I ended up not going riding today. Instead I went out back with Odakota for an hour and a half. Started out great. I filled a small bucket with oats and treats and sat there for quite some time. He finally showed some interest and ended up eating off my lap. I stroked the side of his face with my hand and I even scratched under his chin a couple times. He really didn't care too much for me touching his face but really wanted those treats so came back for me.
I decided after a few to reach out for his lead rope while his head was in my lap. I grabbed hold and he backed away so I let the lead rope slide through my hands. We did this a couple of times. Well after he was a bit more comfortable I decided to hold onto the lead rope and stand up from the chair I was sitting on. He did not like this one bit. He backed away and I held tight and walked with him. This is when he decided to try to turn and run but had no where to go and so he threw himself backwards and ended up on the ground on his back. He whacked his head on the bottom rail of the round pen and ended up with another battle wound on his face.
After that happened I didn't want to just quit. So I sat back down and waited some more to see if he would come back for some more oats and treats. NO WAY!!! He stayed as far away from me as he could.
So tonight I went back out there with my bucket of oats and treats. I decided I wasn't gonna let today end without him trusting me enough again to eat off my lap so there I sat, and sat and sat. I sat for a good half hour before he started getting interested again. He came over to me and yep...ate out of the bucket again. This was a good thing because again I stroked his cheek and let his lips hit my hand on the way into the bucket. That was enough for me.
We finished the day on a good note!
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