If horses like Crockett were made every day I’d be out of a job.  He’s a mind reader.

Today I wanted to get him even more gentle and have him picking up his feet and putting on a halter.

The halter was easy.  He practically jumped into that.  He’s watched the Barton’s horses coming and going with a great deal of curiosity and as soon as I put on the halter he lipped the front of the stall right where the latch is.  He’s that smart!  And itching to get out of the stall to explore.

He’s not ready for that quite yet.  But he will be tomorrow.  That will be his reward for haltering up the second time.  Tomorrow will be his walk about the farm.  A reward for accepting the halter so easily.  Believe me, they get that.  Put a halter on and start tugging, you’ll get resistance.  Put a halter on and teach them to bend with light (and I mean feather light tugs) and you’ll get flexibility.  Reward that with a mind stimulating adventure and they’ll look to have the halter put on every day!  Believe me, it works.

I am going to step up on my soap box and preach a bit.

Consider this.  Horses loose their baby teeth between 2-5 years of age.  They teeth like human babies.  This makes their jaw and poll sore at times.

If you leave a halter on a horse constantly it is a source of irritation.

They have enough of that trying to shed their teeth.

Put a halter on and leave it on and you will get a horse that does not want to have its head touched.  They get irritated that the halter is causing them to be sore and they do associate the halter with that pain!

Put the halter on, and off, on and off, and on and off….without tugging and you will get a horse that sees the halter as a piece of equipment that gives them the freedom to be with you.  Tug and pull and tug and pull and you will get a horse that tugs, pulls and doesn’t see the halter as a tool to want to be with you.

It’s all in the way the information is presented folks.

So tonight Crockett was haltered and because he LOVES to be scratched on the jaw…because his baby teeth itch, I rewarded him with scratches.  He laid his head over my shoulder and wuffled me and then groomed me back, showing his appreciation. 

Yep.  Halters are good.

Humans picking up your feet is not.

He threw some wicked kick shots at me and even bit me a few times.  Clearly, Crockett wasn’t thrilled about me “biting” his legs.

Horses in the holding pens will often wrestly by nipping and biting one anothers legs.  I think Crockett is skilled at this game.  And he intends to win it.

But with some patience and a little expertise, I let the night end with Crockett allowing me to pick up both of his front hooves.  Then we shared some hay together.

Once he figured out that all I wanted was to hold his hoof, (remember he’s very smart), he started offering them to me.  Politely.

Crockett the crotch rocket is also Crockett the Super Horse!

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