I'm spending time with my new Gypsy Besy but I don't really know where to start.  I can rub her between her eyes but she won't let me play with her mouth or stand for very long when I want to touch her face in general, she just walks away.  She won't really come to me all the time and the only thing that we do in the arena is just hang out and i will run around and she will sort of chase me while I laugh at us.  It's fun and I think she enjoys it but there isn't that deeper bond yet, she won't even nose breath with me and she can be a little pushy when she wants something, she just pushes past me or pushes me with her head.  I don't know if this is disrespectful but the lady at my current barn tells me that a horse must respect you.  I am lost between her ideas and liberty ideas.  I love A.N.'s ideas but I bought this video to find out how to start and it showed more what was achievable without just showing where to begin.  She was a wagon mare for gypsy caravans and I will never put a bit in her mouth again!  Nor will she have a saddle.  So many things to read and listen to on this site, I'm feeling overwhelmed.  Even when I sit in the arena on a seat and let her do what she wants, she just stands there and rarely comes up to me.  I must approach her.  I do not try to round pen her she is always at liberty in the arena because she likes to come in and roll in the soft sand and I encourage her to do that.  If I even get close to her while she is rolling she stops and gets up.  She really doesn't trust me.  Help!  I do love her and I will make her life as natural and free without any sort of cruelty, especially metal! 

Chris Irwin (Horse Power Productions – Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada.) is good source of info for learning to read  a horse's body language, using your own body language to communicate with the horse in a way that is similar to how horses relate to each other, approaching and handling horses in a way that develops a willing partnership.His “Barn Manners” DVD set has a lot of info included in it to get a good start with it all.

There is also a lot to be said for the effect that your inner state and mental plan for your time together has on the horse and your ability to relate to it. They read us from the inside out; they intuite your intent.