3

Still afternoon. 10 minutes. Yards. Haltered. Tried to slow down my own thinking and 'doing' so that I could help Balthazar. My timing was a bit off, not catching him before he was overwhelmed (either head down eating or moving in with stallion behaviour) but being aware of timing is a start to getting it right. Wanted to work only on head down and standing still away from me. Can definitely say he got head down. When he was side on to me it was great but if he was facing me he'd step forward until he was in my face. No mugging...well one tiny one so that's an improvement.

It was difficult to reward the head down, especially after he 'got' it as frequent rewards bring on the evasion or stallion stuff. Which brings me to the conclusion that the main thing Balthazar has to learn is emotional control. It's not only evident in his behaviour but in his sweating, that's a definite symptom of nervousness. Once he's mastered that (stallion stuff) he may feel safe enough not to be overwhelmed (evading). At least it gives me an idea of what's needed although I'm not sure what to do more than what I'm doing; small mini-sessions within the session and having the sessions in the first place. When I'd give him a break I'd turn my body away and not look at him. When he was ready to continue he'd raise his head and look at me. I'd c/t and we'd carry on until the next time.

When he showed that he understood he got a c/t for putting his head down, I started to say 'Down'. Combining the cue with the behaviour may take awhile but it's a start.

At the end of this session, after I'd put the carrots away, I walked over and gave him a big handful of carrots for no reason at all.