Billy has been testing the boundaries today. He tried a little rear-end threat on Paul and got a 'send away' in return - (have to be very careful with dominating body language on frightened ponies because you can overdo it and frighten them too much at this early stage) - then later he tried a head bite on a volunteer who was allowing him a sniff of her hat. She sent him back too. Both times he came back more mannerly.
Paul sat in the pen with a loosely-held handful of grass. Billy had a think about it, then stretched to take some. He progressed to daring to pull at it when it was held more tightly. He also had a good sniff at Paul's head, and tested it with his teeth. Like they do to each other; not an agressive bite.
We are trying to build Billy's confidence but there must be boundaries. He's a stallion, and his experiences of humans in the past have not been good as he has been through the inspection and branding process.

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