Jasper gives us a piece of his trust
Temperature - Day (maximum):
approx. 28-30 degrees
Anna Plains Station – 17.05.2001 – 19.05.2001
Although Jasper has given up his running problems, he sometimes still causes us difficulties. That is the reason why we now use the nose leash. Of course he fights back, screams and shouts, spits and tears his eyes open when we attach them to his nose peg, but he has no choice but to get used to it. “Epna,” I order him to stand up and “walk up,” to start running. When he stops again as if rooted to the spot, pulls his head back and wants to run off to the side, I hold him by the nose leash. Jasper can hardly believe it, because suddenly something pulls his nose. As soon as he takes a step in my direction, I release the nose leash and he wants to run away again. Jasper quickly realizes that the unpleasant pull stops when he runs after me and it doesn’t take long before he follows me voluntarily. After a few laps of the training enclosure, we break off with the running exercise. Tanja strokes him gently. First at the neck. He lets her do it, whereupon her hand gently moves to his chest. Jasper seems to enjoy it, which gives us a bit of confidence.
Edgar is not yet ready to be stroked on the chest. He has a completely different character, is much more nervous and still tries to bite or kick. We realize that we urgently need to do something about this, because it’s only a matter of time before he catches one of us. Whenever something touches its hind legs, it reacts with a quick and violent swing. Even if we show him the rope to tell him to get off, he then strikes out and we often have to jump to safety. During yesterday’s phone call, Jo suggested that we hang tin cans and ropes from the saddle so that they dangle around his feet. “After a while, he’ll get tired of lashing out and realize that there’s no danger to him,” Jo said. Tanja and I now tie various cords and tin cans to the saddle that we have just strapped to his back. “Epna,” I ask him to stand up and am curious to see how he will react. Edgar stands there transfixed. To get the cans and ropes moving, I lead him around the stake set in concrete, but to our astonishment Edgar reacts extremely calmly. “It looks like the cans don’t bother him,” I say. “Hm, that’s strange when he usually reacts to every draught,” says Tanja. “I think I should try the black plastic pipe. He’s probably scared of that and will kick it to bits,’ I reply. I then carefully touch his butt with the long pipe and before I can react, a heavy swing hits it. “It works,” I say, startled by the explosive force of the kick. I now slowly graze him with the pipe on his back leg. “Sshsh,” he hisses through the air. ‘I’m glad I wasn’t standing there,’ I shout. Again and again I touch him with the pipe and lo and behold Edgar slows down and slows down until he stops his dangerous swings. I walk around him for at least another 10 minutes and stroke him all over with the pipe. Edgar watches me suspiciously, but after a while he shows no more signs of lashing out. The plastic tube is part of our training program for the next few days and although Edgar doesn’t hit it the next day, we don’t dare go near his hind legs
