[PHASE #1] ONE STEP AT A TIME

   “Oh boy you are stubborn… don’t worry little one, we will go at your speed one step at a time.”

   "When we first met her at the rescue we thought maybe she didn’t like to be in closed spaces, or possibly had anxiety from being away from other horses from how much she was constantly moving around in her tiny stall. When she loaded the trailer perfectly fine, we asked the rescue center what might be causing this? They said this little mare was always kept locked up in her stall from a very young age, rarely allowed to be outside which has resulted in her being extremely reluctant to return to any stall or even enter the barn at times when she gets even a little bit of a taste for the outside world. Not only that but she seems to be very skittish and aggressive towards smaller animals like rabbits, baby deer, and especially cats. We’re assuming that she was never properly introduced to them as a baby so she looks at them like they are dangerous till her fight or flight kicks in. There’s a few different barn cats here so getting the mare to be calm around them is top priority, it will take a while but hopefully we will get this little mare to not be so aggressive and realize that not everything is trying to get her."