KBR Training Case Study:

"Patience"
Part Two

Once we had backed into the unloading bay, Sharon had to coax Patience out by waving a stick in the front end of the trailer. Patience quietly stepped out and explored her new surroundings. There was a little grass in the pen to get her attention, and we watered her and left her some alfalfa in the gentling chute.

The next morning the alfalfa was all gone, so we knew she'd been in the chute. A ranch hand and I hazed her into the chute and bolted the gate. Once in the chute she was extremely guarded. She stayed as much as she could on the far side, incredibly tense. I offered her a carrot. She stood like a statue, staring straight ahead. I thought about trying the clicker, not because she did anything, but rather to take her mind off her fears.

Click! She actually looked my way, pensively. I offered her a piece of carrot. She took it carefully. As I moved around her and she would tense up, I would give her a few seconds to consider her situation, then click her for a carrot. Soon, I would wait for a sign of relaxation before giving her a click.

Within a couple of minutes I was scratching her withers. I could move up her neck but she really didn't like me messing with her back. As long as I kept scratching her she was fine. If I left and came back, she'd tense up mightily just before I touched her. I'd work her for a couple of minutes, then go do chores for about 10 minutes or so.

Finally when she no longer even flinched when I came back and touched her, I started massaging the base of her ears. Pretty soon I had my thumb inside each ear and could stroke it and pull it gently upwards. It was time to show her the halter.

Snort!!!

I took it away and left for a few minutes. On my next approach, I hung the halter on the inside of the chute while I scratched her. In about a minute she sniffed it so I gently picked it up and rubbed her cheek with it. She didn't flinch so I simply bent over the chute and quietly slid the halter on. Piece of cake! I then opened the back gate of the chute expecting her to leave.

I came back about 10 minutes later and she was still standing patiently in the chute. I took the leadrope and gently guided her backwards. Once clear of the chute she gave a big snort, explored her pen and decided it was time for a sand bath.

About an hour later I went back into her pen. She didn't let me real close but she didn't pull when I stepped on the leadrope either. I was able to keep her quiet and scratch her all over her topline from her nose to her butt. She was still protective of her belly and legs. Later I went over her with a brush, each time progressing farther into the "forbidden zone."

Getting Back toward those
Scary Parts

Well that kind of feels good

Starting to work down those legs

Grooming on a loose line

"This isn't bad at all!"
(Note her eyes starting to close)

Not bad for a day's work.
(A much happier horse than
the day before.)

Later Sharon came out and I went in to show her how well Patience was doing. By this time she had all totalled about an hour of handling. Sharon suggested I see if I could remove the leadrope as dragging it definitely bothered her. No problem. I then snapped it back on.

About a half hour later I went into the pen to see if she'd let me reattach the leadrope. She stood quietly as I "hooked her up." Then I unhooked her and brushed her with no restraint. She not only stood there but followed me when I quit. (There is a benefit to shedding season after all!) I could have probably gotten away with removing the halter but we felt there was no point in possibly creating a chase and catch situation the next day. The pen was constructed to be free of any halter snagging hardware, so we decided to get a few more "good catches" before we left it off.

Patience got her dinner in the handling chute. Since we didn't make the chute into a place of terror, she eagerly went in to eat. More info will be posted as she progresses.

At this point clicker training was something new to us. I believe that Sharon's and my playing with the clicker prior to moving Patience set up a response pattern upon which we were able to capitalize once she was in the chute.