On week/work days I have a short amount of time to train and care for the horses so I keep exercises as short as possible and pick ones where success is almost certain.
On a previous training day, I asked Odin the Mustang to walk past the yellow tarp shelter that is near the paddock. He struggled so we spent some time on that until he seemed certain that it really wasn't a danger to him. Sometimes it's hard to tell at the time if he's relaxed or just giving up because he's tired of the repetition. The way to tell is whether there's any improvement the next time. And there was last night walking past the yellow tarp shelter so we approached the barn.
You might remember that Odin, having grown up on the range in eastern Oregon, is not a fan of the indoors so I'd like him to get comfortable in buildings especially when the rains come eventually. Odin wants to please but has a limit if he's worried. I used the approach-and-retreat method to getting close to the barn. We approached until his body language told me he was uncomfortable then just hang out or back up (retreat) a bit until he thought about it and relaxed. Beege kept walking in and out of the stall near the entrance of the barn and I could tell that Odin was sorting out how he saw Beege in the paddock, then disappear, then appear in the stall near the entrance of the barn. Ultimately, Odin wasn't willing to go into the barn but he did check out the mat in front of the barn and put his front feet on it. That's where the exercise ended for the day.
Beege the OTTB has been surprisingly willing to do everything I've asked recently. I was surprised over the weekend when he was willing to walk all the way to the front yard, out of Odin's sight. So when I put Odin back in the paddock, Beege came over and nearly shoved his nose in the halter indicating to me that he was ready to go and show me his courage. This time Odin didn't care and wandered off to the upper pasture, unlike the weekend when he ran around upset that Beege was not within touching distance but still within sight.
Beege walked all the into the barn, peered into the open door of the tackroom then marched to the end of the aisle and targeted the mower with following along, seeing where this might go. I expected him to worry about the mower rather than enthusiastically target it. In fact, I had to kind of strongly ask him to leave the mower alone as the battery was plugged into a charger and I imagined disastrous electric shock. Beege resisted leaving the mower alone, showing me that yes he was brave and would touch the mower all over the place. I asked him to back all the way back down the aisle, stand where the cross-ties are, and please check out the floor there. I groomed him superficially just to give him an idea that's where grooming will happen and asked him to back out of the barn. As a reward I let him graze the clover that is growing in my round pen area.
I very much appreciate Beege's enthusiasm and willingness to show off a little. He's developing a lot of confidence, which was severely lacking when I first got him. He's turning into quite a Teacher's Pet.