I was super excited to introduce Talos to the cowboy curtain of doom, because it’s the perfect opportunity to show him that he gets to make his own choices now and do some confidence building. Yay for affirmative training!

I tacked him up and walked into the arena. I did not think we’d be riding that day, but on the off chance he was familiar with obstacles I wanted to be able to hop on. Plus, I fee like doing the intro while tacked up sends the message that someday you will have to do this under saddle.

We first walked around to all of the barrels. He did great with those – I thought he might be a little scared (he once spooked at a stationary barrel that had literally been in the arena the entire time he had been in there, each and every time….) but he confidently marched up to each one and booped it with his nose, getting a cookie each time. He definitely has the hang of this, because he tried to scam multiple cookies by repeatedly booping the same barrel (it totally worked, btw – boop away, my brave boy.) We walked up to the curtain, as close as he wanted to, and stood there while it swayed in the breeze. I could see the anxiety in his face – he didn’t know what it was, didn’t know what he was going to be asked to do, and seemed to be just waiting for something bad. I stood next to him, out of his space, and….breathed.

We stood there breathing and watching the curtain sway in the breeze. Eventually, I asked for a step forward. He extended his front leg, rubbed his nose against it. I told him good boy enthusiastically. He left the foot extended when he put his head up. More breathing, standing, and watching. I asked for another step. He shuffled his feet and I told him good boy again, would you like to walk away? He said yes please, so we walked to the left corner, circled around a barrel, then came back in front of the curtain. This time when I asked for a step forward, he took an actual step. I praised him enthusiastically. He got a little scared and took a step back, and I stepped back with him. We spent more time just standing and breathing. Occasionally I would give him a cookie, just for standing there. I asked him if he wanted to walk away again, and he said yes, so we walked to the right, circled a barrel, and came back.

At this point, he was beginning to understand that he wasn’t going to be forced into anything, and I saw the anxiety fade away. He let out a loud snort, and then a few licks and chews which were also met with enthusiastic good boys and cookies. Now, feeling safe, he began to be curious. He took a step forward on his own, investigated a tuft of grass that was right below the curtain, started to nibble, decided that was too close and took a step back. Assured him he was still a good boy, and then took a full lap around the arena as a palette cleanser.

We got back to the curtain, and he willingly got closer than he ever had before. He regarded it thoughtfully, and then gently reached out and booped a cup with his nose. The good boys and cookies rained down on him like a monsoon, and we called it a day. I was super happy and proud of him!