Comments, and Luc is a rockstar!

Boring part first: If you try to comment and you get that pesky Captcha word verification thing, you should be able to bypass it by clicking on something that says "I am not a robot."  Unless you're anonymous, then I can't make it go away.

Yesterday I approached my time with Luc stepwise.  I wasn't sure we'd even get out the gate. Here's how it went:

First we walked around the pasture quite a bit.

 

I even asked him to come in one of the grain bins with me.  I think he's been in there on his own, but I wasn't sure.  He wasn't bothered by the narrow door or the close quarters inside.

Eventually we made our way outside the pasture.  Yay Luc!

 

We walked around quite a bit, slowly increasing his distance from his comfort zone. We only went about 300 feet from his buddies, and looked at a few new things.  Then I took him to show him the trailer.  Again, I had no intention of insisting he load up or even get close, if he was too bothered by it, but he stuck his head right in and started checking it out.  Scout was tied outside, and when he banged the trailer it bothered Luc a little bit, but not much.

Eventually, without being prompted, he put both front feet in.  He really wanted to check out the front divider.  It wasn't in there when he was hauled home.  I rewarded him and asked him to back out, then rewarded him again.  Eventually, with a little ask (and the knowledge that I had treats in my pockets), he put all four feet in and pretty calmly checked out his surroundings.  He was understandably tense, but not agitated or in any kind of hurry to do anything stupid.  You can see his tight lips in the picture below.

He backed out with no rushing and no hesitation, exactly as if he had done it before.  What a guy!  We walked around some more, did some hoof trimming, and later loaded up one more time.  He did great!

In regards to hoof trimming, I really need to make that a priority.  The BLM trimmed his hooves kind of crooked (I'm sure it's hard to visualize hoof balance when they're on their side in a chute).  Now that they've been growing for so many months, they're a little wonky.  He's getting pretty good with his front feet, just kind of impatient.  I haven't done enough with his hinds.  We'll work on that some more today. 

He really blew me away with his courage, curiosity, and quiet willingness yesterday.  I do expect a little punky behavior as he starts to feel more comfortable going out and about.  He gets a little irritated at being told what to do sometimes.  Nothing big as of yet, just facial expression and maybe a tail swish.

Scout got to come out and play a bit too.  Nothing strenuous of course, but he loaded in the trailer twice, and I scraped a bunch of mud off of him, then he stood tied for quite a while.  He seems to be feeling better already.  Very little snot and only an occasional cough.  I think his energy level is down, but he is still alert and interactive, and eating well.

This computer has taken up too much time!  Now I'm off to play.