Problem Horses: Auggie - Week 1

I met Auggie a few weeks ago and did a groundwork session with him. His people decided that we might be able to help him and he came to us for "boot camp" yesterday!

Auggie is a 5-year-old OTTB with the attitude to match the OTTB stereotype. He wasn't dealt the best deck of cards to begin his young life and found himself bouncing around before landing with his current family. They are definitely the blessing that Auggie needed, and any horse would be lucky to have such a wonderful home. HOWEVER, Auggie sometimes doesn't actually appreciate his luck, and it can come out in some explosive, nasty, not to mention DANGEROUS tantrums. Auggie's family has tried to get a grip on his attitude, but they are getting fed up with the behavior that doesn't seem to be making much headway.

That's where I come in! Auggie came to us last weekend and I have had the opportunity to work with him for a full week. I am already seeing IMMENSE changes in him!

He is calming down significantly and is much less reactive than he was. I could not even touch him with my tools in the first session, and now he is standing almost perfectly for any of the desensitizing I have been doing with him. It is critical that he not be afraid of our basic tools (stick, string, lead line, halter) to keep him and anyone who works with him safe. The first session I did with him, he almost ran me over because he was afraid of the lead line on the ground. He even had a blow-up before that when I was trying to get his blanket off, and the leg strap touched his hock. We definitely needed to get a grip on the 0-100 reactiveness so that he and the people around him aren't put in harm's way just trying to do the basics with him. I would say that accomplishing this has been our biggest hurdle for this initial week, but I think he has come so far and is in a much better place!

We also worked on moving his feet and establishing some basic respect/boundaries around people, such as not running us over just for the fun of it. He has made mountains of headway in this department as well. He can yield his hindquarters and forequarters independently of each other, left and right. He is currently learning consistent backup and lateral flexion.

I am super proud of how far Auggie has come this week!