Apollo's Journey: Week 1 Progress

Apollo's Journey: Week 1

Join us as we follow Apollo's first week of training, where he begins to learn the ropes and shows remarkable potential. This week, Apollo has been introduced to various training exercises, building trust and responsiveness with each passing day. Let's dive into the daily progress and experiences that mark the start of his journey.

Sunday, February 02, 2014

We worked with getting Apollo to give to the pressure of the halter. He is doing well, but he still isn’t always thrilled with the pressure on his face. Sometimes he gets a little excited, but he calms down well. The work area is pretty muddy due to the weather, so we need to be careful so he doesn’t slip. The horse is amazing at roll-backs, and I have seen him do a couple sliding stops, too. He is doing well with keeping his eyes on me and turns into me most of the time. I was able to pet him while on lead. After seeing me with my horse, he let me kiss his nose several times; it seemed to put him at ease seeing me do the same thing to another horse.

Monday, February 03, 2014

Today we worked on forward movement with calmness on the lead rope. Apollo is giving to the halter exceptionally well for only having it on for 3 days. We practiced lunging on the lead in both directions, rubbing with the stick for praise, brushing him, and petting him on both sides. We have not worked on the right side as much as the left; the left seems to be the side he favors. Apollo is amazing at roll-backs and turns! He awes me at times with the way he moves. Given the right training, although he may be a little smaller than the average, he may make a great cow horse. The potential seems to be there. Once again, Apollo continues to improve in many ways, but he still does not completely trust me although it seems he is less and less leery. I believe that the person who adopts Apollo will be best served to spend great quantities of time just bonding with him in simple, calm methods. He will make an incredible companion to the person he completely bonds with!

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Today Apollo had a different energy; he has not been as relaxed as he was today. I spent time just being around him cleaning and he was far less reactive. We worked on the lead with forward steps to pressure from the rope, walking on the rope, and petting him all over. He let me touch his face more than before, and much higher on his forehead. He let me brush both sides of him, touch his hocks, front legs, between his ears, and his tummy with a stick. His response to the halter and rope is great—he is giving more quickly and calmer than yesterday. He seems to be much more trusting today. I’m excited with this progress. Although some of the steps are small, he just gets better and better every day.

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Today I was able to touch Apollo’s lips, front legs to above the knee, get him to take single steps on the lead, touched him on both sides, and rub his forehead. He is relaxing more and more and working with me well. He is doing very well with the lead rope and giving to gentle pressure. He has a great personality and is a pleasure to work with every day.

Thursday, February 06, 2014

Apollo let me rub his butt at the dock of his tail and all over his hindquarters from both sides. I touched the top of his tail, and touched his mouth and lips. He walked in circles with me on the lead rope, taking many more steps than yesterday. He is actually walking on the lead rope a bit! I am able to approach him easier, he is eating out of my hand better and just doing great overall. He is more comfortable with me on his left side, but allows me to touch him on the right. I am going to continue to work on his right side much more to get him equally comfortable with me on both sides. We are also going to start working on picking up his feet more by starting with touching his legs more. He is still nervous about this so far, but once again he is much less reactive to all the things we are working on every day.

Friday, February 07, 2014

Today is very windy, but Apollo did very well even with all the additional distractions and noise from the weather. Today we worked more of the same things we have been doing including leading, touching, approaching, desensitizing to things around him (trash buckets, rakes, etc.), and being less “cautious” when working with him so he gets used to movement and doesn’t overly react. Today he let me play with his mouth and lips, I was able to see his teeth, he licked my hand, and snuggled his head into me. He allows me to kiss his nose and reaches out to me to give me “kisses” too. When he gets excited I often time get him focused by having him look at me with both eyes, blow toward his nose, and ask for a kiss. It works with my horses and seems to help with him too. Apollo is a very sweet boy; he is going to make an excellent horse for a lucky adopter!