Rain

Mustang Gelding

Arrived at Mission: Wolf on July 19th, 2016 and was rehomed March 30th, 2017

Rain’s Story

Rain came to us underweight, full of worms, and terrified. He wanted nothing to do with people and a first would become rigid and defensive. It was our challenge to gentle him as best we could. Rain was a good sport, being patient with us as we figured out how best to communicate to him without bringing up scared, defensive feelings, or using traditional means such as roping.

What resulted was these 4 key lessons, which can apply to almost everything in our own human lives. #1 Personal space respect is first and primary. Once it is established that the person will stay a certain distance away no matter what, it is okay, in fact good, for the horse to decide to come closer.  #2 Intent. When a person's body does move around the terrified horse, the horse seems to question where the human body is going and what their intent is. Is it a danger? #3 Pressure/Release. Directing movement of the horse by placing the human body in the opposite direction of what is intended and putting pressure on by stepping forward towards the horse in a benevolent way. Then, stopping and or backing off when movement by horse is achieved. Movement by people is best done calmly and gently. #4 Mirror horse movements to achieve familiarity and trust at a distance. By following these four steps consistently during the time Rain spent with us, we were able to defuse his defensive reactions.

To truly gentle him, we took into account how he saw us and read our body language as we approached him in everything we did. We played body language games with him, which he curated due to his body language and reactions. We were also consistent. Any person who interacted with him approached him in the same way, using body language and pressure release to communicate with him. This gave him tremendous relief and a sense of safety.