Day Two- Getting to know Blue Boys Alibi
 

As we had hoped, our little horse was indeed much brighter the next morning. The evidence of a good night sleep could be seen in the shavings in his tail and on his back and the life was definitely back in his eyes. The discarded carrots were still in his feed bowl but he eagerly gobbled up his breakfast, some hay and even a wormer without too much fuss. Today would be a day for getting to know Blue and we went about tending to the other horses with a sense of excitement about doing just that.

 

After he had his lunch, I went to the bank barn armed with my brushes and detangler. While Barry held the horse, I went to work on his mane & tail and brushed him from head to toe. To my delight, I found a fairly shiny coat and a beautiful tail underneath the dust, grime and tangles; a sign that the horse had been well cared for in the not to distant past. His feet were in desperate need of trimming but that would be done in the days to come, when we had a better sense of his manners & education.

 

                                      

 

 

 

 

Blue stayed in his stall for the day to get a bit more rest but Barry did take him into the arena to work with him from the ground. While Blue can be pushy with his handler and has a habit of threatening to rear when he doesn't like something being asked of him, he took to the work quite well and finished on a good note. From what we can tell so far, his problem is a lack of education which is better than a bad education.....it's much easier to start from scratch with a horse than it is to undo the mistakes made by another person.

 

First groundwork session

 

In the process of getting to know Blue, we did a little digging into his past. Because the horse is registered with the American Quarter Horse association, we were able to track down his breeders. Their website gave us a baby picture of our horse and told us that he was sold as a six month old to a buyer who already owned his half sister....another mare who has adopted from the Ottawa feedlot on the same day as we took Blue. Curious as to what had happened in between, Barry called the breeder to see if we could get any further answers. As it turned out, our gelding had indeed been purchased as a weanling but had remained at his home farm until about three months ago, proving my theory correct that it had not been that long since he had received decent care and reassuring us that he had likely not been through too many negative experiences before coming to us. The breeder told us that, in the two years she had the young horses, the owner had perhaps visited Blue and his sister a half a dozen times and had arrived three months ago with a trailer, announcing she was taking the horses to summer pasture and drove away. The man on the phone never saw the horses again and knew nothing of their fate until he was notified that they had ended up in a feed lot three months later. Obviously relieved when we told him that both horses had been adopted out and had landed in good hands, he was quite happy to share details about our horse and asked that we keep him informed as to his progress. After a few more minutes of friendly conversation, Barry said goodbye and hung up the phone.

 I'm pleased that we were able to fill in more gaps about the past of Blue Boys Alibi but the whole process left me wondering.....How, in just three short months, does a kind and healthy young horse who has never known mistreatment and is full of potential end up in a crowded feet lot destined for slaughter? What can possibly happen in a few months that can essentially rob a young horse of his life and take away any chance he has for a future? I may never know the details that sent Blue down that path but what I do know is that unfortunately, his is not an isolated case. The same fate fell on his half sister and many others like them. Young horses that have been surrendered by their owners for whatever reason.....some who don't get as lucky as Blue and don't get that second chance to be something special. We can't help them all but we can help this one.....

 

August 2010

 

 

September 2012

 

 

July 2013