Trust is a fragile thing

On Wednesday night I wormed Honey.  I put her headcollar on and used the syringe and paste as I had to make sure she got the correct dose and I wasn't sure she would eat it if I tried putting it in her feed.  She was very upset and wouldn't come near me afterwards.  I had to do it as she needs to be on a worming programme and has probably never been wormed in her life. Before Spring I will send a dung sample away to have a worm count done before she is wormed again.  On Thursday afternoon I went to catch the ponies in from the field.  I wasn't feeling great, had a lot on my mind and I was distracted.  I was standing in the field when my phone rang.  I normally have my phone switched off or if it rings I will switch it off until I am finished with the horses, but with the way things are just now, I answered it.  I was trying to balance the phone, put Buttons headcollar on and then Honey's.  I felt impatient, not at the ponies but just everything.  Honey, obviously hadn't forgiven me for the worming incident the night before and although she wanted to come in with Buttons, me and the headcollar could get stuffed as far as she was concerned.  Horses will mirror our feelings and maybe it was a combination of being wormed and also she is very sensitive to my body language and was sensing negative vibes from me.  I became complacent and expected too much of her.  For all she can be very quiet and willing and has been very good at being caught and has made huge progress in many ways, it is amazing how quickly she can revert back to self preservation and her little feral pony ways.  As Monty Roberts says, if you act like you've got 15 minutes it will take half an hour, if you act like you have all the time in the world, it will take 15 minutes.  Nothing like a pint sized pony to put you firmly back in your place.  Although she loves food and a little piece of carrot, she will not be bribed with it. She wanted to go with Buttons and down to the stable, so I took a chance and let her just follow Buttons.  If she had decided to wander off, I would probably still be trying to catch her, but she didn't she followed him nose to tail down from the field and into the stable.  On Friday, I went to catch them in.  Buttons came over and I just sat with him for 10 minutes until Honey eventually wandered over.  I stroked them for 10 minutes and she let me put her headcollar on.     We did the same again yesterday.  I have been sitting in the stable talking to Buttons and she is starting to come back to me of her own choice.