First up- Zazen!

Galahad was going to be the first horse that we followed along with- but he already has a new home! So, here comes Zazen! That's not his original name, but suits him so much better. He came into my life at 11 years of age, and a complete wreck! Unbroke (although he'd been to a "trainer"), didn't tie or lead, had NO idea of what personal space was, and touch him- that wasn't allowed! He was one of the most messed up horses I had even seen. Thankfully, his reactions were fear based and not out of aggression, otherwise he may have ended up in a hole. No horse is worth getting dead, and I wouldn't hesitate to put a dangerous horse down. But, all he wanted to do was get away from me, not come at me. Big difference.

At first I thought about posting on how he got so messed up, since I asked a lot of questions and pieced together a lot of info on how he ended up like that. But, I think it would be more positive (and save me from ranting) to explain as we go along about why he has the reactions he does, based on his experiences, and what I've learned about him. I've already done quite a bit of groundwork with him, but for these purposes, I'll go back over what we've already done, so we can follow his progress from "square one." Next post: Zazen's kindergarten lessons!