The Mustang Diaries: Hades Day 10

Everything starts in the round pen! My only goal for Hades was to get him to move his feet forward around the pen and establish a consistent change of direction to the inside/towards me. This absolutely did not happen, and I discovered that Hades is EXTREMELY aggressive!

Our session was brief, and I cut it off before I got severely hurt. Without placing hardly any pressure on him to ask him to move, he decided that my personal space was non-existent and wanted me out of that corral. Despite being absolutely terrified and probably needing a change of pants, the only option I had was to use my stick and string in self-defense as he continuously charged at me. This situation is incredibly dangerous and life-threatening. I will not be continuing his training in a similar way. I will take my time to prepare/change tactics for our following sessions, as it is apparent that I cannot interact with him like most horses.

I am posting a short video of my first few moments in the corral with him. His body language is not fear-based. Therefore, I don't believe the aggression is fear-based. Unfortunately, I did need to defend myself with my stick and string; I am thankful that I could at least get him to move out of my bubble to end the session, avoiding disaster. I will need to find a way to establish personal space and boundaries before attempting further roundpen sessions.

Extremely dangerous behavior from Hades. Self-defense to end the session