Beege has always been afraid of flapping flags. Over the years I’ve taught him to target a flag and on his more generous days he’ll allow me to drag it over his face. However, at the very next session he acts like he’s never seen a flag in his life and it can take a fair amount of time for him to target then allow it to touch him, if at all.
Since Odin has moved in with Beege and the sorting of leadership has been established (Odin is herd boss), Beege appears to look to Odin for direction. There’s still a fair amount of snow on the grounds so the footing isn’t good enough for any serious riding or groundwork. I brought out the flag, at which Beege snorted at right away but got a reward if he took one step toward it. This made Odin curious, the reward part I mean. Odin is all about the snacks. I flopped the flag near Odin, which made Beege snort and back up even though he was 20 meters away. Odin stood there because he doesn’t know what the big deal is about a colorful piece of cloth that clearly I’m managing. Odin got rewarded for standing near the flopping flag and for allowing me to touch it all over him. Well, this made Beege curious. Why is Odin getting all the snacks?!
Beege had clearly been watching Odin not react to the flag and get rewarded. I let Beege approach, made Odin back away and allowed Beege to do whatever he wanted in response to the flag. He was curious, targeted it then let me touch his neck with the handle and his feet with the flag itself. I flopped it around; he snorted, backed up a step then came forward. Perfect. Click and treat. He targeted it again and repeat with allowing me to touch him with it. That seemed like enough for one day since it was no big deal to Odin and quite a bit of learning for Beege.
I’m very pleased with how this relationship between Beege and Odin is working out.