7

Yards. Liberty. 10 minutes? Today we only worked on keeping his distance and not mugging. He mugged alot. We've got to get through this before moving on to anything else. Admittedly I made it hard for him (literally) by sitting on a stump in the yards with my back to him. I tend to move around more than I should and thought parking my bum on a stump would keep me in one spot and make me less likely to move away when he gets too forward. It worked but the consequence was he was in my hair, my shoes, my hips, even my face although I did put an arm up (with elbow uppermost) to keep him at bay. I did reward him for backing up (which got him excited and moving forward) and for standing quietly beside me. I would wait a few seconds and reward. He hasn't got it and his frustration was evident in a new behaviour, pawing. The pawing was a bit disconcerting. Also, he got quite grumpy, circling around me with a crabby expression and that lightened forehand which could be a percursor to something not very pleasant. I ignored him and stayed on the stump. It was only a momentary flash but illustrates that we cannot move on until he can control himself, until he absolutely knows that the only way to get treats is to maintain a respectful distance, not to mug and not to lose his temper. He also spent quite a bit of time picking at the almost non-existent grass. Like a cats 'when in doubt, wash'.

If he didn't get an erection and become so sexually excited life would be alot easier. He kicks at his pizzle and shows every sign of being uncomfortable. This is the opposite effect of what I would like to create. I'll just have to trust in time and quiet persistence.

6

Yards. Liberty. 10 minutes. The session started before it started. Once I let Balthazar out of his stall he was as close as my breath. I'd already resolved that we'd work on keeping his distance but as I had no carrots I had to keep pushing his nose away. We haven't done anything in 3 days as we've had company, wwhich seemed to treble his eagerness. He didn't want to drink so I started grooming him. Two days ago he rolled in mud which has dried to concrete. Yesterday I groomed him while he was at liberty and he stayed. I put the halter on him today which was the signal that nothing of a carrot nature was going to happen so he was calm and still while I chipped away at the concrete (still haven't got it all off either).

When I'd finished and strapped on the carrots he was THERE. Although he didn't *get* that he was to keep his distance at least I remembered not to treat him when he was in my face. Again I tried to stay ahead of him as far as the displacement (evasion; eating) went by I'm not good enough at observation to know when enough is too much. Mostly I just do a few c/ts and walk away; the scattergun approach. Even with extremely short c/t bursts he'd still occasionally put his head down and graze. I did consistently add the cue 'down' when asking for it and he was giving it to me although I suspect it was just something he tried to elicit a carrot and wasn't done because he understood.

We also did a little bit of wwylm. He was better at staying with me although the first attempt he backed instead of going forward as that had earned a c/t previously. Again, I believe he is so keen, so excited, that he doesn't have the emotional control to stop and think. Guess it will just take time.

Perhaps tomorrow it would be better if I just worked on one thing and one thing only. Should try and do another session during the day, either before they go out in the afternoon or when they come in after their 2 hours grazing (they are all confined for the better part of the day and all of the night in the 'Jenny Craig' paddock because of their excess adipose tissue).