Phase 2: Helping Him

With the storms and rain finally slowing down and spring rolling by, the training began.

He was stubborn at first, very stubborn. Getting a head collar even in his line of sight proved to be extremely difficult, even with the best of treats. Until we cracked the code: pop tarts. Waking up in a rush and grabbing some breakfast turned out to be one of the best things that could've ever happened. Head collar in hand, pop tart in the other, no reaction whatsoever. I remember standing there completely amazed for a few seconds, wondering why he wasn't running off into the corner of the field. Day by day we made progress. We went from sniffing the head collar, to rubbing the head collar, to nibbling the head collar, to wearing the head collar. Now, this did take awhile. Sure the pop tarts were his entire motivation, but this wasn't something that would change overnight, and I got lucky that he was young and trainable. 

Now he follows and leads well, and even rushes to the paddock gate when he knows it's food time! I couldn't be prouder, he really is a little superstar and he knows it. With the head collar training being at its best, we finally got to see this little guy's movements in the lunge pen and let's just say; he is sure to win in the ring!