Congrats on your new little blessing! They are truely wonderful
I don't know how you all feel about clicker training but it works wonders for me. With my little guy at 3 months old. I first took the clicker, a fanny pack full of fruit loops (they are small so they end up not getting filled up on them, and they LOVE them) and a lid from a bucket or whatever. Horses are naturally curious so they usually will sniff whatever you put in front of them. I take the lid, let them sniff it and when his nose touches the lid, click (here you have an option of a command word) and treat. Dont ever give a treat without the click (and command) though because it will ruin your progress. I personally add a word to associate the touch, 'touch it'. After doing this several times, maybe 10 or so, you will be able to tell when the horse 'gets it'. Once he does, you place the lid down on the ground. When they put their head down and touch it, click , say your command word and treat. It can get pretty comical because they can end up walking all over looking for that lid, just to get that treat.
OH! Anyway, as you progress, use different items, lead rope, halter, etc as a 'vending machine' button. Eventually what happens is they get to the point where you can teach them to 'touch' anything because they trust your commands. When it came time for the halter, I showed it to him, did the 'touch' command, when he touched it, click and treat. When I felt he was ready, I placed it opened on my lap and told him to 'touch it'. When he did, click, treat and praise. After a couple times of that, I placed the halter on his head, fastened it and he waited for me to click and looked for the treat. He was more interested in the treat than the halter. DONT EVER leave the halter on them unattended. They can get into a lot of bad situations. Only use it when your working with him/her.
I know some don't think the 'click and treat' is worth it but as they learn to trust the command word and you, you can get them into almost any situation while they wait for that click and then the treat. My little guy was trained to walk on boards, between machinary, through water, up steps ,stand next to running machinary, and run behind my 4 wheeler. It worked very well because although he was obviously a little skiddish sometimes, he trusted me whenever I said 'touch it', he knew that whatever he was touching was ok because I never put him in a situation that hurt him. I eventually used the 'click and treat' method to train him to pick up each foot on command for trimming. As he progressed. I used other commands of course.
I also used this method to teach him to relax rather than pull while being tied up. I put the halter and lead rope on him and stood him next to a metal cow gate. I stood on the same side as he was. I pulled the lead rope through the fence and then back to me. I gently pulled on the lead until his head was starting to feel the pull. He naturally pulled back but I then let up on the lead rope enough that he stopped pulling, I then clicked and treat. After several times of doing that (and this one was done many days in a row to ensure he learned it well) he found that by HIM letting up on the pull, he could have his head free and then didnt feel he needed to struggle or fight to free his head.
Well, it's a wonderful tool and you can eventually stop the click and treat. I still use the commands and ALWAYS praise him. He is now 1 1/2 and he still touches things when I tell him to. But obviously, that trust can NEVER be abused by having him touch something that will scare him. I know many people think this method is not worth it. But if you only have 1 mini or just a few, and you have the time, it does work wonders. Good luck with your new little blessing. Linda
