Details of Danny's First Lesson

Have you ever watched a movie following someone visiting the present from another time period or society? Remember the scenes where the character looks with bewilderment at a tv or car? Well, when Danny walks by a small window of the barn, he sees his own reflection in the glass and knickers a greeting! I laughed, it was so cute!

While Melanie and I were setting up the pen for teaching, Danny bent his head down to rub his nose on his leg. But he sandwiched a shoot of stinging nettle between his face and cannon bone! He walked a couple circles with his crinkled nose stuck straight out and rubbed his face repeatedly on whatever he could fine, while we sympathized. Poor guy!!

Imagine that you were dropped in a different country, a different culture with a strange language. You had no idea what to do, who intended you good or evil, or what people were saying. Now you may have a picture of what Danny is feeling. But so far, his easy-going personality lets him take all the new changes in stride.

Danny has no idea of the huge plans and goals I have for him. If I throw too many expectations on him too fast, it could discourage his curious and courageous tendencies. For these first couple days, I have only a few guidelines.

#1. "Go forward when I ask." All training requires movement. If I can't get Danny to move when I ask, I won't be able to teach him anything. I use a specific cue to tell him to move. I make a kissing sound and if needs be, toss my lariat at his hindquarters. How long I pressure him this way tells him how fast to move. At this point, I only ask him to move forward, left and right.

#2. "Don't back up when I approach you." If I let him develop that habit, he will in effect be protecting himself from me. If he backs up when I approach, I need to do two things; step off to the side and ask him to take a few steps forward, and be careful not to get so close next time I approach. This is known as the "advance and retreat" method. As a teacher, my job is to set up Danny's lessons to build his confidence. When I approach his nose, I watch his ears, face and body language. My goal is to turn around and leave before he gets worried enough that he wants to flee. If I retreat before he does, he'll gradually realize that running away from me isn't necessary. The next time I walk up to him, he'll let me get closer.

I began by asking Danny to move around the pen at a trot. I asked him to change directions by moving in front of him and herding him in the other direction. It took only a few minutes for him to learn that I wouldn't let him stop or change directions when he wanted to. Whenever I'm with him, I'm in charge.

Next I asked him to stop parallel to the fence by having him change directions only a little bit. Since there is a stop in the transition from right to left, if I stop cueing him at the right moment, he stops moving. This is far easier with a horse that likes to stay quiet, like Danny.

With Danny standing beside the fence, I walk to the fence, directly in front of him at a distance that doesn't trouble him. I close the distance between us, watching his comfort level. Before he decides to leave, I leave. I walk about twenty feet, then turn around and approach him again. Before long, within half hour I think it was with Danny, (some animals will require hours), I raised my hand toward his nose. I very gently rubbed his nose for few moments then rewarded him by retreating. This gave him a chance to breathe and see that I hadn't hurt him.

With advance and retreat for his peace of mind always in view, by the end of an hour and a half, I could rub his face and ears, the right side of his neck, mane and ribcage. If he got restless and wanted to move away, I used the opportunity to move him around the pen, practicing his go forward cue. A couple very positive side affects to doing this are beginning to build muscle moving around the sloped pen, and giving Danny motivation to stay beside me. He learns that going away from me will result in work, a little bit of sweat and heavy breathing. After just a minute or two of heavy trotting and some loping around the pen, he was ready to stand quietly beside the fence again and let me rub on him.

It was a wonderful session! I got to rub my fingers in his mane and stroke his neck and shoulders for the first time! Since he has never had a grooming, let alone a bath, my hands were quite coated in grime when the lesson was over. I can hardly wait to give him a bath! Mom is eager for his thin, but three inch long facial hair to get shaved. But basics first, more rubbing lessons next.