I had several names going through my head for this little guy, but I've decided to call him Rooster. He's spunky with some attitude, and of course still pretty wary. I'm excited to see our progress.
Day One consisted of some easy work in his pen. My primary goal was to get him understanding the lead rope: Release of pressure when you give and face me, which is a very good foundation to have for future training situations. If he gets scared, he will remember his "safe" place is to stop, turn and face me.
Secondly, I wanted him to understand that when he decides to leave me, we go to work. When he stands with me, we get to relax. I wanted to keep it pretty low-key for the first day. When horses are stressed, it takes a lot longer for the learning to happen. He caught on very quickly to the lead rope, but is still very unsure of me so getting him more comfortable will take some time.
Rooster definitely had some freak-out moments in the beginning (with halter/lead contact and pressure), but once he started understanding what I was asking of him, he really mellowed out. He tested me a little with some head tossing and butt/kick threatening, but never pinned his ears or actually kicked out. I imagine down the road as he becomes more confident in his new surroundings, we'll be enduring a few more tests.
Tomorrow we'll work in the round pen and start getting better control of his mind and his feet.
