Hi all- what a brilliant forum, I am hoping you may be able to advise me, so sorry this may be a bit of an essay but I would love your help. I have recently acquired a rescue pony in pretty poor condition (vet scored him at 0.5). He was alone and abandoned in a ploughed field- probably only just weaned. 6-9 months old, he is a small colt. Given all of that he is pretty perky 5 weeks later, putting on weight, wormed, just finished courses of antibiotics and steroids, and improving under vet supervision- although there is a long way to go.
I have been quietly trying to build trust (I'm afraid food has been a key tool) and can now catch him easily, run my hands over most of him, groom most of him, and get a head collar on and off. All of that is pretty calm although he is a bit excitable and coltish at times- charging up and down to show me his heels and bucking. It can be a bit intimidating. He is pretty nippy (for obvious reasons) but without a treat at the end of it he won't lead - short daily walks are getting there and I am sure after a while we would be fine. As soon as the dually arrives I can ban any hand treats and schooling will sort the nipping and leading out (I am waiting for it to arrive) but the big question is whether to do join up or not?
I was assuming I should, as we have a questionable hierarchy, and whilst he does come to me, it is in the expectation of food. he is largely friendly but a bit like a slightly evil Thelwell pony who thinks he is the boss. I was all set to give join up my best go when read the thread where someone seemed to be at a similar stage of moderately calm handling and trust building and tried it (not entirely successfully) and the view of the forum was that sending him away and trying to do join up was counterproductive. The view was that sending him away was confusing to the horse if you have already established a bond. All the videos I have seen of join up seem to start with a clean groomed horse that leads ok so I am a bit confused as I have not really achieved that.
many thanks
Hi,
you've done a great job if you can already do all those things with him ;)
.
(this is only my humble opinion, I do not have a huge experience, i hope it still helps)
.
My horse had a similar behaviour to what you're describing as far as charging and being intimidating when I first got her (she was a bit over 2 years old though). Sending her away actually helped to stop that because when you're sending the horse away, you're not telling him "go away and never come back", you're creating an opportunity to tell him "now you can come to me" by the use of your body language.
.
I think you need to see join up as the result of you using equus, not just an exercise in a given format. What I mean by that is that if your horse sees you're speaking his language, he'll take a chance and try to have a conversation with you.
.
When you use the language everyday in all your interactions with you horse, join up comes gradually as the bond grows between you two. At least that how it was with mine :)
Yes I see- brilliant- that absolutely chimes with how it feels. I have been slightly pussyfooting around him which felt like what he needed, but I am sure he needs a bit more robustness now. I do feel as if sending him away means he won't come back- I've worked so hard to get him to let me near him- and I can see that isn't the case. He is now strong enough to run around and try to bully me which won't be good for either of us.
I feel that we both need to get over a bit of separation anxiety, and he needs to desensitise a little ( in a measured way) so great advice thanks
Hi. Join up is the process of telling the horse "You're socially wrong & that's not acceptical". By sending away you're banishing them from your herd, albeit for a very short time. Yes, this puts them under mental pressure - like your spelling tests at school. However, that stress is quickly relieved when you invite the horse to come to you & by doing that you build a much greater bond. You set yourself up as that herd leader & offer the horse the opportunity to benefit from being a member of your herd - being under your protection & guidance. That is profound relief to the horse, assuming you get the body language right. However, join up is not a one time thing. Whilst the process should be carried out a limited number of times, usually 4-6, you're every interaction with the horse is important to your bond together. It will not always be perfect! There will be days when you're distracted by work, family issues or some other stresses - there will be times when your horse is upset by thunder or gales or some other outside influence, but you build a bond between you, over time, by using the language. Example: Humphrey is lame on his near fore just now & whilst he was seen by the vet last week there is no obvious cause. It's not laminitis but it could be a bruised foot or an abscess. Poultice on Friday - walked through but dressing still in place Tuesday. Removed it all - still lame but less so. By Saturday getting worse & now limping away if approached with intent to catch. Now Humphrey is a very gentle boy so I moved the others & penned them in. On his own I walked with Humphrey, making no attempt to catch him. I offered him a mint but let him remain free. After 3 or 4 mints I could easily catch him. I tied him up & rubbed him gently, building trust - he's been with me for 6 years but about 9 months ago he had a really bad experience with someone else over 9 days & we're working through that still. I started to work on his foot. When he got anxious & stepped back I rubbed him & asked him to come back to me - he did. I stayed calm & got a new poultice on his foot without any real trauma, just concern. Now I see some improvement, 2 days later. Using the language we got it done but it's not just doing join up, it's a language you use every day. Join up is magical - but it's not magic, there's science behind it. The science of a way of life, a journey - together. Good luck Ruth, with your baby - he's going to give you so much trust but you've got to earn it! Cheers, Jo.
