JJS
Well-Known Member
With horses, I always think it's at random moments that you realise how far they've come, and I had one of those with Mary this morning. When she came to me three years ago, she was already a lovely, sweet little mare, but as green as grass. She'd been pulled from a field at the age of four, with no handling, and had gone in quick succession from a dealer to someone who'd bought her to bring on and sell on, before I purchased her from them a few weeks later. While all of the basics were in place, it soon became obvious that she was more than a little shellshocked from the whole experience and still not entirely sure about a lot of the new things she was being asked to do.
Leading was a big problem early on - she just didn't get it at all. While she was never nasty, she didn't really understand how it all worked and what was being asked of her. It was something we worked on intensively during the first four or five months. Stabling was another issue. She'd never been inside and didn't enjoy it. She'd pace up and down from the moment she went in - never for long as they live out and she rarely needed to be stabled - getting herself all het up. We worked on it in little bursts, so that by the time Flower arrived, she was okay to be brought in overnight in the weeks leading up to foaling, but she's never really had to be in again since then. Her biggest issue, however, was that she was just a little shut down. She'd had only the most minimal human interaction, and she didn't see the point of people. She was always kind and polite, but she rarely displayed anything more than a passing interest.
Three years on, and she couldn't be more different. My funny little mare with the strange black head is a complete and utter lovebug. Yesterday, she stood with her daughter in the field for 20 minutes, both of them untied, one on either side of me, for no other reason than to cuddle. She came in overnight to keep Sixpence company as he's started to feel the cold of late, and led in perfectly in the dark, despite needing to walk past a big mental container that had only appeared there the night before, while the wind howled through it and the door banged. She went straight into her stable, marched over to her haynet, and calmly started munching.
When I arrived this morning, it was to find two perfectly relaxed ponies, who led out beautifully even when all five of their field mates came galloping up to the fence line to greet them. I took Mary in through the gate, where she proceeded to turn herself around as she's been taught, so her head is to me when it's time to take her head collar off. She then stood in that spot alongside Flower for another 10 minutes to have an extra snuggle.
It's such a small thing - such a normal thing for most horses - but to say that stabling and leading were two of her biggest issues when she arrived, it really means something to me that she's grown into such a calm and contented horse. It sounds silly to be so proud of those tiny little ways in which they're perfect, but I really and truly am
For anyone who got that far, a quick picture of the girls to break up all of that text for you!
Leading was a big problem early on - she just didn't get it at all. While she was never nasty, she didn't really understand how it all worked and what was being asked of her. It was something we worked on intensively during the first four or five months. Stabling was another issue. She'd never been inside and didn't enjoy it. She'd pace up and down from the moment she went in - never for long as they live out and she rarely needed to be stabled - getting herself all het up. We worked on it in little bursts, so that by the time Flower arrived, she was okay to be brought in overnight in the weeks leading up to foaling, but she's never really had to be in again since then. Her biggest issue, however, was that she was just a little shut down. She'd had only the most minimal human interaction, and she didn't see the point of people. She was always kind and polite, but she rarely displayed anything more than a passing interest.
Three years on, and she couldn't be more different. My funny little mare with the strange black head is a complete and utter lovebug. Yesterday, she stood with her daughter in the field for 20 minutes, both of them untied, one on either side of me, for no other reason than to cuddle. She came in overnight to keep Sixpence company as he's started to feel the cold of late, and led in perfectly in the dark, despite needing to walk past a big mental container that had only appeared there the night before, while the wind howled through it and the door banged. She went straight into her stable, marched over to her haynet, and calmly started munching.
When I arrived this morning, it was to find two perfectly relaxed ponies, who led out beautifully even when all five of their field mates came galloping up to the fence line to greet them. I took Mary in through the gate, where she proceeded to turn herself around as she's been taught, so her head is to me when it's time to take her head collar off. She then stood in that spot alongside Flower for another 10 minutes to have an extra snuggle.
It's such a small thing - such a normal thing for most horses - but to say that stabling and leading were two of her biggest issues when she arrived, it really means something to me that she's grown into such a calm and contented horse. It sounds silly to be so proud of those tiny little ways in which they're perfect, but I really and truly am
For anyone who got that far, a quick picture of the girls to break up all of that text for you!
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