Ear today, something else tomorrow...

The tiny little rub behind Max's ear has, today, turned into a big sore looking thing.

I'm now sure it's not a rub. I think it's possibly an insect bite in an inconvenient place that's gone a bit angry. I gave it a clean and gooped it up with some antibacterial cream, then did a little french plait of his mane to keep it out of the way and give the sore a chance to dry out.

My plans to take him for a walk in hand dissolved as now his bridle would definitely interfere with the sore, and I didn't want to aggravate it.

So after tutting over it and offering him a "What are you like, eh?" I took him into the school for what turned out to be a very worthy little session.

We started off, in his soft head collar, just working on transitions, walk to trot to walk to stand.

Trotting in hand has come on gangbusters after a little tip from my YO the other day. The simplest thing possible, but I had just never heard it before.

It came about because she wanted to look at her horse for lameness, and asked me to walk him away and then trot him towards her. Well, horse did not co-operate, and I was, of course, embarrassed because I trot horses along every day, but this horse wasn't having it.

"Don't look at him when you ask," YO advised. "My father used to say 'Why would the horse want to look at your ugly mug?' Just look straight ahead, start to run, and the horse will follow."

Worked a charm with hers, and today, also worked a charm with Max.

Makes sense, really. Eye contact is challenging and could even be interpreted (by the horse) as aggressive, but looking ahead and changing pace just encourages following the "lead mare" as they would in a natural herd. Lead mare leads (duh) and stallion drives on from behind.

So simple! Why had I never heard it before? Why had I not thought of it myself?

Max and I also spent some very useful time at the mounting block, learning to stand. Just recently Max has started to move forward as I mount up, and that's really not a good thing.

So I positioned him, asked him to stand, walked away from him, walked around him, continuing to give the stand command and "clicking", then treating. Final move was to get up on the block, put my leg over his back, remove, put back (like the hokey cokey, "in, out, shake it all about") while asking him to remain standing. I did sit on his back as well, but as he was in head collar, and I was without hard hat, we didn't move off from there, I just dismounted and mounted again, and again.

We did this in both directions, so I could try mounting from the left and right. We took time out for me to get a bucket and remove the droppings of another horse who had come in to the school while we were doing this. Max remained focused on me, his instruction and his click/treat.

Clever boy. Was really pleased with him and told him so! Not much in the fitness stakes, but very good in the safe and well behaved horse stakes. He really seemed to catch on, so we will continue to build on this exercise.

Afterwards I took him back to his box in preparation for my afternoon of yardwork, and his release to the field. Before he could go, though, I wanted to fly spray him, and the spray is something he does not enjoy. I don't know if it's the noise or the motion of it, but he runs around his box like a mad thing. I used to spray on a brush and then brush him with fly spray, but it seemed a good opportunity to teach him that the spray is not something to be afraid of.

So I click/treated him through that, too, and will keep doing it to build up desensitisation. Am thinking I might just fill a spray bottle with water so we can keep practicing until he understands that the noise of the spray doesn't hurt him.

He did give it a good go today (he likes his treats!), but he had the big worried eyes, and at one point backed up to the corner of his box and had an "I'm scared" poop.

"Oh, Max!" I soothed. "Is it so scary you have to lighten your load?"

Bless him, he turned his big "cat from Shrek" watery eyes at me and gave me a little head nod.

Love my pony. Just love him. He is always honest, and he always tries.