Ruth, I don't really have anything in the way of advice here - except to agree with Jo - but just had to say that your description "a slightly evil Thelwell pony" had me in stitches.
Love the image that gave me!!!!
Yes it makes giggle too! it is him to a tee X
Hi Ruth,
Congratulations on rescuing this unfortunate youngster!
I wouldn't suggest Join-Up as we would do with an adult horse, his joints are not stable enough to do a lot of going in circles. Still you can work with the same principles, eyes on eyes when you want him to know he's not being social, then lowering your eyes when he's showing social behavior. Should he try to show you his heels etc., you can approach him with a want, keeping him at a safe distance, and touch him, stroke him with the handle of the want, never to hit him, but as a lengthening of your arm. When you feel in a safe position, you'll transmit that feeling to your colt.
Your breathing is your most important instrument, it gives him the security he needs, to know that you're breathing deep and slow (diaphragmal breathing to keep your pulserate low), he'll synchronize to it.
Keep the lessons short and always end on a positive note.
Let us know how you're doing, we're here to help you whenever you need it!
You seem to be doing great though,
Miriam
Hi there,
I remember reading the thread you speak of. I have to say, I did disagree with the folks who said sending the mare away was a bad idea, and that if your horse resists it and is confused you should stop and not train them to understand, or that if you have a bond with a horse Join-up isn't essential.
In my opinion, training a horse to send away from you is a safety necessity. You don't necessarily have to run them around for a very long time or very harshly or at the level of a full Join-Up, even. Just enough to give them the idea that, when my body posture is assertive, you should move away from me, whether it be one step backwards or twenty feet.
The reason I feel this way is, that the horses that I take care of can get very excited to hear my voice when I come into the barn. This has translated into the entire herd, which lives in the pasture full time; when I come into view, a lot of times, if I use very strong 'come to me' body language (like trotting away a few steps when they start to follow) the horses that I take care of gallop to meet me, as well as horses I haven't even really worked with. I am not afraid when this happens, though I stay very aware the whole time of where each horse is and what they are doing. Sometimes, I simply wait for them to reach me, and then we (the whole herd behind me) calmly walk to the barn. Sometimes, I even run with the whole herd, and we trot and canter back to the barn (though I probably shouldn't even though we all enjoy it and its tons of fun). But I'm not afraid of being run over, because I know that when I hold up my hand they will slow and stop before they reach me, even if I'm not looking at them. None of the horses have halters on until the ones I want are already inside the barn. If they truly wanted to, they could run me over, there is nothing to stop them if they were to make that choice besides a lead rope in my hand. It isn't because they are afraid of me or because I've hit them with things that they don't.
They simply all understand to move away from me when I'm assertive, and that they can come up when I'm being friendly. I can get almost any horse in this pasture to go where I want at liberty when I use the right body language. It keeps things safe when we are having fun.
I could stop this galloping if I wanted to by chasing them all away from every time I go out to the pasture and they came up fast, but I would rather not, because it makes catching horses so much easier and more fun, most of the time they walk or trot up; usually its me who actually provokes them into galloping to me on days when their energy is high on purpose for the fun of it. :) They probably wouldn't ever gallop unless I trotted away a few steps from them and pretend to leave them behind like I do; but now I know if they choose to do it themselves, I can stay safe.
This is why it's important to be able to drive your horse away from you when you want to, even when they are feeling fresh and come at you at a full gallop :)
Anyways, in regards to your colt, teaching him to take a few steps away from you at liberty when you ask him to(by making yourself big, raising your hands, eyes on eyes, swinging a lead rope, stomping your feet until he moves a step away and then release all pressure), and then driving him a few steps every time he misbehaves and drawing him back when he is calm will certainly help him learn what is acceptable; you probably shouldn't do a whole Join-Up, but start the foundation for one so that he is ready when the time comes. :) Good luck!
