Sorry about the title, the following novella should hopefully clear it. ^^ Posting in NH as would also like to get views on this behaviour (stress, habit, respect, other).
I have a horse who is very sensitive. She needs her time to "get" things. But she is also one of those horses who need to be shown their place every once in a while (dominant as some say, a true teenager!). She tends to get nervous and tense up. Overall she is very sweet and has fairly good manners.
The problem? She always looks away. When leading, grooming, lungeing, roundpenning, you name it. This applies to all humans. The only exception is when going to see her in the pasture: she always comes to greet.
At first I thought she was being wary and in her shell. Then an attention problem.That she wasn't listening, wasn't respecting. However, even if she looks away, she almost always reacts very well. Stops when I stop, yields, etc. The trouble is knowing those few times she won't...
I previously approached the issue with insisting she looks at me. I can ask nicely or harshly, she looks and a second later she's looking away again.
I can't help but think she's feeling pressurised and looking away is her way to escape. Like she'd rather be somewhere else. It's sad to feel she's not happy or enjoying things. Or that she can't "open up". So much so that I've considered selling her. However, I don't think she'd do much better with anyone else either.
Last week I tried going to her pasture and trying to get her to be interested in me and what I'm doing. She came and greeted me. When I went in and just kept crouching and waiting, she occasionally came to see me but didn't stay curious or interested in me/what I was doing. Though I feel she was well aware of where I was and what I was fiddling with.
Any of you run into this kind of thing before? Any hints?
I have a horse who is very sensitive. She needs her time to "get" things. But she is also one of those horses who need to be shown their place every once in a while (dominant as some say, a true teenager!). She tends to get nervous and tense up. Overall she is very sweet and has fairly good manners.
The problem? She always looks away. When leading, grooming, lungeing, roundpenning, you name it. This applies to all humans. The only exception is when going to see her in the pasture: she always comes to greet.
At first I thought she was being wary and in her shell. Then an attention problem.That she wasn't listening, wasn't respecting. However, even if she looks away, she almost always reacts very well. Stops when I stop, yields, etc. The trouble is knowing those few times she won't...
I previously approached the issue with insisting she looks at me. I can ask nicely or harshly, she looks and a second later she's looking away again.
I can't help but think she's feeling pressurised and looking away is her way to escape. Like she'd rather be somewhere else. It's sad to feel she's not happy or enjoying things. Or that she can't "open up". So much so that I've considered selling her. However, I don't think she'd do much better with anyone else either.
Last week I tried going to her pasture and trying to get her to be interested in me and what I'm doing. She came and greeted me. When I went in and just kept crouching and waiting, she occasionally came to see me but didn't stay curious or interested in me/what I was doing. Though I feel she was well aware of where I was and what I was fiddling with.
Any of you run into this kind of thing before? Any hints?