Wizard Session 121: Poll of Inaccesibility

Sunday, 12/13/09

Pole of Inaccessibility: A pole of inaccessibility marks a location that is the most challenging to reach owing to its remoteness from geographical features which could provide access. The term describes a geographic construct, not an actual physical phenomenon, and is of interest mostly to explorers.

Poll of Inaccessibility: The tippy-top of Wizard’s head, where he sometimes allows me to touch him and sometimes refuses to let me touch him.

It’s the strangest thing. I can usually rest my hand on Wizard’s poll with no problem but every so often, he twists his neck away from me rather quickly and will not hold still no matter how slowly I approach him. I did a little clicker work with him (about 3 times) and left him unhaltered for the process. It seemed to work very well. It will be interesting to see if he becomes more tolerant of handling around his poll or if it is a physical issue.

This spring, I noticed something in the way Wizard walks on concrete: he swings his hind legs up a few inches before they set down. Fibrotic myopathy? Hamstring injury? I never got a good read on the cause of it, but I could see it again tonight. He was not as interested in playing in the indoor as he usually is, but here’s a little video of him trotting. He has become quite good at trotting in a circle around me: