I am new to Monty's techniques and am using them with great harmony. I have a lot of rescued thoroughbreds and all are Joining Up except for my Special Girl Thrace. Thrace was born with parts of her nearside eye missing. She was bred as a champion racehorse but due to her sight issue she was not eligible to race here. She then was bought as a broodmare on a very small stud and rarely handled. Stud went broke and she found herself with me after a short stay at the meatworks.
She has such heightened attachment issues we have not achieved Join Up as she is unhappy to be parted form her paddock mate _ I work with what we have but she really does not think much of me yet. Interestingly she prefers me o her blind side when handling her but in the round yard wants her sighted eye on the outside where she can see her support network.
Any tips? We are making little steps with handling skills,and she seems happier in the paddock and friendly there but take her away and boy Im not a favorite human! Is there any way I can make this smoother and calmer for her?
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Hi. Horses with reduced eyesight can live a full & useful life. My old boy, Apollo, lost the sight in one eye & had cataracts in the other. We still went riding although he was more prone to trip up. A friend asked me to help her with a pony. When I arrived there were 2 ponies together & in the tiny paddock, with an obstacle in the centre, I performed a successful Join up, with both simultaneously & with a pylon in the paddock. Both ponies followed me, even though the mare was usually sceptical of strangers. As it was the gelding who had the loading issue I concentrated on him & when I left the mare was her usual standoffish self but I'm sure had I kept working with her we would have seen great progress. The gelding was an easy fix. I believe you could include the paddock mate in this mares training, at least initially to give her extra support through the transition to trust & confidence with humans. Good luck. Cheers, Jo.
I think you're right that she can see the others with her sighted eye so makes her feel safe. However, it's also possible that she prefers you on the blind side as she has little memory of anything negative having happened on that side whereas she may have a lot of memory on the other side - don't forget they only transfer about 20% of information from one side to the other and we, as humans, are dreadful for working our horses "one sided"; however, we can also use this fact to our advantage. It's her left eye that's blind is that right? From your post I feel that this is a separation issue rather than a sight issue though. How does her paddock mate react when you take her away?
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I would advise taking it steadily for now, if she is working well with you in the paddock keep working with her until she begins to acknowledge you and gradually increase the distance you move away from her mate but only if the other on is calm otherwise it can become unsafe.
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As you have a few horses I would also consider putting another horse in so that they are a three rather than a two (two overbond) and rotating them so that she stops being reliant on particular ones. You then have the flexibility to have one "waiting" for her when you take her out of the field, i.e. she leaves two behind but she is travelling towards one she knows - this will increase her confidence and her trust in you. How does that sound as a possibility?
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Monty's book From My Hands to Yours, if I remember rightly, has a section in it about working with visually impaired horses.