When Safe is not Safe

Our beautiful Australian Riding pony Chance has a massive fear of humans. When he is free and out in the paddock he looks at us with his big brown eyes and seems to want human contact but won’t let us near him.

Over time we have developed ways of catching him that are bearable for him. We never touch his head, catching is done by gently throwing a rope on his neck once the rope is hanging from his neck he allows us to put a head collar on. Once the head collar is on he is fine, he loves human company, being scratched and groomed. He is still sensitive around his head and also on his back, along his spine he has some spots of grey fur this may be from scarring. We do not know much about Chances history, how his past encounters have made him so fearful of humans. What we do know is that Chance is much more relaxed and feels safe around humans when he has a head collar on than when he has no head collar and is free in the paddock.

What this is telling us is that it is highly likely that Chances fear of humans developed from an incident when he did not have a head collar on and was free. Since his incident he has been treated with kindness by humans that put a head collar on him. Chance relates freedom in the field and humans to fear and a head collar and humans to safety. It is not conscious behaviour with Chance it is survival and learnt behaviour he knows how to act in these different situations.

Chance illustrates beautifully how our expectations can be completed reversed due to a persons experience. Often people with trauma are not aware of their triggers and what makes them feel unsafe. Sometimes because of events that have happened to people in the past our perception of safety for them is their fear. Like with Chance we all felt with his fear of humans having a head collar on and being next to a human would trigger him and make him scared. We didn't understand that this actually made him safe as his incident had happened when he was free from being held by a human.

For more information Call Jo 0434201106