Aztec has proven to be better off than Lucy. She has completely accepted me as her herd mate, and now she does pretty much anything I request of her. She disengages with just a look, respects my space, and lets me walk right up to her and halter her.
I had to take a few days off, since I was forced to go to Freshman Orientation at the U of M. So today I kind of repeated what she started learning the other day. We practiced leading. She doesn't really like leading and giving to the pressure, but if I walk off, she follows on the line. I led her into the pen, and we began lunging.
All I had to do was look at the eye that I wanted her to move away from. If I wanted her to move out to the right, I would look at her left eye and kind of crouch down into an "aggressive" posture. I opened my right arm out and kissed, and she was more than happy to take off trotting in a calm circle around me. After a few times, I didn't even have to crouch. I just gave her a look, and she understood. When I wanted her to stop, I looked at her hip. And she disengaged, without really formally being taught to. She just assumed that I wanted her hindquarters out of my way, and that she should face me.
I also worked on petting her head. I can now touch her all over her body, but she was still wary of allowing me to touch her face. So I began to ask her to let me touch her nose. I started petting her neck, then I moved my hand to her nose. Of course, she moved away from me. But I kept my hand on her nose until she stopped. The second she stopped, I said "good" and took my hand away. She chewed and licked. I repeated this until she was okay with my hand on her muzzle. It took maybe two minutes.
Then I moved up her head a bit. I asked her to let me touch the area right above the nose band of her halter. I went back to touching her nose, then I moved my hand an inch. When she didn't move, I took my hand away. I asked for another inch, and continued this practice until she was content with my hand above her halter. After that, I wanted to touch her forehead. She moved away from that for a second, so I kept my hand between her eyes until she chilled. When she stopped fussing, I removed my hand. I went back down and touched her nose and above her nose band, then asked for the forehead touch again. She moved again. So I held my hand until she quit, went back to what we already established, then did the head again. The next time,she let me scratch her forehead. Now I can walk up to her, reach and touch her forehead with no problem. (:
I hosed her off today. She fussed and danced around. So I did exactly what I do with everything. When she stopped dancing, I stopped spraying her. I sprayed, she moved, she stopped, I stopped. She eventually decided that dancing around was pointless and that the cool water actually felt pleasant in the heat. She rolled immediately after I let her go, but the dust keeps flies at bay, so it was all good.
On a side note just in case anyone actually reads this and takes any info from it, I never let my horses walk away from me. When I turn Aztec out, I expect her to stand there until I move away from her. Her feet should not move until I say OK and walk away from her. That way, I know that she won't get too excited and buck while she runs away, putting me in a potentially unsafe spot. I don't hit or tie them to keep them still. I just stand with them on a line until they're quiet, and then I unclipped their lead or take off their halter. I keep my hand on their shoulder, and rub them. Then I say OK and turn to leave. Aztec figured this out really quickly. I'm very surprised at her sudden change of heart about me. <3
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