New Pupil : Robbie: An interesting case.

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Time to meet the newest pupil.
Robbie.
Robbie is a Friesian cross welsh cob and a very handsome boy. 

However, he has a few little niggles that we are working out so that his owners can really enjoy him properly. 
His main issue, that feeds everything else is his separation anxiety. He gets stressed and very worried when he is away from his stable mate. 
His current answer to this is to plant and refuse to move, or failing that, to barge forwards and bolt. He is more likely to plant but last night he got away from me.
I will only work with him in his field at the moment as I know he is safe if he gets away from me in there.
The current plan having really assessed him yesterday is to start with some targeting work.
He is quite a food driven horse which makes the positive reinforcement a good method for him. Also, I get the impression that learning to think for himself will really help his confidence. 
To let you know how food driven he is, this is how he stretched himself out to try and reach my hand when he was nervous about moving any further forwards. 


Yesterday evening was all about seeing what reactions I got to different things, it didn't take him long to work out I had the rewards and coming towards me was a good way to get them.
In this next photo, you can see from his body language how he is wary of the lorry. 
He curves away from it the whole time and never takes his eyes or ears off it. 
To him, it is something not to be trusted.
Loading is another one of his issues, and one we will tackle as he gets more confident but I wanted to see and gauge his reaction to the lorry.


It was as we came around again that his stable buddy called for him and he bolted. It was obviously a step too far for him to cope with being alone and with the prospect of a lowered ramp.
But to be fair he let me catch him again very easily and came back up to the lorry with me, stood calmly for three seconds and then I led him back in on a totally loose lead rein.
We stopped and started several times on the way back to the yard, just to see that there was no rush and he did incredibly well. 
I am really excited to work with him and to keep everyone updated on his progress. 
He's a truly lovely little horse and once he gains some confidence then he will be incredible I am sure.  

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