Under Pressure

Picture this: It is a cold cold night (24 degrees), the wind is blowing, and its pitch black dark. I make my way to the pasture after returning home late to feed the horses their hay, and I am greeted by two horses. Only two. As my eyes adjust to the darkness I am able to pick out a dark figure standing a ways away, so I make my way over to it.  As I approach I realize it is the missing horse: Teddy. I begin to wonder why he didn't come greet me at the gate like the others, and then the reason becomes apparent. My little mini horse is stuck on the INSIDE of our interior fence. He is in the little pasture place that we have fenced off so the horses can have fresh grass come Spring.
This is the scenario I was faced with a 6:30 yesterday evening. Teddy wasn't hurt, or sweaty like he had been running around panicking (two VERY positive things), so I proceeded to walk around the perimeter of the interior fence to look for where the break was in it and how he had managed to weasel his way through it. I saw NO break, and the fence looked normal and fine. Except for that the voltage of the electricity was down considerably, so when he got through he wasn't shocked much.
We still have no idea what happened or how he got under the fence into the pasture. Mom came out to help me get the fence to where he could go under it to get out (we have no gates on the interior fence). I haltered him quickly (Thank God I have been practicing his haltering) and he haltered like a champ. Mom had to undo a section of fence and lift it up so he could squeeze under, and it was a very tight squeeze (though not impossible, I know he could make it). And, eventually, he did make it. It took some time, and I had to keep reminding myself that getting frustrated or fed up was only going to make it worse. I would reward his tries by letting the line slack and waiting a moment, then trying again. In the end I did have to put quite a bit of pressure on him in order for him to consider going under. I was so proud of how he conducted himself, however, because once he realized that's what he had to do, he tried his GUTS out to build up the courage to do it. He went under, Mom fixed the fence, and I stood there holding him, rubbing him, and giving him hay.
My guess to as what happened is  that all the horses were under the overhang, he was behind one of them near the fence, they got fussy with him and began to pick on him, and Teddy, being his claustrophobic panicky self, slipped under in efforts to escape. There is no proof of this, but it is what makes the most sense.
Therefore, with this is mind, this morning when throwing hay I became very dominant over them and was very specific about them standing outside the overhang until I invited them in individually and positioned them in their spot. Woody happened to be the last one I let under the overhang, and it took him a while to be able to stand calmly and give me a happy expression before I let him under. And, I found it interesting that right when he went in to eat he put his ears flat back at Teddy to get him to move. I immediately addressed that with the flag, waving it in Woody's face until he backed up and lost that thought. By the time I headed back to the house, Woody was acting like a perfect angel, not daring to pick on anyone.
Anyhow, the episode last night was the perfect example of one of those scenarios that you spend your play sessions preparing for. That is why I practice him being ok with haltering, and that is why I plan to work on Teddy being even more confident going under tight spaces.
~Eden