Fourth session of halter work
Sep. 6th, 2022 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickIt rained on Labor Day. Caught Finn loose in field (he pulled rope out of my hands one time but then stood to be haltered on second try) and did some fairly minimal work.
He was weird about being touched because he was... wet? Not sure if he'd ever been rained on before. Anyway, it was fine and he now touches all over on both sides from tips of ears down to wee little feetsies... even when wet. Even when touched by creepy touching Mordecai in his slicker and rain boots. (Mordecai, who has Asperger's, is nine years old and... not good with animals. He does not have a way to touch them that animals do not see as weird. It's a combination of approaching too slowly/tentatively and touching too lightly... with sudden jerk-backs of hand if the animal moves AT ALL. Add in a rustling slicker and ground-scuffing rain boots on the boy and yeah, you got a Learning Experience right there for the Finn.) Finn got over it. Mordecai got coaching on how better to touch horses. Everybody learned things in a productive way. Good boys!
Skills for leading are quite good and off-side practice is way better than last time. It'll continue until he's as good on the off side as he is on the near. Rope-flopping (over head, neck, back) was revisited for improved catching, too.
On fourth session, he calmed down fairly quickly about being caught and *stayed* calmer, with fewer eruptions of overflowing emotion.
He was softer at the end of our work session than I've seen previously, lips soft, eye soft, head lowered, neck relaxed. He didn't even eat his chow angrily when we were done which is another big step forward. (Eating his chow angrily is like... savage diving bites into the feed bin plus swirling his nose around the bin stirring up the feed in a hostile way. Pretty sure he's pissy about the injustice of it all. I expect him to be touched all over his body in a non-hurting, friendly way. I expect him to listen to the rope halter and do the work. I also DON'T back up off him when he overflows with emotions. He's like... Damn it, why does this lady always get to win?) So yeah, he's coming along.
I set up another playdate with him for Thursday after work. We'll see how it goes. Also, I need to get my dressage whip (for trotting in-hand) and some stuff to sack him out with. It'll help him be less eyebally and give him practice managing his emotions and tolerating things touching his body.
He was weird about being touched because he was... wet? Not sure if he'd ever been rained on before. Anyway, it was fine and he now touches all over on both sides from tips of ears down to wee little feetsies... even when wet. Even when touched by creepy touching Mordecai in his slicker and rain boots. (Mordecai, who has Asperger's, is nine years old and... not good with animals. He does not have a way to touch them that animals do not see as weird. It's a combination of approaching too slowly/tentatively and touching too lightly... with sudden jerk-backs of hand if the animal moves AT ALL. Add in a rustling slicker and ground-scuffing rain boots on the boy and yeah, you got a Learning Experience right there for the Finn.) Finn got over it. Mordecai got coaching on how better to touch horses. Everybody learned things in a productive way. Good boys!
Skills for leading are quite good and off-side practice is way better than last time. It'll continue until he's as good on the off side as he is on the near. Rope-flopping (over head, neck, back) was revisited for improved catching, too.
On fourth session, he calmed down fairly quickly about being caught and *stayed* calmer, with fewer eruptions of overflowing emotion.
He was softer at the end of our work session than I've seen previously, lips soft, eye soft, head lowered, neck relaxed. He didn't even eat his chow angrily when we were done which is another big step forward. (Eating his chow angrily is like... savage diving bites into the feed bin plus swirling his nose around the bin stirring up the feed in a hostile way. Pretty sure he's pissy about the injustice of it all. I expect him to be touched all over his body in a non-hurting, friendly way. I expect him to listen to the rope halter and do the work. I also DON'T back up off him when he overflows with emotions. He's like... Damn it, why does this lady always get to win?) So yeah, he's coming along.
I set up another playdate with him for Thursday after work. We'll see how it goes. Also, I need to get my dressage whip (for trotting in-hand) and some stuff to sack him out with. It'll help him be less eyebally and give him practice managing his emotions and tolerating things touching his body.
