Getting to know Sofie

One of the first thing you discover about Sofie is that she has an opinion… about everything. When you first get to know her this is incredibly wearing, mainly because in her opinion she is right and everything you say that is counter to this is by default wrong. 

Sofie protesting

She doesn’t suffer fools lightly. You do not keep Sofie waiting for good reason.

Sofie protesting

If you tie her on the yard and walk away you are wasting her time. Stamp Stamp, scrap scrap, snap – she’s off.

Anything short of gallop to the field is too slow. Stamp Stamp, shack shack, wrench she’s off.

If she wanted to be where I was standing I would be unceremoniously booted out the way by her sizable arse.

If she didn't want to go past something on a ride, or get her feet dirty she would spin or reverse at speed then charge in the direction she wanted to go.

She hated waiting at the mounting block. After a few weeks I finally lost my temper and slapped her for charging off. I have never seen an animal so indignant! She reacted by charging round the yard as if she had been beaten. Once I had finally struggled on she first hit reverse then ploughed forward in a bid to bolt to her field. The rest of the hack continued in a similar fashion until she felt she had made enough of her point. Not quite the gentle introduction I was hoping for.

Hacking she was generally fine in front but a pain in the arse if she wasn't in the lead. If the horse in front showed any indication that they might accelerate away she panicked and started dancing sideways. I found this quite alarming. Amusingly we were meant to be babysitting Smee’s race horse on most of our hacks as he had just come back into work from his summer vacation. It turns out the thoroughbred race horse was more sensible than the fat halflinger and they baby sat us!

It soon became apparent that white lines were the line she would not cross. After a week or two I decided it was time to face traffic. There is a fairly busy road we need to cross in order to access most of the hacking grounds near the yard. Sofie did not blink an eye at the busses and motor bikes, but utterly freaked out at the thought of crossing the white lines on the road. I did a hasty dismount to lead her across safely ( I normally have a no dismount policy, but I was not prepared to mess about on a busy road, I value my life more than my principles). She eventually lead across the line, but gave it a good 3ft clearance (quite an unexpectedly athletic leap) to be extra safe.

As summer faded to autumn and the English weather set to its default position of rain a new challenge arose. A bizarre pathological phobia of puddles. She hated them. A gently potter down a country lane was abruptly halted by a 1 cm deep puddle across the road. I didn’t really comprehend why this was a problem so kicked her on. She snorted and suddenly turned and bolted the other direction, nearly taking out my poor friend and her cob in the process. It was quite a battle to get her through, which she did at speed whilst closing her eyes and holding her breadth.

So the first few months were a series of arguments. I found myself almost constantly telling her off. She was never nasty or dangerous but constantly irritating to me. I didn’t understand her. I thought she was just being obstinate.

A friend then sent me the following link on Haflingers.

If the Haflinger believes that he knows more than you, or that he has a better plan than you, it can be difficult to convince him to listen. For example, if a Haflinger has decided that walking into a water hazard is unsafe, he may be very reluctant or refuse to go. He is not doing this to be stubborn or vindictive; he has just decided that the water might be dangerous and the smartest thing to do is to stay out of it. Rather than trying to make the horse into going into the water by force, it is far better to teach him that it is safe – perhaps through the use of a lead horse or a smaller hazard. This way, the Haflinger will learn that you’re a sound leader who will not use force to accom­plish what you want. This is a far better lesson than one taught through violence.

Keep the horse’s intelligence in mind throughout all your training. Think of him as a smart animal who is trying to figure out the best way to get through life, rather than an animal who is trying to get the best of you. It’s your job to stay a step ahead of him, correct small problems before they become bigger issues, and treat him with respect.

Sofie putting up with my
Christmas cheer

The description was so perfect for Sofie and my situation. Sofie did not trust me, and me shouting and scolding her was not helping. I have since changed my way with her. I spend more time treating her opinions with respect, however silly they seem to me. I try to work out why she is putting her foot down. More often than not it is because she perceives a threat. I then try to reassure her and gently convince her that my way is better. This is a much more successful approach, we do not fight half as much any more. She now listens to my opinion and has begun to trust me. We have developed some ground rules, pushing me over is not OK, but leaving her unattended is not OK either. The more time I spend with her the more I realise how much she wants to please. She is affectionate and loves nothing more than a cuddle... okay carrot then cuddle, but the cuddle is important. When I groom her she grooms me back and she is always happy to see me. She just needed a bit of time and patience,  okay a lot of patience. 

I have come to realise that Sofie is a high maintenance princess but she actually has a heart of gold.