Tolerating me

Friday. He will stand quietly with me nearby. Now is the time to start to move this party forward. I have a panel configuration that allows me to set-up a 6' x 12' stall with a gate. This allows me to use my pole or stick to stroke him, with enough room for him to get away, but not out of reach. This set-up worked beautifully with my Mustang "River", but she is SOO much bigger than this little pip squeak! He is able to stand sideways on the 6' end, scrunched up! LOL

At first, he paced hurriedly, quite worried about his new small space, convinced that he was horse du jour. I remind him that if I wanted to eat him, I wouldn't need an elaborate and expensive horse facility set-up! :) Besides, two of his neighbors were saved from slaughter through our local horse rescue, so he was safe with me!

I let him settle and face me. After a few jumps and quivers, I use my stick to gently stroke his face, working back towards his hindquarters. After a few minutes, he lets out a loud sigh, cocks a rear leg to rest and licks and chews. I continue to speak softly and sing to him. Once I am able to touch both sides and all over his body, I open the gate and walk away. He eyes me with a strange look. "Hmmm, that wasn't so bad!

He's managed to pull the halter he came with over one ear, half on, half off. Tomorrow, we will work toward fixing that.