Thanks so much for this- I really appreciate your comments as whilst I don't expect full consistency in an area like this, the view expressed on that thread were all very forceful and I felt I must have misunderstood. You have given a cohesive link that makes sense to me. I will work on this. sending away in particular would be helpful as he does still try to bite - even when he has just spent 10 minutes surrendering to a complete body scratch with no qualms at all. Just telling him so is not sufficient a correction I feel but I was struggling to get it right- I make myself big and glare at him but a more forceful send away is called for.
Thanks again
gslmay - We do things very similar! ;)
.
Ruth, apart from your guy not being quite strong enough yet for running around you can still apply the principles of Join-Up. For your confidence just because a horse kicks out to you when you try and tell them to go away does not mean they are going to kick you. If they wanted to kick you they'd do it and not miss. The kick they do when you send them away is them arguing with you, it's what you do at this point depends on how the horse responds with you. If you pull back even the slightest it reinforces in their mind you are not leading them. If you stand firm and continue to send them away at the behaviour you start to become the leader and you will gain respect back for that. The information that gslmay has posted is all gained with the right body language and the respect the horses show to that leadership language. We all can do it ;)
.
If your horse, (can you let us know his name) invades your space however it's been caused by treats etc, they must leave that space. It's imperative that you stop feeding by hand now, food in a bucket on the floor is all they need. Sending them away with a spinning rope do not let the rope touch them, spinning the rope increases the pressure energy around the horse and increases the amount of energy you exert which sends the horse away.
.
When you send the horse away as soon as they listen, become passive and turn away from the horse. Wait a few minutes minding your own business, if your horse starts to come into you in a cheeky or dominant way, sent him/her away again. If he/she stays away from you, walk towards them in a passive manner shoulders rounded and no eye contact, if your horse stands still and waits for your approach quietly and reward. If they start to walk away, send them away again. By doing this you can still do a join-up in the Equus language, but not in the same manner as a round pen. Your horse cannot approach you unless you invite them or the approach in a passive manner. It also helps when sending them away to frown hard at them eyes on eyes and lean forwards, they understand this gesture alone as go away I'm not happy with you, I don't want you near me.
.
Our second rescue Barney the Shetland used to be terrified of everything and everyone, our first join-up was a field join up and took 2 and half hours. It wasn't running around like crazy, well for the first 10 minutes it was he really was that terrified, it was a continual communication of testing and showing trust, communicating his way. In the end the only way he would let me touch him was to offer his bottom to me first. If you can imagine him standing with his bottom towards me shivering with fear, but wanting to trust, a very emotional time for him and a very big step for him starting to trust human for the first time in his life. He was 6yrs old at the time. Its been only with patience and consistent Equus behaviour with him that he came to be our first Therapy horse and is a favorite with both children and adults that come to visit.
.
All horses have their own personality, but by using the Equus language that Monty teaches you can learn how to handle any situation. Keep on going through the lessons and challenges Ruth, it'll continue to help you on your journey.
.
Well done so far!!!
Mel
x
Ooh good advice Mel thanks. Yes I can see this- I think the bit I find hardest is getting the right tone for a send away when he is very close to me so I will be practicing this. Initially just doing a chicken wings and squeaking did it, but I have obviously taught him I don't particularly mean business and this now makes him start and pull away a bit, but not really take me seriously- I suspect it is the follow up here that I have not yet mastered and your description is very helpful indeed.
The dually halter has arrived so I am hoping we can make some leading progress. The vet is due tomorrow to try again to get his next blood sample (abortive attempt last week) so it is a challenging week. On the plus side I now have a
His name is Bertie by the way (short for Hubert as he has always had a very haughty head-up look about him even when he was a matted and filthy bag of bones).
Thanks again all- your guidance is incredibly useful
R
Hello Ruth.
I'm not an experienced horse trainer, but I have had many experiences whilst training Shilo my Welsh Cob.
He was just nearly 3 when I bought him.
He is now 4 and our training is going very well, to the point that I can ride him at a walk.
What I found was that the more of a ' boss' I am with him, the more respect I get.
I am not a bully or in any way mean with Shilo.
I find that if you say no to something once, then you say no to the same thing ALL OF THE TIME with no exception.
I have a remarkable relationship with Shilo, and he is a willing student. I learn as much from him as he does from me.
I make mistakes, the other day a very big one, but , this is a learning curve for me and him.
I also can say that taking baby steps with everything works miracles and I have come further with him than I could have wished for just by taking small steps and repeating.
Also, just hanging out doing nothing works wonders, and I sing to Shilo which calms him.
