After the first month, I could touch Enzo's nose, put a halter on him and lead him. Now what?
Well, during this second month I mainly focused on being able to touch him in other places. Enzo is a very sensitive horse and human touch on his body was a huge deal to him. Still using positive reinforcement, I first got him used to the touch of a stick and then the tip of my fingers. He was flinching quite a bit, but very slowly learned to tolerate my touch.
Horses are prey animals who rely on their flight for survival. If they can't use their feet, they can't flee and they will die, in the wild, that is. So for a horse, the priority number one is to protect their feet. This is why getting Enzo used to having his legs touched was quite and adventure...
During the second month, everything we did was ''for the first time''.
We went on a walk for the first time.
I groomed him for the first time.
He walked on a tarp for the first time.
Etc...
I desensitized him to plenty of objects, including the saddle pad.
I taught him how to lunge, which was also quite something. He reared, and pulled, and bolted, and ran away quite a bit... But we ended up being able to lunge well.
I was also very happy because it was during this second month, that Enzo followed me around in his paddock without me having any food rewards for him.
Bellow this text you will find the video of our second month together.
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