things to think about

I told myself I would not do this, but I can't stop thinking about it. And since I have missed my exits on the freeway three times, I decided to just write it out to get it out. Trying to figure out what is wrong/bothering Shyloh is pretty pointless, she can't tell me, and I can only speculate. I appreciate all the comments and insights, and they are definitely something that I considered. So here goes. . .

Change in food

At the other barn Shy was being fed hay, grass pasture, and barn grain. She pretty much got as much hay, grass, and grain as she wanted since she was at the top of the herd. I fed her the supplements I give her (magnesium, raspberry leaf, and multi vitamin crumbles) when I was at the barn, since the barn was unable to separate from the herd to give them to her. I would say I was at the barn about 3-6 days a week. 

At this barn Shy has grass and round bale access. She gets her supplements daily. 

So could it be the supplements? I can't imagine this kind of behavior from a lack of grain, it is usually a problem with too much grain. 

Change in herd

At the other barn Shy was top of the herd. She ate what she wanted, went where she wanted, and could move other horses off when she wanted. 

At this barn, I am not quite sure where Shy fits in yet. She can hold the others off of the round bale if she wants, but sometimes they don't let her at the bale. 

She seems comfortable here, but maybe she is lacking the confidence that she had when she was top of the herd? Also, she may be getting a little herd sour. She doesn't want to leave them and she nickers when she sees them. Shy rarely nickers. 

Less doing nothing time

At the other barn, we did spend a lot of time walking around, through the trails, grazing, and just doing nothing.

At this barn, I have been leaving Shy in with the herd until I want to do something with her. 

Maybe she needs that do nothing time to be comfortable?

Those are really my top three. I don't think she needs less work, we don't really work much. She may need more work or harder work. The work we do does not even put her in a sweat. So maybe harder work? Pull more weight? Or maybe more intellectual work. Get back into clicker training and even try some horse agility stuff. Other thoughts are that maybe Shy is only comfortable driving team? She does really well in a team. She is more nervous by herself. She also does really well with my lead line kids. She feels more comfortable with someone on the ground with her. Like I mentioned earlier. . . so many possibilities, I will never know the answer. 

I spent some time with Shy today walking through the soybean fields and discovered that Shy loves soybeans! Then we spent some time cooling off in front of the fan. It was a good day, even if it doesn't solve the problem. 

Also, She Moved to Texas is going a Horze halter give away! Head on over and check her out!