Mom and Sebastian make friends over the fence.
Sebastian is getting pretty comfortable with me touching him over most of his body with both my hands and a carrot stick. (Read about Sebastian here or watch a few video clips here.)
Here’s three of our next tasks to work on:
1. Touching sensitive body parts (legs, ears, face)
2. Strange people approaching and touching him
3. Objects touching him (brushes, blankets, etc.)
My mom came out to the rescue with me over the weekend. She spent a bit of time with Sebastian, which was really good for him. She started out petting him while I held the lead rope and fed him treats. Since he was okay with that, we let him graze and my mom petted him some more and brushed him a bit.
Afterwards, I spent sometime brushing him. He stood nicely at liberty with the lead rope hanging over his back. Brushing a horse at liberty is a great exercise even for the more experienced horse. Many horses really enjoy being brushed, especially if you take the time to find all their itchy spots. It’s a great way to spend some calming, undemanding time relaxing with your horse.
Too many times we hurry with our horses, tack up, ride, do what we have planned. Next time you see your horse (or other animals, too!), take a bit of time to just relax and hang out with them. Do you know exactly where those favorite itchy spots are?