Zum has a habit of throwing his head in the air. I am going to have to teach him to relax his head. I will start by using both my hands to position Zum’s head, wait for Zum to relax and then release my hands. I want him to get comfortable with his head being handled. The request-response-release pattern is being etched in his brain. When he raises his head, I touch the top of his head. When he brings his head down, I remove my hand and praise him. I also can ask Zum to bring his head to the side towards me. I hold his head there until he relaxes and then let his nose go. I do this as many times as it takes until he leaves his head where I put it. I also pet between his eyes. When he relaxes, I take my hand away. I can stroke over one eye and over one ear. Take my hand away. If Zum raises his head, I calmly ask him to drop his head. I never scold Zum or jerk on his halter or lead rope. I can use props, resting them all one at a time on his head, rewarding Zum for keeping his head down. I can put the hackamore on his head, rewarding him when he doesn’t throw his head up out of my reach This process takes lots of repetition! The reason each of these lessons work is his reward!
