Brushes and hands and ropes, oh my

It's so frustrating with these short days, by the time I get home it's usually dark.  It's been three days since I've been able to get out in the paddock and play with the horses.  Only another couple of weeks until solstice and then we can start looking forward to more daylight hours.

I spent half an hour or so this afternoon brushing Tama.  He's stopped flinching or looking nervous when I go to touch him, and today he just kept on eating hay with his ears forward as I brushed him all over, including his tummy.  I haven't done his legs yet, but I probably could have done if I'd chosen to persist.

 I have to concentrate very hard to make sure I never go into autopilot while brushing him - I need to constantly watch his body language in my peripherals to make sure he's comfortable otherwise I'm leaving myself open to being kicked.  He lets me know quite clearly when he feels uncomfortable or pressured, but has never been particularly serious about it and I've never seen him actually lift a foot.

 I also did some rope work with him today for the first time - rubbing him all over with it, throwing it over his back and neck, and looping it around his neck.  He just flicked his ears back now and then to keep an eye on me and kept on eating.

I left it at that for today, we're in no rush.

This is all being done out in the paddock with him free to walk away at any time.  He seemed to be enjoying the attention though and only walked away a few times momentarily before coming back to me.

 He's still not a fan of his face being touched, but I imagine it won't take long for him to get over that.  He quite likes being scratched up behind his ears, it's only when my hand goes into his blind spot up on his forehead that he gets worried.