Not much expert advice I know, but maybe you can use some of it.
Also, this forum is priceless, the people who answer questions here have help me very very much, and they know what they are talking about.
I'm glad I joined this uni and glad for the nice people who help me.
Best of luck.
Dionne and Shilo.
Thanks Dionne- funnily enough it's just as useful to hear from those who feel less experienced- it is inspirational to hear how far you have come. It is pretty daunting every day to feel I am not doing things right. It's a struggle sometimes to get his basic care sorted let alone making sure my eyes are going in the right direction!
Ruth, I also have a miniature pony called Mammuth.
He is 3 and I adopted him from a horse home.
He didn't see daylight for the first 3 months of his life and when he got rescued his halter had to be digged out of his head because he grew but the halter did not.
I have spent a lot of time with him, just hanging out.
It took a long time for him to trust, but you just have to show a lot of love and spend a lot of time and bit by bit the horse will trust you.
Now Mammuth is 3 and he is like a little naughty dog !, but in a good way.
He is into everything and everybody, he is 100 percent healthy and not afraid of the farrier or the vet.
Sometimes not doing anything does everything, just hanging out with him, talking, singing, touching, brushing, accepting when he don't want any attention and accepting when he does.
Ruth, just by the fact that you have saved this horse shows that you are a person with a big heart, and I'm sure that you will find your own way to connect - I laid down in our paddock once and laid there for hours, but eventually he came to me to check me out, and bingo, there's the start.
Mammuth likes to rear up and put his front legs over my forearm, and then we can dance.
He's so lovely, and I'm so happy that I got the chance to show him that people can be kind and loving.
Soon enough if you keep at it Bertie will be the same.
Good luck to you and Bertie.
Dionne.
CONGRATULATIONS Ruth and welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place with the right people. They all really care and they all want to get better with their horsemanship skills. All of the people that have commented above have given you information that is so wise and useful.
.The only other thing that I might suggest would be to get the treats out of your hand and into a bucket or pan and create a scenario of CALLING in and SENDING away using the treats as a draw until you have a connection for the drawing in and sending away. Getting the treats out of your hand should help with the nipping problem also. I use a chair when I do this with my horses. I put the treats on the chair seat then step away and call my horse, then send him away after a few mouth fulls Later on, I can use that same chair to get them to WHOA at liberty. This can be done easily in short sessions. In a week you have created a coming to you, a going away from you and a whoa all at LIBERTY. Eventually I remove the treats after the connection is solid. Along with this, is the start of RESPECT.
.
. Best wishes for success Bud
Ruth hun, don't put yourself down. It's our horse experiences today that make the horse-person we are tomorrow! Our learning never ends and each new horse brings it's own uniqueness and challenges.
.
Have you had a go with the dually yet??
Mel
x
Thanks all- huge support. Actually need a bit of that right now as today was not a good day! Started well with a bit of grooming -Bertie loves a great scratch and he was a delight. He was so beside himself he was turning himself inside out not knowing which bit to point at me- licking my jeans while I was scratching him and was sooooo relaxed. I bit the bullet and removed his head collar as he is pretty comfortable now having it taken off and on and comes to me without a problem- I hate leaving him out in it. Inevitably, the vet rang 5 minutes after I removed it saying she had a gap to try and do the blood sample he needs to have taken, so I had to try and catch him again. I obviously cocked it up as for the first time ever when I approached him he bit my hand when I reached out. I sent him away and when he came back I managed to put the head collar on reasonably calmly at which point he bolted sending me flying. The vet was calm as always and just went and sat quietly with him for a little while with a few carrots and left again, but he is still really spooky this evening.
Soooo I have not yet tried the dually as I was planning to do so this weekend but now I have to start afresh with catching him and I think I should do that with a head collar he is familiar with. The aggression is disturbing- I didn't think he would actually bite me as whilst he has nipped before I haven't had a full on open mouthed bite- although he caught my rings so couldn't bite hard.
Thinking about it, it was windy today and that does seem to get him spooky, and I suspect I was less relaxed than I should have been on trying to get the head collar back on as I knew the vet was due (my drive runs next to his field and I knew if he saw her arrive I might have a problem, so was probably signalling my anxiety).
Just regroup I guess and go back to quietly doing what we do together. Ideas gratefully received!
By the way Dionne, I love the image of you lying in the paddock waiting for contact- so dedicated and clever!
