Friday, July 20, 2012

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!

10 comments:

  1. It seems so interesting to see Shy's progress. When I am involved in the day-to-day business of just about anything, I don't see movement. But, when I can look back, as you have done, and see the entire year - it puts it all into perspective. She has come a long way.... and so have you! Cpngrats!

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    1. Thanks! It has been fun to dig up old photos and look through everything we have done this past year!

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  2. It's so good to see so much progress :)

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  3. It's nice to see how far Shy has come! I hope you guys continue to grow together :)

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  4. This is a great post. Wish I had thought to do something similar with Estes when I bought her, though she's taught me a whole lot more than I ever taught her.

    Maybe I will take your cue from your last post and make a list of things Estes has taught me. :)

    I'm glad Shy is happy and healthy and that you've made such great progress in the past year.

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    1. I would love to see a list of things you learned from Estes!

      Thanks!

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  5. What a great idea your post was. Looking back I can see many, many changes in Camryn as well. Not something I think of or see every day, but should.
    As far as the "what ever happened in her previous life" this could also be "what didn't happen in her previous life". She may just never have been exposed so being a horse would be naturally more cautious aka fearful.
    Being first a dog person when I hear "he ducks so he's been beaten", I think (ecspecially herding breeds) that "instinct tells them duck as cows do kick" so it's sometimes an instinctive response rather than a learned reflex.

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    1. You are so right! Another reason to love blogging, getting to see things from another angle! I always just assumed (and you know what happens when people assume) that something bad happened to Shy. Maybe it is just the way she is. . .maybe she was never handled. Who knows? I would give just about anything to know more about her past, but I probably never will. Oh well, we are moving forward and making progress. Thanks Susan!

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  6. I am loving these posts! Seeing how far you both have come is so awesome. :D

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