Val got more "beauty treatment" today, getting 3 more braids shampood, conditioned, detangled, braided and wrapped. I also washed etc his tail as well and wrapped it up to keep it from dragging through any mud, sticks etc. He had half his hay in his tail!
His feathers have been holding up great, and he was very well behaved for coming in and leading around. We worked on standing still (yeah, needs more work!!!LOL!) and I taught him a new cue to stop his crowding behavior as he walks. All horses, when I start with them on the ground, learn how to move their hips and shoulders over as necessary. Horses are taught to yeild body parts as they stand and as they walk. His biggest challenge in walking around on a lead is walking AWAY from his handler. He crowds badly and will push his handler over accidentally if he swings his head over to look in one direction or another. If he looks off to the right, his shoulder comes over and he drifts in towards his handler and begins to step on top of them/push them (no perception of a person's space), and if he looks left, his jawbone ends up right in front of your face and is a hazard. Many young horses look to their handler as a "security blanket" and he is no exception (though it would really be nice if he stopped stepping on his blanket....)
He learned quickly to move over, and by then end I was able to lightly lay the leadrope on his left shoulder and say "over" and he would quickly leg yield to the right or turn right. Much like a neck rein. I transferred the command to Vicki this morning as she walked him in and he was responsive after a few repetitions. Makes walking him and making right turns much easier :-)
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