I frequent a great horse forum, It's About the Horse forum. It consists of a lot of old Parelli folks, some who still do Parelli, a lot who have moved on. As Pat said, Parelli is the cake, and it is a great foundation. Most of the people on the forum have moved on to "the icing" and have a good foundation in place. We study Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Buck, Brent, Carolyn Resnick, and some other really great horse people. I've learned tons from this forum, and when Shaun choked, it was the first place I went to find out what to do so it never happened again. Chances are, someone has a horse like you, and is going through or has gone through exactly what your are going through. Lots of wisdom and a great place to find what you need.
Not just one, but a few people had horses that choked, and they also had some good suggestions for why it happened (I like to know why) and what to do so it hopefully doesn't happen again. The why? Shaun gets fed twice what my other horses get, and so my other horses finish up and want his. Even though I gaurd him so no one gets his food, the pressure is there. They stare, they try, a relaxed meal time it is not. So Shaun bolts his food because he is fearful it will be taken away. The solution? Make him feel safe, give him more time to feel it.
I already decided to add water to everyones feed so that no one chokes, EVER. The more water you add, the more the alfalfa pellets there are. It takes longer to eat more, so the other horses get the feeling they are getting more, they take longer. Plus, I put Shaun's big bowl down in his favorite corner of the shelter and wrapped a one inch wide electric fence tape around him to make a safe corral. It was like a wall to the other horses. No staring, no pressure and Shaun ate slowly, eyes half closed and enjoyed his dinner.
It was suggested that Shaun may have scar tissue in his throat from previous choke episodes. He may always have issues with it. But it's manageable right now. I'm hoping he'll be ok with the hay this winter. Green grass is easier to eat than dry hay. Winter is 5 months away.
After dinner, the horses and I headed out to go hedge apple hunting. Google it. Hedge apples grow on hedge trees, and horses love em! We have a lot of hedge trees, but it's more fun when we all head out together. Hawk knows, as soon as I go "let's go hedge apple hunting!" He throws a snakey neck and off we all go, into the secret paths in the trees. It was great training for trail riding. Ya can't be a woosie horse when you go into the scarey tree path. Everyone came but Shaun.
I found him hiding in his little corner of the shelter. I whispered to him, reassured him and tried to get him to come out with me. I walked out, took down the offending fence, came back and got him. I was so unconfident, but he walked out with me and we joined the herd. Eclipse had waited for him. When he showed up, she headed out. It's like she puts out this silent signal and all the horses heads snap up. They all lock onto her, but Shaun. He locked onto me. "GO Shaun! Go!" Hawk took off running after Eclipse, followed by Bit and then Gunner. Shan started towards me. "SHAUN, GO!" He turned and took of running like I know those humans that used to own him wish he would have. He ran for the sheer joy of going. He ran with the herd. He's finally beginning to understand. He's part of it. He's part of something bigger than himself. He's wanted. He's loved. He's a horse.
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