Fascinating

I got quite the reaction when I went out today.  Cal came over...with his ears flat back!  I could have driven him off.  After all, ears back when you're facing the horse is supposed to be dominance.  And he certainly looked dominant.  Maybe he even was being dominant.  But I didn't chase him off.  I lightly asked him to stop.  When I did nothing but wait, he left.  So I think whether it was unconfidence or dominance, I had the right reaction...I think in the first situation he'd leave out of nervousness, in the second, he would be offended or just not want anything to do with me.  He still left, but I was able to slowly coax him back.  I admit, I was a bit distraught.  I thought we were improving!  But then I told myself that this was why I set a date for my goal of not haltering Cal unless he comes over and is willing; so that if there was a down point, I would not give up there.

In any case, I convinced him to come over a second time.  (He was being quite unenthusiastic.)  This time I asked him to back up using a porcupine game on his chest.  I swear I touched him as lightly as possible and he started biting at me!!!!  Eek!  I kept the pressure on and blocked as lightly as I could to be effective until he backed up.  It worked.  Lot's of licking and chewing.  After a couple times, he stopped biting.  Uh huh.

Well, I was convinced this was entirely dominance at this point, so I went to get a halter, because I figured if he was that confident I could put the halter on and play with him easier.  It was a good theory, but I then spent half an hour convincing him to come back to me.  Every time I retreated, he would lick and chew.  So unconfidence, then?  Jeez.  He didn't want to touch me, so I made myself wait until he did.

That helped a bit.  The ears back was completely gone and he was coming over a bit better when I asked.  I saw if I could walk behind zone 1 with him staying confident, as that's often where I lose him, and I could.  I had my halter, so I decided to give it a go.  Best haltering I've ever done with him!  He didn't lift his head in resistance when I reached my arm over, and when I asked him to bend his head, a reminder, and he kept his head there the entire time while I slipped the halter on and off and then tied the knot.  Yeah!

I asked for him to go into the arena through the man-door.  Some approach and retreat...and I ended when he stuck his head in and licked and chewed.  When I unhaltered, he stuck around.  Yay!

And then when I was giving the horses their hay, Cal left his to come over to me!  With his ears perked cheerily forward this time!  <3