Saniya

We know you're all curious about how the latest LRF mare is settling in. Because so many of you engaged with our post a few weeks ago, we're excited to share more >

“I just saw what you said.”   

Horses think in pictures (Temple Grandin), but what does that look like?   

Saniya came to our farm with some special gifts and some special needs. She is beautiful, brilliant (her name), gentle, and highly sensitive, but she does not easily trust handling or humans. With the help and coaching of Karen Jones we are, step by many small steps, learning to see through Saniya's eyes, observe, and hear each other.  

TRUST Without trust there will be no touch. I started by choosing a sheltered space where we can be close but with no intent of touching. Here I sit and read while she enjoys a little hay. Willingly sharing space, that she is free to leave, is new to her. She now waits there daily at the same time. It’s not about food, she always has hay in her shed. She is accepting companionship and thinking about comfort in her new world.

CONSENT. The first step to touching is consent, by both of us.  

I started by taking a recurring touch that happens while she is having her bowls of soaked pellets, a positive experience she has become comfortable with. Adding a click and reward, we moved that lesson/experience to another location in her paddock. Almost at once she tested the idea and now, she approaches me, from either side, and gently touches my arm. From that ask, we are expanding the interaction to include accepting my touch in return. She is cautious and gentle, not always accepting the touch, but increasingly so. 

Her comfort touching me is increasing and she has even found me a bit useful - apparently, my sleeve and I make a good napkin - it's a start.