Two days have passed since Bravo first approached humans. He is getting very comfortable and adores getting scratched around his withers. Under the disguise of petting him, we carefully start to handle him a little; getting him used to being touched in new areas, as well as restraining him a little.

With his parents casually grazing nearby and soft music playing in the garden, he really doesn’t even know that he is being trained!

Our movements are quick so that he doesn’t have a chance to pull away from the feel of our hands in new places. We move from scratching his favorite spots, and then quickly run our hands over his legs, under the belly and over his neck. The head is more difficult for him, so we hold off on that area for now.

We prevent him from moving forwards by holding an arm in front of his chest to get him used to being restrained. At this age it’s a lot easier for a foal to be held back like this, than to be held by a halter. As soon as he relaxed we release him.

The session is kept short, and we often check to see if he wants to leave. Keeping him away from his mother if he wants to go to her would only make this a negative experience, and the most important thing here is to make him feel good about the handling.