Apollo's Journey: Week 3 Progress and Challenges
Introduction
In the third week of Apollo's training, we delve into his progress and the challenges he faces. This week highlights his interactions with new people, his reactions to different stimuli, and the importance of patience and consistency in his journey. Join us as we explore each day's activities and Apollo's remarkable development.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Today was not the greatest weather—it was cold with wind and rain. The yard is very muddy and slippery, so we continued to work on touching Apollo’s face, neck, back, and hind end. The past few days, we have been working on leading Apollo around his area and getting him used to following me as I walk. He is accepting but still hesitant about all we are doing. Most of the time is spent trying to reinforce and work toward getting Apollo to enjoy the interaction.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Today is chilly, overcast, and a little rainy. Most of the video was taken today, so we tried some new things. Apollo was introduced to a rag and wiped on his shoulder, face, and back with it. He did very well, so we did the same with a large towel. It was also put on his back, and he was led around in a small area. He did well with this too! I continued to try to desensitize Apollo to more touch, including rubbing his front and hind legs with the stick. This is in anticipation of beginning to work with lifting his feet. Today, Apollo had a couple of visitors; two of my friends stopped by to see Apollo and help him interact with new people. They spent time in his area to see if he would be accepting of them. He was fine and even let them give him a few treats and get very close (I don’t believe they tried to really pet him). I was excited that he was willing to take carrots from someone else because, with so much time spent with me, it is inevitable that he be more accepting of what I ask him. Apollo’s willingness to interact with other people was a great win.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Today is a continuation of what we have been working on for the past few weeks. Apollo is apprehensive of being touched and visibly tenses, but once contact is made, he seems to settle down. Although I can rub him on his top-line and face, he has only let me touch his stomach and the top of his front and hind legs with the stick. We are going to focus on expanding the areas that he is accepting of touch this week. I have been able to groom him a little, but he is not excited about being brushed and seems more at ease with being scratched by hand. This too is something more to explore. Since it seems easier and easier to approach Apollo, I decided to take the lead rope off of his halter and give him a break from it. I am hoping that I will be able to easily “catch” him and place the lead on his halter each day when we work. Excess mud was removed from the majority of Apollo’s area to help cut down on the muck and slipperiness for him.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Today we had two opportunities to work together. Since I had a long lunch from work, I decided to come home and spend some time with Apollo during the daytime. He didn’t seem very happy to work with me, but I was able to get the lead rope on the halter. He was much more reluctant and played keep-away with me. His anxiety was higher than it has been in quite a while. He even popped his butt and clipped my arm with his hind hoof. Since this was not our best time together, I calmed him down and ended on a good note. The evening training went pretty much the same; Apollo seemed more excited and less willing to interact. I didn’t want to take steps backward, so we just spent time together rubbing his face. He seems to enjoy this, and it helps to make him relax. We had some great interaction and seemed to connect well; sometimes doing very little can be some of the best training for both of us. I also took the halter off when we were finished in the evening.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Apollo has had the lead rope removed from the halter for the past couple of days. Both yesterday and today, he seemed much more reactive, so I thought it would be a good idea to put the rope back on the lead and work with him that way. After him becoming excited for a few minutes and even having him pop his butt when he went by me, it was clear that we would not be moving forward using the same method I was trying to utilize. I decided to put Apollo in a small area and calm him down. Sometimes it is necessary to go back a few steps in order to be able to eventually move forward, so that was what we did. I scratched Apollo with the stick while standing on the outside of the pen until he became calm. This took longer than I had expected, but that was okay. It is important to work on the horse’s timeframe, not mine. I was able to put the lead rope back on his halter, and immediately he had a much better demeanor. He gave to pressure without hesitation and let me rub all over his face, lips, and shoulder. He let me wrap my arms around his face in a hug, he let me look at his teeth better than before; I was able to rub the roof of his mouth and front gums a little too! He also allowed me to rub all the way down his left hind leg to the end of his hock and down below his knee on the front left leg with the stick without too much trepidation. I was also able to touch his front left leg down to the knee and rub his ears with my hand—both a first! I adjusted and played with his halter, to which he was pretty unresponsive. All in all, this was a good night, even though it didn’t start out super well. It is important to try to listen to what the horse is telling you, and if it is necessary to back up until he is comfortable, that is the right thing to do. Not listening and trying to push too far too fast is not beneficial. We left the lead rope on the halter and may utilize the small pen some more since he seems comfortable in the area. Although Apollo has come an amazing distance in less than three weeks, he still lacks confidence (in me and himself, I believe) and needs continued consistency to help him build and grow. He tries very hard, but at this point, it is clear he would be quite happy not having to be learning how to be a “domesticated” horse. This just means that patience and time are required to give him the right support to help him be successful.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Well, today Apollo was a new horse—compared to yesterday, he was super calm, cooperative, and engaged. I left the lead rope on his halter last night, so he was much easier to connect with since I didn’t have to “catch” him. Since he was so composed, I decided to just work on touching him for the majority of the time. I scratched him on the face, head, right shoulder, and right front leg. He let me touch him down below his knee. Although he was not super crazy about me going that far down his leg, he accepted it nicely. We also led around the pen, which he also did extremely well. I am very happy and proud of how well Apollo did this evening and am excited to work on more this weekend. Yesterday, when I was playing with Apollo’s mouth, I noticed his lower right canine looks almost fully erupted, the left lower is about two-thirds erupted, and the upper right is about to or has just broken through the gingiva. I reviewed equine eruption patterns and now believe that Apollo is between 4 to 5 years old. Originally, it was guessed that he was closer to 2 years old. This helps to better explain his reactions. Since he has been on the range for a longer time, it makes sense that this training may go slower than if he were only 2 years old. This new discovery also reinforces that he is doing even better with training than I appreciated before knowing a more accurate estimate of his age. Since it is fair to expect the longer a horse is wild, the longer it may take for him to accept training, I am very impressed with how quickly Apollo has come along. Somebody is going to be greatly blessed to have this amazing horse in their life.
Friday, February 14, 2014
I have asked my husband to try to give treats to Apollo during the day when I am not around. This will help him get together with someone other than me. Today he was able to successfully give Apollo a couple of cookies; this is a good sign. I am glad that he is willing to relate to someone other than me. Apollo seems so much more willing since the lead rope was put back on a few days ago. I don’t know if it is because he knows he is caught, or if there was something else that was bothering him. If he didn’t have at least the halter on, it would definitely be much more difficult to work with him effectively. I am trying to touch his front leg lower; he’s not real happy about that. So far, I have been able to pet him down to his knee on the front left leg. He is more accepting of being touched with a stick on his leg than with my hand, so I will continue to work on desensitizing. We did a little desensitizing with slapping the ground with a string on each side of him. This helps him to be less reactive to movement and noise. We started with low energy several feet off to his sides with the slapping; he did well with this exercise too. He seems more comfortable with being touched and doesn’t tense up as much each time I pet him.