10/19/2026
Long explanation post:
Snippet of my experiment with Pyra.
Her issue is she will "do all the things" you ask on the ground and even for short, simple walk circles with a rider, but the whole time she is not at all focused on the human or where her body is, so the moment her mind comes back to us while I'm on her, or something scary is on her, she either tenses up (her putting her head up and going sideways in the start of this), or she will explode, and you really don't know which one it will be while you're on her back.
I've done a lot of the "right" prep work for her that works for your average horse. She just has some different habits and responses where I had to think of a way to try to encourage her attention on me and also relaxation. I can't wait to post the end result of today's session after I get a video of it tomorrow, but she got to where she would drop her head to the ground, blink, ears on me, and come to a relaxed stop. She also got to where I could ask her to walk off without her head shooting up.
I would walk at her side and encourage with the lead rope for her to either drop her head or bring her ears/eye to me and when she did I would really pet on her neck. The instant she took her attention away I would repeat. Once she got good at this I started doing the same thing but she ended up gravitating to a corner or the gate. So I would increase my energy and slap the saddle to cause her to trot in those areas until she started going to the other side of the arena, or if she got relaxed and focused back on me again (which anytime she wasn't latched to her safety spots she would relax). During this she brushed against the gate and spooked herself, where she froze for a second and then jaggidly scooted forward, which is what she's been doing everything she's uncomfortable. I was able to lift the inside rein and she brought her head down and was able to relax again.
I think this really worked for her and I'll work up in the next couple sessions to the same exercise but with me on her.
