Worms and pitchforks

Well today was a double whammy for Sammie Soldier and it made me realise just how much he has learnt to trust over the last couple of years or so.

First of all it was worming time. This used to be a time when Sammie would spy the syringe, run to the back of his stable, turn his rather ample behind on me and menacingly swish his tail (whilst spying on me out the corner of his eye) He could out manoeuvre anyone at that stage. You move to get round him, he moves to block you. Get too close and you get a real ugly face and an even bigger swish of the tail - enough to put off the bravest human!

Today it was head over the door watching me get the syringe out of it's casing, headcollar on, syringe presented, a few bobs of the head "No, no, no. Oh ok then", and bob's your uncle it was in there, over and done with. There was much sucking and chewing plus a look of general disgust on his face, but nothing worse than that and certainly no attempt to run away. White lipstick? "Hey, I think I look rather cool!"

We also, by pure accident, had two sessions in his stable with wheelbarrow and pitchfork. The first time was this morning. I was running late, he was eating his breakfast. I tried to tie him at the end of the barn to finish it off, but that is the equivalent of letting a child watch TV when you want them to finish their meal. He just can't concentrate as there is just so much to keep an eye on out there. One mouthful, then it's head up for a good old 'stand and stare' (with the odd snort) "Ooh, now what else was I supposed to be doing?"

So to fit in with the turnout brigade I put him back in his box and decided to give mucking out a go. He's in a large foaling box now so there's much more room for both of us. He wasn't bothered in the slightest. He kept an eye on me but was not threatened at all. Before you only had to approach the stable with a pitchfork and you would be risking life and limb, he simply wouldn't tolerate it. He never harmed me, but there were enough scary warnings to make you think maybe it wasn't worth pushing your luck.

Then this evening, I was running late again. He was very busy with his evening hay and he looked so happy I didn't want to take him away from it. So in I went, wheelbarrow piled with straw and a pitchfork balancing on top. He gave me a snort and a sigh but that was about it. I chucked the clean straw all over the place and around his legs and he couldn't have been less bothered. There was no way I would have attempted any of this a few years ago, especially if he was eating!

It struck me that there hasn't been a sudden turnaround moment with this type of thing. It's developed over the years (he's been with me for 7 years now) but especially so over the last couple of years (along with the introduction of clicker training). It's all to do with trust and boy, does this horse make you earn his trust! It's so easy to forget how far we've come, but it's times like this when I realise that we have made progress, even if it has taken a long, long time. We're certainly no where near the end of our journey together but I guess his world must be a far better place than it used to be.