Daniel has been working with Phantom as I haven’t felt up to getting any training done.
Unfortunately, this means that currently, Phantom is only getting training once or twice a week, so his training is going slower than we would like.
For us, the groundwork is extremely important as it will make for a better horse and better ride once we get back to that point.
Because we follow the Clinton Anderson method with our horses, the first step is desensitizing with the tools.
They’re both pretty good with the rope although Phantom can be a bit sketchy on certain days.
Along the way, we often find “Oh no” spots on the horses. For Phantom, one of his big “oh no” spots is his ears which means we’re working on desensitizing him to touching his ears. He’s definitely not a fan of this part of the training, but he eventually settles down and the training continues.
They’re both getting a lot better with the handy stick as well. Part of that is probably because we’re getting better with using the handy stick as well. 😉
All training sessions end with a good grooming. It’s a nice time of relaxation for us and the horses. Not to mention, these two horses love to roll around in the dirt, so they are never clean. Sometimes, we use this time to train Phantom to stand nicely while tied up. He does not like to be tied, so it’s a work in progress. He’s slowly getting better.
