solving separation anxiety IN HORSES

It is great when my clients discover a range of problems disappearing as they work through my training process.

I have been working with Karen online with her two horses Moon & Clyde that are polar opposites to work with. Moon can get anxious and Clyde tends to zone out. Both suffer from separation anxiety.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been reviewing videos of Karen working through my process with both horses and they have been going really well.

Today Karen told me about an observation she made within days of starting the process...here is what she said:

"One observation I made was after a couple of days doing this Moon was a lot less exhibitive with her separation anxiety when i took her for a walk away from Clyde. She quite happily plodded with me and neighed back maybe 3 times in total even though we could hear him going silly back home. Without having read your material on separation anxiety, I'm going to guess that this kind of work also helps with that too when done regularly."

My response is YES! While I have a course on separation anxiety so people can understand why horses can display the symptoms and why some horses are more prone than others. It also explains how it can be helped.

Separation anxiety is displayed in a horse when it is triggered to feel threatened or potentially threatened. When this stress response is triggered in the horse it automatically draws them to "herd" or "flock" closer to one another. If they cannot get closer to another horse their desire can progress from calling out or refusing to move all the way to panic and bolting etc..

When we feel threatened we do exactly the same thing. We move closer to one another. It is called "flocking" or congregating together. It is done as a part of stress regulation. We look to others to feel more secure and to help make decisions! Horses are no different.

So to help horses we have to replace other horses in the regulation of their stress!

In my process we start by making sure the horse doesn't feel threatened by us or what we are asking it to do. Therefore, we teach the horse how to understand and respond to us and become confident in what we expect them to do. This shows them we are no threat and working with us is predictable, controllable and they are successful in being able to navigate our requests.

If you are confusing your horse, not capturing the horses focus or attention and failing to teach the horse. It will continue to feel threatened and seek other horses to regulate their stress and feel better.

The next stage of training is connecting the horse to us. We do this by teaching the horse to focus on us and follow where we guide the horse. This is called teaching the horse to "follow the feel". This starts on the ground and transfers into the saddle.

By moving through the process and carefully stretching the horses comfort zone we exercise the horse's ability to regulate stress. Their stress regulation then gets woven into the connection cultivated through the training. And as you can see from Karen's experience, the benefits start being observed rapidly.

If you would like to understand separation anxiety better you can check my course here: https://calmwillingandconfidenthorses.thinkific.com/courses/separation-anxiety-beneath-the-surface-symptoms

If you would like to learn more about my process check out all my courses and books here: https://www.calmwillingconfidenthorses.com.au/courses

If you would like to ask me for advice about your horse and where would be the best place to start message or email me admin@calmwillingconfidenthorses.com.au