Faran is standing facing and/or walking to meet my husband now instead of standing with his butt to him. He's gaining confidence quickly, but we still have to be calm and quiet around him. He's getting used to traffic and didn't even move when a motorcycle went by. Door slamming doesn't bother him so much anymore either.We finally got Faran's official weight and height. He didn't like the stick we use to measure height so I used a level to see how tall he was against my husband (to about his lower lip) and measured my husband lol. Faran is sixteen hands and three quarters of an inch. :D I used the weight tape on him and it said 1200lbs, so I checked online and found a calculator. I measured his heart girth at 79 inches and his length from point of buttocks to point of shoulder at 70 inches and it said he's 1324lbs. I'm glad we didn't believe the previous owner's estimate of 1600-1800lbs. Sheesh!
My husband did Faran's target training loose this time instead of tied up. He stood in the middle of the round pen and offered the target. Faran stood watching him for three or four minutes and then walked up to him without hesitating. He stopped with his nose about six inches from the target, blew through his nostrils and arched his neck, then reached forward and touched it. The click startled him but he didn't leave. After the second click he wasn't startling from it anymore. Faran still doesn't recognize the clicker yet, but it took Chrome a while to figure it out so I'm not concerned. :) Faran already touches the target at a bunch of heights and positions. I'm going to suggest my husband start having him follow it soon.
I also worked with Chrome, so you don't think I'm ignoring my boy. I took him out onto the road in front of the house and worked on leading. He didn't try to go ahead of me at all, although he was being balky at first because Faran was nickering at him. I clicked him for being in the position I liked and also for putting his head down a couple of times. I need to work on his left side too. I have a tendency to lead from his right side lol. He did really well so I kept the session short (I was also starving and really needed breakfast). So that's my horse adventures for today so far. :D
Faran is a big boy! I am glad he seems to be settling and getting use to the sounds around your house. I don't think Chrome would "let" you ignore him if you tried. :-)
ReplyDeleteGood thinking on how to get his height measured. I stupidly kept trying over a period of several days until Bombay finally got desensitized enough to the fluttering fabric tape measure that he held still for two seconds.
ReplyDelete