Just a little set back don't panic. There would have been something you conveyed to him that would have caused the reaction. Are you happy to say public where you are in the world, one of us might be close to you to help physically?
Mel
x
Isn't this writing stuff down to explain to others a wonderful thing?
Ruth, while working on the post, you more or less managed to sort it out by yourself. :)
.
I'm guessing the bite was a reflex response to the situation. He was stressed out and that produced that reaction when your hand came within reach or close to an area he wasn't comfortable with your hand being there.
It could as well have been the halter or a stick or whatever happened to be there - so don't take it personally. Bites like that are usually not meant to harm just to tell someone off, but we are less tough-skinned than a horse so I'm glad you weren't hurt!
.
I saw an excellently educational vid on YouTube (I think) of a couple of mountain bikers that ran in to a herd of semi-wild horses. The horses were unafraid and curious, so one of the bikers stupidly got it into his head that they were "patable", and reached out.
The horse clearly thought "What insolence!", opened his mouth wide and chomped down quickly on the guys arm, letting go just as quickly like he would have any insolent horse. If he really wanted to harm the biker, he could easily have done so.
Whether this applies to "Thelwell" and you, I don't know - I just wanted to make a point about behaviour. :)
Hi all- I am in Buckinghamshire, U.K., thanks for the help, yes I think I pretty much sorted it out. I realise that very small changes make a big difference. I was approaching from the other side from normal and carrying a head collar which I don't usually. It was windy and I was a little rushed. All probably didn't help.
Had a good session today- he wouldn't let me near him so I was sort of forced into a join up exercise. I kept it low key, and it went pretty well. With an older horse I would have worked him a little longer, but I let him slow when he wanted (I had his ear and the circle was getting smaller and smaller). We then did a little dance for about half an hour, I largely stood still in passive mode and every time he stepped away from me I stood up straight and looked him in the eye walking towards him but not sending him hard away. After about 15 mins Bertie gradually took a couple of steps towards me, and after a bit more hanging out he lent his nose out to be touched. I felt that was a really good start and walked away to sort out his water and the like, he came and joined me and let me groom him. Whilst I have no idea of how I am going to get his head collar back on without lots of food bribery, I at least feel we are back on track.
Ruth, I'm going to take a risk here and I may offend you. I hope not, please believe that's not my intention but there is something in your posts that worries me a little. Without seeing you and seeing what's happening I can only use what you write down to influence my thoughts but...
:
You have this little pony who is a nipper, now biting. Colts do that, more than fillies do generally, but all youngsters 'bite'. While I appreciate you needing food at the moment I feel the connection between you and food is too strong. The food needs to be a REWARD for doing the right thing (if you want to continue to use food); placed in a bucket, not a BRIBE. Example: you want him to come to the yard - you can BRIBE or LURE using food to 'con' him to come and then get the head collar on (or whatever you are doing) or create a positive association with the yard by REWARDING him every time he comes to the yard. Do you see the difference? The problem with "bribing" is that there is no learning/association other than "ah human appears, food appears, I take food, I can now go".
:
Now the reason I point this out (bear with me haha) is that in your other post, you talk about the miniature pony that hooks his leg over your arm and you dance together! I have to be honest and say this horrifies me. I appreciate that this is a miniature pony (and I'm sure you wouldn't do it with a bigger one) but he is still a pony/horse.
:
My point in all of this is boundaries. I feel that your boundaries may be a bit 'woolly'. This is something that has to be resolved within ourselves. It is particular thing I notice with people who are kind enough to rescue animals (I see it in both dogs and horses) and sometimes our hearts are so hurt by what the animal went through that we over compensate to try and make up for what happened. Sadly I have seen many disastrous results from this confusion.
:
In order to get his headcollar back on I would work him in an enclosed space using advance/retreat with the headcollar taking it in small steps. While I do not like keeping horses on yards/stables for days at a time sometimes it is necessary in the early days to set up the basics of headcollar on and off, being led, earning that you can move his feet around, and understanding boundaries.
:
I offer these as thoughts Ruth, please feel free to tell me I have got this completely wrong and/or discard as necessary but it's meant with the best intention I promise, and if I have it wrong I apologise in advance :-)
Glad you said it Vicci, I went to but when I read it it didn't read right ;)
Horses mount each other in play dominating each other in practice for real fights and abvioulsy for mating reasons. A horse doesn't think it's cute and when a horse chooses to do that what has incites hem to do it.
