I decided that the time is right to put a tiny bit more pressure on Henrietta to accept touch and enclosed her in the big barn with Petra for company. Like a lot of mules she seems to be drawn towards a mare and she loves spending time with Petra. Extending my feather duster to its extreme, I started to touch her with it. In the first photo you can see that she kicked the feather duster right up into the air again and I thought I might not do any good, however, within minutes she had turned around and I was able to click and treat her for allowing me to touch her along the whole of her body (and even on her bottom and between her front legs). I am so glad that I allowed almost eight weeks of familiarisation first, teaching her about clickered rewards, and that people can be kind and useful.
