Luann and I watched Sylvia Zerbini give a symposium on working in liberty with horses. It was a two hour event, with the first hour being a liberty performance. During the second hour Sylvia demonstrated how she begins working with horses in liberty.
For me it was eye opening. One of the things that really struck me is that she says that horses remember images. She paints an image of her being a safe place for her horses. When they are being naughty, she chases them away from her. Only when they are good, they are allowed to come to her.
She scratches them on the back as a reward.
Sylvia strongly believes that working horses in liberty helps form a strong bond of trust that carries forward in other work. It makes sense to me.
I think this would be a good thing for me to practice with Trouble. I worked a little in liberty with Trouble today. When I went to catch him, he walked away from me. So I chased him and chased him. Eventually he came to me but then he ran away again. So I chased him some more until he settled. He wouldn't come to me but he went into the corner by the gate and waited for me.
When I took him out of the pasture he was a lot calmer than normal and he was happier. He walked beside me and with energy. It carried over into the ride.
I'll have to keep a log on this and see if there is long term improvement.
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