasp the concept. There for a while I thought we had regressed a bit, because I had to send her away when she tried to put me in her right eye...I hated to, because I so appreciated her attempts to join up with me, but it's better to give her the chance now to become as trusting of me on both sides rather than ignoring the left. She did figure it out and was content facing me with her body square after about 30 minutes.

Another thing I noticed yesterday, but did not address was the fact that Lindsay was highly reactive to the rope...any movement of it what-so-ever sent her off around the pen. I decided it was time to begin some desensitizing today, so after we had accomplished the facing me dead on I began dropping the rope at my feet and picking it back up...the first 30 or so times it pure sent Lindsay up out of her skin! She would bounce straight up in the air and spin around...as she did, I quickly asked her to face me again, she would quickly oblige and stand at attention ready for the giant snake to strike yet again. Well, after #30 snake drop, her leaps become more like jumps in place..and after another 30 they became only slight twitches...I then began to toss the rope/snake up into the air letting it drop on either side of her. I thought this would surely set her off again, but to my surprise she seemed ok with it. Well, we went back to some more work turning and following my energy and I thought to myself... "I wonder how she differentiates between the rope that she is expected to ignore and the rope she is expected to move away from" The same rope I was tossing to desensitize her is the same rope I use to send her energy where I want it to go. So in one case she is to ignore it being throw at her, in the other she is to react. Well, apparently she is much smarter than myself, because she has already made this connection. After I used the rope to send her energy back and forth around the pen I asked her again to face me square and I tossed the rope up and let it fall. She held her ground as if she understood that I was not sending any energy through the rope directed at her. The energy was being sent through the rope and landing all around her, but not at her. When I went back to sending the energy through the rope back directly towards her to enlist the desired response of her moving her feet, she quickly obliged. So thankful her herd skills are so strong...she is teaching me so much about body language and "talking" through invisible energy sent in specific directions.

So after the facing me square and turning towards me right to left and accepting the snake/rope being tossed into the air I figured I should try to touch her again. I put her back in the position she is most comfortable with me as I know at this point it's the only way I can touch her. This is with me approaching her right shoulder and neck and fully in her right eye. At first approach she shot away, but after a few tries she seemed to remember the deal. But she continued to do as she did yesterday, she would slowly back up as I approached and even though she allowed me to touch her she was still pulling her space away from mine. I decided my last feat of the night was to approach her shoulder until she would stand still and not back as I approached her. Well, this took longer than expected...I must have walked up to her and away 50 times...each time she would back a step or two as I approached, but allow me to stroke her, then follow me a few steps forward as I walked away...just to back up again as I approached the next time. I just continued to do the exact same move over and over again...the same spot on her neck where she was most comfortable and the exact same angle of approach each time...after countless back and forth dances she began to plant her feet every so often, it wasn't every time. But every 3rd or 4th...then it become more consistent and I finally got about 3 approaches in where she remained relaxed and did not shift her space away from mine. I was so thankful for the seemingly small feat, that I feel most have been far from small considering it took so long to accomplish. The things that require the most patience seem to reward the biggest dividends in the end... I hope that she is thinking tonight about how it was not so scary to allow me so close into her personal space.

Our session ended up lasting quite a while, but I never seemed to loose her focus or reach a point where she stopped trying...She was willing to make every attempt to answer every question I asked, no matter how many and no matter for how long.

Anxious to see what her answers will be tomorrow after she has had a chance to digest today's questions.

~ there is more than one way to ask the same question

mmj