The Beast Without

When I fed the horses tonight I discovered that Titan had relocated Tonka's tub to the other end of the paddock. Raven was already eating in her stall when I went to fetch it, carrying Tonka's feed right past him in a small bucket. The poor, starving horse concluded that he was not getting fed and pitched a panicked fit (food is the only thing that brings out his dark side) that rapidly spread to Miss Thing.

When Raven panics in her stall I normally just stand back, open the gate and let her go. She gets a glazed look in her eyes that tells me she's beyond clear communication, and I don't need to be in a confined space with her under those circumstances. Tonight, however, I was able to talk her down for the first time ever. It helped that Tonka settled once he got his feed, but I just spoke quietly to her from outside the stall until she stopped and put her head over the gait. Then I put a halter on her (I always have one hanging nearby), took her into the paddock of some yielding exercises, and put her back to the stall to finish her dinner. Afterwards she strolled out like nothing had happened, and I feel like this was a breakthrough for both of us.