How do I get my horse to trust me above other horses?

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Tilda

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As per title really. I had a nasty accident on my mare in the summer which was started by her following another horse which had bolted (no one really knows exactly what happened). Since then I have ridden her only a handful of times for various reasons the most recent being the weather but have done loads of groundwork with her and feel her trust in me has really improved.

I did notice the other day though when I was working with her on the ground in the school whilst she was listening to me and following me round one end of the school when I took her up the other end next to a paddock with a pony in it she kept migrating towards the other pony rather than listening to me. I have also found that when hacking in the past she seems a lot more responsive to me when we are on our own.

Now the thaw has come around us I want to start riding regularly again and am keen to get her out of the school and out hacking again. For my first few rides I will be going with a lady and her extremely sensible gelding who my mare adores but I am just thinking ahead to when I want to hack out with others or if something did happen which caused the other horse to bolt.

Is it actually possible to get her more interested in me than other horses? and if so how do I go about building this?

Sorry ended up very long any advice greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks Mollylolly thats what I was doing with her the day she kept migrating towards the pony. She had joined up and was following me until we then moved nearer the pony so I made her do it again and she did improve a bit.

Do I just need to keep doing it until I have her attention all the time?
 
No indoor school but at the moment the pony is not in the paddock next to the school so she can't see anything else. I'll have another go tomorrow and see how we get on. Thanks again
 
Is it just horses that she knows that she wants to get to? What I found with my horse was that when we went out to a show on our own, he only knew me so started to rely on me for his security as opposed to my friend's pony who we normally go out with. This has carried over into daily routine now - he sees me as the best one to be with, and although he likes his horse friends he is very happy to be with me and will stay with me no matter what (so far, touching everything wooden!!)
 
do you groom her (i dont mean brushing) i mean rubbing, ticking etc as a horse would groom each other?

i would spend as much time as physically possible, grooming playing with her, not necessarily schooling her just spending time talking, take a radio down if you can and sing to her. I know you have had her some time, but in my experience mares can be very loving but you have to work damn hard to get them to love you.

Mine was quite taken with the radio and my attempt at singing xx
 
Mmmm interesting point fjordhorsefan when we are surrounded by unfamiliar horses she does seem to rely on me more and is always beautifully behaved when moved to a new yard so that makes sense too.

So how did you get your boy over it? Just by doing things on your own with him?
 
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