Changing Herd Dynamics

is the key Millman says. Groom your horse and do lots of handwalks. Its all about the little obedience things that you do daily. You want your horse to have confidence and know what to expect.
When you do start training go easy.
Go back to something that your horse really knows well says Millman. He has to learn that in this environment the skill still applies.
Training for Resiliency
Emma Kjelson is a horse behavior consultant certified with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She guides horse owners through transitions and focuses on helping horses feel calm so that they can learn in their new herds and homes.
Kjelson notes that not all horses take as much time as others to get used to new surroundings or the dynamics of a new herd.
Horses who have had a good training programone that includes generalizing behaviors to new environmentswill acclimate faster she says. We have to help horses with their fears of new places. When theyre young we want to take them to new environments with as low of stress as possible. We want to build up resiliency. We want to generalize our horses experience to all new places and things.
Find out as much as you can about your horses past. Where has he been? What types of horse groups has he been with? What type of barn or care setting did he live in? The more knowledge you have about your horses past the more you can help him transition to a new place.
Change of Pace
However the past isnt always a predictor of the future. Tweaking the setting and providing consistent contact can help.
Kjelson shares a story about a horse she helped and what it took to help the horse feel safe in the new setting. The shift from a fastpaced training barn to

a pasture board setting with only one other horse caused the new horse to act differently than expected.
A week and a half after she moved him the horse was still pacing the fence lines she says. He was super stressed. This horse was used to being with a ton of other horses in a stall environment. He was put in a pasture with just one Miniature Horse. It was a big change.
What Helped?
I had them put an acrylic mirror on the barn so that he could see more horses Kjelson says. We also put him on a milk protein supplement
that helps to relax your horse. He went from calling losing weight and pacing to engaging with the other horse in about a month.