Tommy Update April 2017

It is quite a long time since I wrote a blog just about Tommy but things have really been happening in the last few weeks so I thought I would share!
 

Over the last few weeks he has been coming over to me in the field and I have been giving him a polo and a pat.  This was only something I could do if he was near to the gate before. 

Then a couple of weeks ago he came up to me whilst I was poo picking and started nudging me and blowing in my hair :)  He does that if I skip out his stable when he is in there too!
 

In the last 2 or 3 weeks he has been letting me stand closer to him in the field, pat him, 'pull' his ears, scratch his forehead, check his legs and last week he even let me put my arms around his neck and give him a cuddle.

Here is a little video from the other weekend.....

He is also now a bit of a star at being tied up, I haven't tied him up for the farrier yet, but we are working towards that.

He also had the bottom half of his tail washed a couple of weeks ago, he was so brave.  I was very careful with the hose and didn't move it about too much, I had the water on quite slowly and tried not to get the hose or water on his legs but he was brilliant.

When you think that these were my aims when he arrived in July 2015 you can see how far he has come ...

1.       Get Tommy to come up to the gate for breakfast.

2.       Eat a treat from my hand.

3.       Allow me to stroke his neck.

4.       Allow me to catch him.

5.       Allow me to lead him.

6.       To come into his stable for a minute with the door open.

7.       To come into his stable for breakfast with the door closed.

8.       To brush Tommy.

9.       To pick out his feet.

10.   To settle in the stable for the day with the others.

I now have an amazingly happy, relaxed and confident pony. 

He loves his stable and is really settled and relaxed in there.  He totally knows the routine but is really patient and well behaved (unlike Basil sometimes!).  Tommy absolutely loves being brushed and fussed over. 

The only thing which we are still working on is catching him in the main part of the field if he is not wearing a headcollar.  This is a difficult thing to practise when he is out with the others because Basil and Chesney come straight over if I go out and Tommy then gets out of the way.  In the evening he is keen to come in and just follows the others.  So when I fence him off again in a few weeks to limit his grass I will be able to start practising that. 
 

Have you seen last week's video 'An Easter Treat and a Suprise' on my You Tube channel?   
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Until next time!

Jo