That 1st day, T had Phoenix haltered for me when I got to the stable. Apparently, it took him over half an hour to get the thing on the little guy. Phoenix is actually quite friendly, he just hasn't had the opportunity to build any relationships based on trust. So, that's going to be one of our very first goals.
I basically used that 1st day to try to evaluate Phoenix and see what he was all about.
Once he's haltered he'll lead but he needs work there. He does NOT appreciate grooming very much at all but will pick up his feet very nicely if asked. He doesn't mind being touched anywhere except his rear. Touching his rear end while I'm standing at his side sends him running every time. I did not try to handle his tail.
As of now, I'm going to have a super tough time getting a halter on him. I think he associates the halter with being annoyed by people who he doesn't know or trust (me as well as others) and I wonder if chasing him down and forcing him to be haltered is simply negative reinforcement.
The only thing I can see being a real problem at this point is that Phoenix is SMART and because he's smart, he gets bored easily. Because I'm learning, I move a little slower than Phoenix does in that regard because I'm concerned with giving him mixed or unclear cues.
I overdid things that 1st day, spent way too long feeling him out (I was there with him for about 4 hours), to the point that he let me know he was done (got very mouthy).
So lessons learned day one: Need to speed myself up so P doesn't get so bored. Shorter sessions (no more than an hour or so). Pay attention!
One other thing I learned about that I didn't see on that 1st day: D & T warned me that somewhere along the way, Phoenix learned that if he presents a person with his butt, they'll scratch it for him.
Other boarders at the stable (unfortunately) have encouraged this behavior. They are on the other side of a fence and don't see the harm, think it's "cute." Not a good idea.
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