I tried a little something last night that I think could be considered CAT. Do
correct me if I'm wrong. Gabe is pretty unpredictable, but last night he
managed to keep his neurosis in the realm of the familiar. Because he's dead
scared of cross ties, I leave him in his stall with a halter and a lead for
grooming. I just drape the lead line around a corner post and hold the loose
end, so I can give and take slack as needed to avoid teeth. Last night he
decided to do the 'I don't like you at my shoulder' thing. I could approach his
haunch or his head without issue, but anything in the shoulder area resulted in
ugly faces (think Alien when its face peels back and another tiny face comes out
of the mouth). At about six feet away, still in the stall and still loosely
holding the lead line, he couldn't care less about my presence. I started by
walking up to him and placing my hand on his shoulder. When the ugly faces
stopped and he relaxed, about 20-30 seconds, I backed off to the safe zone,
waited and repeated. I did notice that the faces got less ugly and lasted less
time, until finally he just sat there ignoring me while I stroked his shoulder.
That's when I goofed up--twice. I left my clicker outside the stall. I really
feel like I should have clicked him that time. The next mistake was when I
repeated the exercise one more time, just because I can't leave well enough
alone. That pretty well started the whole process again, but he wasn't as quick
to stop the ugly faces this time. After that, I decided to give him the rest of
the night off. It didn't seem fair to muck around in his head that way then
come at him with a saddle. I'm pretty sure he forgave me the clumsiness. He
may not always know it, but he is a good boy.