FLY SPRAY!

First of all, my horse is terrified of things that spray.  I've been slowly working on this with him, and being really careful not to push through any thresholds, because this is a very deeply ingrained fear.  He's been doing great, he plays with the hose now while its on, but fly spray still has been a major problem.  When I went out to work with him today, I needed to put fly spray on him, and usually I spray it on a brush and then brush him.  Today, the wind was blowing, and every time I sprayed, the mist would get the brush, but also drift past and hit him.  I noticed that he was still standing perfectly still and unconcerned about the spray hitting him, so I thought it would be a good time to work on it.  I stood next to him with my hand on his withers, and sprayed his shoulder.  He didn't move, so I gave him a cookie.  It took a lot of time, and a lot of moving around and approach and retreat, but I was able to stand in front of him, and spray out next to his shoulder.  I did that until he started licking and chewing, and gave him a cookie.  That really got his attention, and he allowed me to spray his ribs.  I did this on both sides, and if he got too worried about his ribs being sprayed, I would move the spray back to his shoulder.  At this point, he finally dropped his head, and cocked one leg.  I started moving down his body while spraying continuously and giving him a cookie every so often.  To my surprise, he stood there the whole time.  We have been making some big breakthroughs lately, so I suppose I shouldnt be surprised, but the last time we dealt with flyspray was nowhere near as easy.  This time, things went much better.  While I was spraying his legs, he even turned his head and stuck his nose in the spray, and then stood there watching me spray him.  So while I was spraying and treating, he finally sighed and dropped his head even lower, so I thought I should end the session.  I was so proud of him!  He was obviously trusting me very very very much, and I am so honored that he trusts me like he does.  I think he's realizing that I'm not doing things TO him, I'm doing it with him and with his permission.  After that fly spray session, even putting his thrush medicine in his hooves was easy!  He picked up both feet on the first try, and held them until I was done with them.  I think we really accomplished something today. :)