Apache made a “side pass” this week. All was going well, our connection was good and we were communicating well. Pablo was making good and steady progress on his “homework” days, but something happened. From nowhere Pablo was not able to get near him, never mind catch him.
Why the change is difficult to say. The temperatures have dropped, the wind is high, the dog caught the electric fence and ran off squealing, could be a number of things or none, maybe he just had a bad day. What’s important now is to figure out how to get him relaxed and comfortable with us again and reconnect with him.
Apache is lucky to live in a Paddock Paradise, so Pablo closed an area off for me to work in, it would have been impossible otherwise in and out, up and down 5 hectares of track on Spanish terraces, I did not want to put that much pressure on him by “chasing” him around! I don’t like to work where they relax and feed as I believe that you should respect this space, but circumstances meant that I needed to put this aside for today.
I had explained to Pablo previously, that Apache’s progress although good was by no means set, we were rebuilding foundations and they take time to embed, today was proof of that. It was vitally important that Apache knew we were not angry, frustrated or in anyway about to reprimand him. Still I could sense the frustration and sadness in Pablo, which is normal, but neither of which I felt or displayed.
I began by encouraging him to connect with me by walking with him, at first this sent him away in a flurry, I did not break my pace or raise my energy, just changing direction to keep the pressure from him feeling driven, It was important he felt my presence was as a companion. I continued to walk in the same rhythm, breathing in a controlled manner. I carried a cane and the halter, they hung down by my side without tension, but if needs be, I could extend my body language to move him out of my space. I am here to help him and I can not do that if he panics and takes a wrong step, ending up running me down! 
It was not long before there was a change, rather than bursting away with flight energy he began to move away form me in the same steady manner I was presenting. I still could not get close to him but we were connecting. Each time he turned his head to look at me, I would stop and take a step back, eventually drawing him in. Little by little I shifted the energy until I was following him, mirroring his movements, giving him the lead role. 
As soon as he faced me and stopped moving I did the same, and this was our moment of relaxation. I stood there still and calm, allowing him the time to process and release any tension. As I approached him he moved his head away indicating he was still not ready, so we began to walk again. This time closer than before and each time we circumnavigated the paddock I got a little closer still. As I sensed another change we stopped and I slowly made a side step to him, he did not move or show signs of tension so I raised my arm, he braced slightly so I lowered it again and waited for him to release again.
As soon as his body relaxed I tried again and this time I was rewarded with a touch. That was enough for me and I moved away and we began our walk again. It was not long after that, that we were walking within touching distance, in step with each other. He would stop when I stopped, looking for me. I would stop when he stopped showing him I was listening.
As I stood there waiting for him, he approached and began investigating me and I was again rewarded with a nuzzling, and we “played” for a while. When he was ready to move off I let hm and went with him.
We repeated this a few times, always on his rules. It was then he gave me his biggest try, by stopping and closing his head around me “cuddling”. I gently lifted my arm around his nose and gently caressed his muzzle and scratched his cheek. I thanked him.
As far as I was concerned that was the end of our session. It was nothing like I had planned, expecting to pick up where we left off last time, but Apache had other ideas and that’s fine by me. He has had a life time of peoples noise, blaring at him both physically and emotionally. If he was telling me to be quite then who am I not to LISTEN.
You may have noticed that I said side pass at the beginning of this post, well I refuse to say step backwards, we are far from that place. It’s only a problem if you are standing still as no matter which direction they take you, what you learn from it is, always going to lead to a positive.
Tomorrows another day, and what a spectacular day it’s going to be!
