It’s good to go home, ……..where people know you, you fit in, you can be yourself and you know you can feel safe.
We send horses from our home to their new home and it feels a little heartachey for us…for a short while, because you ask yourself a million questions…..
will they remember he doesn’t like his grain cold?
He has to have his grain soaked.…
He is bothered by gnats unless you cover him in Avon Skin So Soft…
He doesn’t like to eat next to another gelding.
He LOVES mares.
He is afraid of gun fire.
What if?
How about?
Who will?
Last year a rabbit scared him and now he always is afraid at that corner of the shed…
You load them up in the trailer and you see/feel/touch a large animal that trusts you and willingly loads up because he knows you won’t hurt him, even though many people have……and you want that to continue and to never see him afraid or hurt again.
But you have to give him a push and a chance to be “someone’s” horse..
you have to let go.
let go of something you saved and brought back to life.
It is hard.
You take a deep breath and ask him to step up onto the trailer, and you pat him…speak to him softly….then close the trailer and wipe a tear from your eye……put your hand on the door and tell him to be good ..while he is whinnying.
They drive away and you sit down, put your head in your hands and cry a little.
A little joy…….a little sadness.
Seven came to us about two years ago. He had been running a neighborhood for months with a pony mare. They grazed on lawns and drank out of mud puddles. Seven was very emaciated…..while the pony mare was faring okay on the local forage. The pony mare was in charge and Seven followed her as she directed. Some kind local folks called us and asked if we could take them … we agreed and they came home to the farm.
The pony mare was a hot little number with a bit of an attitude…..but totally sound and able to be adopted quickly….oh..and did we mention she could jump?! She got rehomed quickly and that left us with Seven.
You may ask, why the name Seven?
He was the seventh horse of the year taken into our facility and sometimes we just have to get creative when we don’t know their name.
Anyway, Seven was very underweight, had a lot of rain rot, really bad teeth……and was in love with that pony mare.
The separation of the two provided us with his complete and total attention.
First we bathed him.
Then we fed him for several weeks to get him stable and feeling better.
Then we addressed his teeth……his mouth was full of ulcers from bad hooks on his teeth.
Then we de-wormed him.
and then Seven began to shine.
He interacted with us and became a little show off.
He was sound and he became handsome.
Seven was tattooed.
He had been a race horse, not a very successful one…but we found his birthdate and his bloodlines…nothing very surprising, but good information to have.
He has been to training twice… easy keeper and a barn favorite. The farm will be different without him…but we are glad he gets a home of his own!
Go Seven GO!
Below are pictures of Seven when he arrived and then later as he rehabbed.
