It is very nice to have a window into the work that people are doing with their ponies, even if I am not present. Ruth has been putting in hours of gentle work with Prince and achieving great results. Not quite there with the headcollar yet but the foundations are the most important. Ruth has one of those transparent faces which shows her absolute delight with this pony, Prince.
The soft scarf has been reduced down to a very light rope and amazingly, Prince has let it be placed directly between his ears.
He allows this to be around his nose and to be led from it - once the headcollar is on, the leading work is already half done. Note how she cleverly changes direction away from the hoof that is 'stuck' making it easier for her to follow him.
He's also prepared to be led naked! Just look at the amount of thinking time he takes before making a concrete decision. Who else gives their horse the time to think like this?
Preparation for the headcollar is still going well and he asks for the headcollar to go over his nose. Whether he will allow it to be pulled over his ears eventually, I am not sure; in an ideal world I'd like to see it unbuckled but Ruth has stripped it down to the absolute basics.
If anyone can do it, it will be Ruth...
A final reward at the end of the session.
