Time

There is no substitute for time. I have made a real effort this week to spend more time with all of the horses. It has paid off especially with Fancy. I've been reading a book by Mark Rashid entitled A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color. It's a great book as all of his are. He talked about a frightened horse that they were able to tame. I tried the method of advance and retreat described in the book...it is really working. All week I have advanced to a particular point in Fancy's stall and stood very relaxed and quiet while she relaxed having me there. After she relaxed I would simply walk back toward the fence turn and advance once again to the center of the pen. I've done this over and over and could see her relaxing more and more with me near by. Tonight I decided to leave her hay on the ground outside the pen while I tried this same advance/retreat technique. She couldn't figure out why I wasn't feeding her. Instead of me approaching her; she approached me. She would come within a few inches of me and sniff me. Fortunately I had read in the book that this is when most people make the mistake of reaching for the horse and scaring them. I didn't reach for her (I sure wanted to) I just let her sniff me and walk off. She kept coming back. Without ever touching her I left the pen and rewarded her with her dinner. What a great feeling!