Today we started working with Skeeter. Margot and I watched a video the other night called From Wild to Willing. What we did today is based on that video. First, we took this long stick . . . kind of like a fishing pole. Pat told me to put on a helmet and her new vest . . . it's for riding, but it's like a bullet proof vest. It's heavy!
After getting dressed in the safety equipment, I donned the approximately ten foot long stick, and slowly entered the stall with young Skeeter. He didn't know what to think, but when I approached him with the stick, he didn't like it much! I placed the stick very gently on his back by the withers . . . that is the bone that kind of sticks up right at the base of the neck. It is also a place that a mare nuzzles her foals, so you start there so it's kind of comforting . . . well, after they get done being scared of it, it's kind of comforting! Skeeter didn't think it was too comforting. He took off in the other direction.
My instructions were to keep the stick on his back no matter what he does, but that is easier said than done. After awhile I got the hang of it and was able to follow him around with the stick on his back. It didn't take him too long to get kind of used to being touched with the stick. Then I had to move the stick around. First, just generally on the withers area, and then across his back and his butt, and then down each hind leg. Next, I had to move it up his mane toward his ears, but not touching his ears. And then back down the front of his neck and chest and down each of his front legs. It took some time for him to let me do it, because whenever I went to a new area he wasn't comfortable with, he would take off. Finally, I could just about touch anywhere on his right side. The left side was a little different. He wouldn't let me even get to the left side.
You can't just walk to the other side, because you always have to be cognizant of not cutting him off. There is always the danger that he will just run over you . . . he is a wild horse who has been in a pasture his whole life and has never been touched before. The other danger is that he could kick you. So, you have to be really careful about getting him turned around. I couldn't do it. Pat finally had to come in and help me.
With Pat in the stall with us, she tried to gently get him to go the other direction. He would momentarily, and as soon as I put the stick on his back, he would turn the other direction. He wasn't cooperating. Then Pat tried it. She got him to do it for a minute or two, but then he would turn around again. He just kept protecting his left side. Pat said that he's had enough for this beginning session, and she said that I could offer him a cookie. He took it! Pat said, "Ok, he's hooked now!"
Later in the afternoon, Pat had to go to the Roadhouse to help John. I got dressed again in the helmet and vest, I took the stick and went back inside with Skeeter. After just a minute or two, he was again comfortable with me touching him on the right side. I still couldn't get to the left. One of the processes that must be done is that if he turns to look at you, you immediately stop the rubbing and look away. It's kind of a reward for him acknowledging you. At one point when I looked away, he took a step toward me. I held out my hand, and he let me touch his face. He let me rub it up and down . . . a little ways up, anyway. Then it was kind of weird . . . he would let me touch his face but wouldn't let me get to the left side of himself. Finally, he must have thought it was weird, too, because suddenly, he just let me rub him on the left. He still wasn't as comfortable as the right, but every once in awhile he would come up to me and let me stroke his face. It was a good day's work!
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