If allowing the horse to mount a human on the shoulders and arms even in play could create a problem. You do see trick horses do it but they've been trained to do so.
When raisin first reared at me at about 6 months of age, as cute as it was she was sent away as I don't allow rearing in play without being asked to do so and especially not with a foal.
.
Ruth with the head collar, what we've done with Seaton to get his head collar back on has involved food and like Vicci suggested it is done as a reward for doing something right. Having the feed in a bucket we first let him have a nibble of the food before moving it away so he knew what was on offer, before he was allowed more food he had to touch the lead rope with his nose first, so we hold the lead rope out all crunched up in our hand. As soon as he touches the lead rope we remove the lead rope to release pressure and reward with allowing hum to take a mouthful of food. We repeat that until the food has gone.
Next meal it's touch the nose and onto the cheek, then neck and then you get to a point of the rope going over the neck nice and steady. Once the rope is on and you can hold him introduce the head collar.
.
Something else we did was as he ate and I cleaned his feet out, I'd have the rope on the ground next to me and as I stand up I accidentally pop the rope over him and leave it. Then I do another foot and as I stand up accidentally touch the rope and move it. Slowly desensitising him to the rope around his neck and our hands going to be in that area. Again no pressure, keep it nice and calm and always reward the good.
How far away are you from Stansted? I'm heading there in June to drop my daughter off, if you're within an hours drive I don't mind coming over.
Mel x
Not at all offended and always grateful for the advice but not sure where you got he idea he was hooking his leg over my arm and we were dancing in the way you seem to think. I honestly didn't say anything of the kind.
When I said the "dance" in the context of a description of a join up type process I meant me being some metres away from him and us "conversing" by moving to and fro with the distance opening and closing. I do describe that in some detail. I have seen others in join up posts refer to it in those terms and felt it apt. I go on to say that he approached and I managed to touch his nose so I hope that made it clear we were not waltzing. He has never put his leg or any other part of himself over me ( although he does love a good scratch).
Thanks Mel yes, what you describe you did with the food is how I got the head collar onto him in the first place when he was wild in a field and how I changed it over more recently, with a process pretty much as you describe. This was what I meant by bribing him. I always use a bowl for food- but it has been in my hand and I would prefer not to have to use food at all if it can be avoided.
I really am not a do-gooder rescue lovie who is drooling over a cute pony or feeling excessively sorry for him for his history. I spent most of my childhood with horses, and am not at all unfamiliar with their wiles, but I have not trained a wild one or such a youngster so have been seeking help to train him to be not a danger to me or others. I think in trying to be as open as possible perhaps I have given you an incorrect view so apologies for my ineptness.
By the way, the image of us literally dancing Is hilarious- I am not surprised you were concerned - you must have thought me a crackpot! Mel thanks so much for the offer- I suspect I am a bit far away, but do keep me in mind on your travels. All support gratefully received.
R
Oh dear God I'm going batty !!! It was Dionne that talked about the rearing miniature not you Ruth. I am so sorry. Note to self - read the whole thing properly !!!! 2 Dionne mentioned it in a response to you. Apologies to both of you.
Bless you- no need to apologise. I hugely appreciate your time and careful consideration. If keeping animals over 50 years has taught me anything it is that we have to be able to laugh at ourselves X
Hi all,
At this point of reading I just need to say that I love you, love this forum and I'm so proud of being part of this whole movement! Bless you all!!!
Miriam
:D, I think I can blame my dyslexia if I got it wrong too Ruth, does get in the way sometimes ;)
.
Happy to pop over on the way from dropping my daughter off, car needs a good drive and love meeting new horses along the way ;). Did you want to connect on FB so we can sort times out of public? facebook.com/mhetfield
.
Mel
x
How lovely of you. Yes indeed many thanks. I am taking things slowly - he is a baby and if it takes a few weeks to get a head collar back on him then so be it. I have a field shelter (with a gate) coming in 2 weeks so will have a smaller scale space to work with him if needs be. I have no problem getting close, grooming, running my hands down his legs, but he is not stupid and now he knows what the head collar is for he is not currently up for having it put on! Surrendering control is a big deal I guess.
R x
Dancing and dancing....you know what I mean. Don't be horrified ,Mammuth likes doing tricks, that's how I keep him occupied, I often see companion ponies not used for anything, they must be bored stiff, yes, I know it's a horse and not John Travolta.