Natural Horsemanship training rescue mare Noha

The more I learn from and listen to horses, the more I notice how much I still have to learn to get where I want to be.

Natural Horsemanship training with a rescue mare can be a magical experience when you open your heart!

Noha came to the ranch pregnant and in bad condition in November 2015.
She delivered a beautiful colt in April 2016 and was able to keep Billie by her side for a whole year. In the Spring 2017 we decided to separate the two temporarily to start the training with Noha. Being 13 yrs old and quite worried (a true right brain extrovert) I needed to create an environment for her to overcome fear in general and gaining her trust.

What do we seek in our relationship with our horses?

This is an interesting question I keep asking myself!
Honesty and feel are going to be my tools, I promise to myself.
This summer I started with lots of undemanding time, grooming, hand grazing and just hanging out with her.
The 7 games of Parelli Natural Horsemanship work very well for Noha’s confidence.
She is very good in sensing my energy levels and will tell me if I go too fast, so quite often we go back to the undemanding time.
Due to the busy season I gave her more breaks in between sessions and I noticed that this worked well for her.
She still remembers and picks up where we left in the training and I focus on keeping it slow and steady.

first ride on horse

Fast forward, we are now in the Fall and we had the first rides on Noha with great success.
She asks many questions and remains very light  and responsive.
She is still a worried mare but she wants to connect and I realize I have to leave the gate open for her and me!
So we can both explore and find the answers. I need to allow for letting her tell me. The horse senses control and confinement and
braces against it. I need to use less control and more allow!!!! PATIENCE ……………………
Very interesting journey to discover so many things about her and myself during our learning and exploring sessions together!