A five minute field shaping moment

A few days ago I was in the field of a herd of horses, finishing up chores and putting things away. I wandered out into the herd to start brushing them when a mare who has been struggling with sweet itch came up to me. This was significant for a couple of reasons. Before the midges started to cause her trouble, she was fairly social and we had haltered her a few times. But once her sweet itch got really bad she didn't want anything to do with us or anything else. We couldn't get near her, she was miserable. I talked to some other horse owners who had dealt with this kind of thing before and they recommended a short course of Benadryl for immediate relief, with a few supplements to assist her, including spirulina and flax seeds. A senior feed with molasses was too good for her to resist. I lured her with it and I fed her in the field for a couple of days delivering her treatment and she found quick relief.

A weekend passed and when I checked on her she was doing much better, but still a little standoffish and wouldn't allow fly spray. After another few days she started to be more social, and that was when she came up to me as if to ask if she was going to get any delicious feed today. I happened to have a halter in my hand. She was not on my agenda for the day but since she had volunteered, I thought I would give her a try. She did OK for the nose band but when I attempted to put my hand over her neck to bring the crown piece over her head, she swung away. It instantly occurred to me to try to train her to swing her neck towards me when I put my hand over her neck.

So that's what I did. I gave her a treat and clicked so she knew training was starting and I had good things to share. I put my hand on top of her neck and she didn't move away. click treat. Then I put my hand on top of her neck and curled my fingers on the other side, she didn't move away. click treat. then I put my hand over her neck and she moved away slightly. I removed my hand, she came back looking for her reward. Quickly I put my hand back where it was, click treat before she had time to swing away. Repeat, she got it. On the next one she swung her head towards me and I clicked that.

Ordinarily I wouldn't want a horse to swing their head towards me as a behavior to get haltered but in this case it was exactly what I wanted. We repeated that a couple of times and then I walked away. I didn't really have time for more but I hope that the short session will resonate in her brain and we will be a step closer to getting fly spray on her daily to protect her from the midges.