For the boys' first week, I kept things pretty simple. They were fairly skittish to the goings on whether I was walking past or into their pen or pulling the feed wagons around at feeding times. Because you also mentioned that they could be hard to catch, I opted to start the week with some hand targeting/clicker training. Hero has been much more confident than Hickory from the get-go. It took no time at all for him to confidently target my hand & take alfalfa cubes from my hand. As the week progressed, I began to put my hand over his neck to mimic what I do when I put the halter on. The first few times he wasn't 100% sure, but paid it no mind after that. Haltering Hero was no issue. He was quite sensitive with his hindquarters & hind legs when I first began Desensitizing to the Lead Rope but settled & accepted it as I continued to click & treat for the right response. I may have to move from calling him Hero to Lug as he's sure a big "Lug" of a horse for just a two-year-old. I foresee him becoming quite the sweetheart. I had hoped to take some good photos this evening, but my phone had run out of battery during their session, so unfortunately, this will be a picture-less update. Since I will be busy Wednesday through Sunday with the retreat participants, we will return to our regularly scheduled updates on Saturday, September 30th. That week, we'll move to the round pen while also working on Desensitizing, Yielding the HQ & FQ, Backing, Flexing, Lunging Stages 1 & 2, Sending, & Circle Driving. - Lexy Nuesch
Next week's update will be posted on Saturday, September 29th.
I do my best to get these updates posted in a timely manner, but it's not uncommon for me to be outside until after dark, depending on the weather, my schedule, & who gets worked when so updates will sometimes be posted quite late in the evening. Don't be alarmed if you don't see your update right away. In rare cases, I may have to push them until the next morning, but I'll reach out & let you know if so.