Day Nine & Ten- Changes, Challenges & Choices

 

Blue spent day nine enjoying some much deserved time off. Even though the past week may seem like not a big deal to someone unfamiliar with horses, it has been full of changes, challenges and choices for a horse who spent the first two years of his life doing relatively little. Blue has had to cope with a lot of changes: new environment, new horses, new food, new handlers.... as well as a lot of challenges: grooming, leading, ground trying, grazing in hand, plastic bag, lunging and bathing! But above all, Blue has had to make a lot of choices....whether to eat and drink, whether to be brave, whether to try and ultimately, whether or not to trust again. Despite everything he has been through, Blue has clearly decided to trust again and it's his willingness to do so that makes this whole process possible. In just one short week, Blue has decided that people are okay again and goes as far as to lean towards me when he's unsure about something nearby, as if to say “are we afraid of that?” He is a friend, a companion and a source of enjoyment for me every day and when I watch him interact with people, I can't help but thinking how much the world would have missed out if this little horse had gone to slaughter as planned. He is a gift and has so much to teach us about second chances and deciding to give life another go....even if his story touches one person, he has made a difference.

He returned to work on day ten with a renewed brightness and enthusiasm for work. I spent some time with Blue in the arena reviewing his in hand lesson from day eight and had a much better response. He trotted willingly beside me, respecting my space and halting promptly when cued. He was light, responsive and attentive for the whole lesson and I was very pleased with his improvement from two days earlier. Next came the saddle pad....we desensitized him just like we had done with the plastic bag earlier in the week and when he showed no objection, we placed it on his back and did the same with the surcingle. Blue stood still like he had experienced this a hundred times before and showed only a little uncertainty when we gradually fastened the surcingle loosely around his girth area. After we let him stand and contemplate the new situation for a few minutes, I took him for a walk with saddle pad and surcingle on his back....no issue. I gave him a light lunge .... no issue. Blue is so cool about everything, sometimes you forget he's as young and inexperienced as he is. I put him back outside, sat there and watched him for a few minutes and considered again just how lucky we had gotten with this horse. Though I know we could have managed with anything and would have worked through any issues that came up, Blue really is so easy.....and still, someone gave this “easy” horse away for some reason.

 

 

 



Trotting in hand

 

 

 

 

Saddle pad & surcingle

 

 

 Since I hadn't brushed him while in the arena earlier in the day, I book Blue out for some grass and a brush after dinner. Unlike the first few attempts, this time he put his head down confidently to munch the grass and continued doing so until a couple of the barn's boarders came back from their evening hack. He raised his head to see what was going on and then stood beside me quietly as I talked to the ladies, leaning towards me every once and a while to see if we were still to be “standing quietly?” They had not met Blue before so they had many questions about his story, complete with the usual astonishment as to how such a nice, young little horse could end up in a feed lot in the first place? Everyone who meets Blue generally has the same reaction....I guess it's a natural one? I still ask myself the same thing every time I look at him and hope that he is a unique case, though I know this unfortunately isn't true. When the conversation was over, I returned Blue to his stall and said good night.

 

 

Enjoying some evening grass