more changes

Not only has Shyloh changed physically in the past year, she has also changed emotionally. When she first came to me, she was all wide eyed and flared nostrils. Now she is much more relaxed and droopy lipped.

From this. . 

...to this!

And even though Shy no longer runs to the corner of her stall when I approach, I have learned that she still does not trust new people. She was afraid of the vet. My only guess is that he wants to put her hands all over her and she is thinking, geez, this guy didn't even buy me dinner first! She had no problem trotting away from him, but refused to trot back to him or get near him when he was evaluating her. It was kinda funny. . . But she did like the chiropractor who was cracking her. Weird pony.

But then I thought back. Shy was afraid of me at one point. I could not touch her head or brush her forelock. In fact, that is how I got bit by her! And just recently Shy is letting me touch her ears without swinging her head away. Shy did not like Beth either, but now she trusts Beth enough to let her ride her.

I actually think moving her inside helped a lot with her emotional growth. While she loves being outside, people would not make the extra trip to visit her. Inside, she has a prime location. Her stall is right across from the grooming and wash rack and right next to the arena and a small common area. Shy gets to witness a ton of action each day and people can go up to her stall, pet her, or give her a sugar free treat that I provide at her door. Shy no longer cowers and faces the corner when people approach. And that makes me happy.

For riding, Shy has become a much more relaxed horse. She still has her moments and will get uptight when she is not sure what is being asked of her, but overall the scooting has been kept to a minimum. Shy aims to please and was getting so worked up when we first started riding you could just feel the nervousness and tension in her. But now, she is very open to learning and retains what she has learned very well. With the exception of the latest tire incident, Shy was doing really well with pulling stuff. I have no doubt we will get to where we need to be.

It has been fun to watch Shy grow and change throughout the year. I have made some mistakes along the way but I have also accomplished quite a bit with this horse. We are still working on trust, but with whatever happened to her in her previous life is hard to erase. I am looking forward to many more years with Shy!