Bribery... gotta love it!

Tolo came home this afternoon! He came off the trailer quite well and even let me switch halters without a fuss. While the owner and trainer and I chatted I just let him graze next to us. Pretty sure he thought he was in heaven! After talking I took him to his new digs. I made sure to make an entry way that could be opened up wide so he wouldnt be scared to walk between a tighter space and he walked right in. I showed him around then unclipped him to let him scope the place out. After they left I went and put his blanket on and to my surprise he was totally fine with it all. Working on his blind side and everything. We snapped some pictures and let him settle in as I had to run to work.

He is such a ham for the camera compared to Mystic! He always has his ears up

Do you have more cookies?! (This is his blind eye. You can see how it is smaller)

Such a handsome boy! Hopefully the weather is nice this weekend so he can have a spa day

I went home straight from work (before going to visit the cutest black and white pony!), to get a grooming in while it was still light, and for the first time I really saw his apprehension about people approaching him. He was really having nothing to do with the halter. I really want to make it all a positive experience so after trying for a couple minutes I resorted to bribery :) I went and grabbed some grain and when he let me approach him I gave him a nibble. He figured that one out quickly and soon I was making him come to me. Then I slipped his halter on one time and he was totally fine. Once I got him caught I took his blanket off and gave him a brushing. He was super good for it all. I would leave him to go get another brush and come back (still on his blind side) just talking to him and start brushing again and he didnt flinch. He actually quite enjoyed a nice brushing. His tail is super gross so hopefully it is nice this weekend so he can have a total spa day. He needs a bath, a bridle path, and his mane cut/pulled.

At this point I am going to hold off on letting him out into the pasture. I will take him out and graze him and walk him around but dont trust that he will be easy to catch and I dont want to relive the second week I got him (when I first rescued him) and have him run around scared and get hurt. Hopefully this weekend he will be able to get some supervised outside grazing time as he also hasnt been out on pasture since the summer.

I am going to give him a couple weeks to settle into our routine and getting his trust back then we will start doing desensitizing stuff like no ones business! The more he sees/hears/touches the better :)

On the Mystic front... he was great tonight for having all week off! He was a muddy mess but enjoyed the attention. Well... he atleast enjoyed the treats haha :) Less then a month away from the expo!