Progress Through the Year

It has been quite a while since I last posted. Phantom went through typical coltish behavior- he had to put his mouth on everything and play dominance bitey games with me. He is only 2 years old now and still teething but the behavior is diminishing a great deal. First and foremost, I think that the more of an issure I make of the nipping behavior, the longer it seems to hang on and the more I work him and move his feet for nipping or simply gently pushing his head away when he goes to grab me- the quicker it goes away!

He leads up really well now and stands nicely for the farrier. I can doctor him easily and right now he has an enflamed eye from some sort of allergy (he had the same thing last Summer) and so I have to flush it daily and he has been really good with that. I've taught him to take a paste wormer by grabbing the syringe end on his own. I've taught this by filling another syringe with molasses and I give him a pea sized portion a few days a week- he really looks forward to his treat too. So, when it's time for him to take his wormer, he just takes it. Now he looks at me like I played a really dirty trick on him when he gets it BUT I always offer him the molasses he looks for after he takes his medicine and so far he has never walked away from me when I offer him a syringe. I don't halter him to doctor him or give him meds. He's proving to be very trusting of me and I always make sure I take the time it takes for him to be comfortable with what is going on.

Next lesson is to load on to a trailer! I think I'll be trying another NH method. I like the way Parelli gets horses to load by sitting down in a chair- That should keep me from moving my feet! I wish I had someone to take pictures...