Hand Walking Success

Seeing the river for the first time.

Izzy has had some really good experiences hand walking this past week. If you'll remember, I had to resort to a bit of Boot Camp work when he had a little fit about leaving Speedy behind. I think we have kicked that issue to the curb. 

Since I had a three day weekend (thank you, President Lincoln), Izzy got to spend quite a bit of time walking around the neighborhood. We've gone from him walking on my heels, screaming hysterically, and bonking the back of my head to him hanging back at least four feet.

When I walked him on Sunday, he hung out at the very end of my twelve foot lead rope. He stills spikes his head when he hears or sees something interesting, but now he knows to be interested far out of my personal space.

Once I have him where I want him, I won't expect him to stay ten feet away. Right now though, my goal is to show him that nothing is going to eat him if he's off on his own. I want him to feel confident enough that he doesn't need to press his body into me to feel safe. Right now, he seems well on his way to becoming that confident horse.

On our way home, something did startle him from behind. He gave a little jump and a small scoot, but he was far enough away from me that he didn't touch me. I heard the commotion though and turned around to see his butt tucked under as he swung his head to look at the monster that was after him.

I am okay with being startled. Just don't knock me down while you're dealing with it. I am liking this horse more and more every day!

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Pretty handsome!