The Breaking Point

This past Saturday, I rode Luna. Usually when I ride Luna, Annie gets a bit jealous. If any of y'all have real horses, you know that this can sometimes happen. Luna was a bit wound up, as she's been gorging on the spring grass and gaining a good amount of weight so she is no longer the sluggish old lady we took in last fall, and was feeling her oats during our ride. She was booking it, and didn't want to stop, even when I asked her if she wanted a break, which we usually did in the beginning when she seemed too fatigued to do a lot of walking. Nope! She trotted, and even almost broke into a lope once. I liked that she was feeling good, so I rode her a bit longer than usual. After the ride, I didn't feel like riding Annie due to the fact that I was starting to get a migraine from the heat. Usually, I do ride Annie immediately after Luna.

When I went out to feed the horses on Sunday, I was expecting Annie to be a bit mad at me for not riding her. She did seem mad, as she kept walking away from me when I was trying to touch her and put her head into the corner of her stall so she couldn't look at me. I blew it off, again just thinking she was having a fit and left her be. She didn't really eat her food, in fact she kept circling around it, even when I walked away. I decided I would try to ride her so she didn't get too mad at me. When she finished eating what she was willing to eat, I went to tack her up. Again, she circled around me. This actually wasn't nothing out of the ordinary, as she used to do this when I first rode her the few times after we got her from the auction. She gave me some issues with the bit, which wasn't like her, but eventually she took it. What was unusual though was when I went to cinch up the saddle. She kicked at her belly, something she never did before. I double checked to make sure the cinch wasn't too tight, even loosening it a knotch. The last thing I wanted was her getting cinchy.

I walked her to the mounting block. She walked forward when I tried to put my foot in the stirrup. Again, this wasn't unusual, as she walked off in the early days of me riding her. Lately she hadn't been because I'd been working with her, but every now and then she'd resort to her old ways. I had my husband hold the stirrup on the off side because I had the saddle so loose that I couldn't mount, even from the mounting block, without it slipping. I knew there was a risk of rolling so I'd have to use my balance the whole time, but nothing bad ever happened on Annie before so I thought I would be alright. She walked off and was doing well for the first few laps. Then, she stopped. She lowered her head to the ground. I asked my husband what she was doing. "It looks like she's smelling the flowers," he said.

At this point, I was getting a bit irritated. I figured she was probably just trying to test me. Every now and then, she'll do that because she is the alpha mare in the herd, and she needs to appreciate me as the leader. She's never done anything dangerous, but she will do things on purpose to make sure I'm paying attention. She knows I don't allow her to graze while riding, so I nudged her on, and off we went. We were following the fence line, and because she is blind on her right side, she didn't notice a giant bushy cactus plant. I had to lift my foot out of the stirrup and raise it up to avoid impaling my foot. She felt this shift in weight, and whether she thought I was asking for speed or distracted by the other horses in the pasture, as she was looking left at them the entire time, she went to bolt out from under me.

I grabbed the reins and pulled her head to the side in a one rein stop, breaking her momentum from running forward. Once I gave her release from the pressure, she immediately went to run again, so I pulled back in a complete halt and dismounted before she pushed through the pressure again. I was shaking and didn't want her to sense my fear so I waited a couple minutes for my nerves to stabilize, then got back on because the last thing I wanted was to call it a day and her to realize that she can get out of working that way. The rest of the ride, she listened well to my cues. Annie lowered her head the entire time I unsaddled her, as if she knew she had made poor decisions. She turned her head to help slip the bit out of her mouth, then once the bridle was off, she made a beeline to her stall and hid her face in the corner. Odd. Very odd.

Later, we would find out why.

Apparently, Annie was having issues with colic. Thankfully it wasn't bad enough to warrant a vet appointment, but we did have to give her a dose of Banamine and keep her walking. We think the spring grass is what caused it. I also think she was trying to tell me when she reached down to sniff the flowers. This is why it is always important to listen to your horse. The kicking at her belly when I did up her cinch, her not eating, not taking the bit, not listening to my cues when I rode her and almost bolting twice... all these point to a horse in pain. She wasn't trying to be naughty, and she felt bad for it after the ride, but she also didn't want to work through the pain. If I hadn't recognized the early signs of colic, she might not be here. 

She is doing much better today, and back to her old self.

Next came training Diva. She had a training evaluation, which I do every year in the spring with all my horses. Before I go into the results, let me start by saying that every horse has a treshold of how much they can take. Some horses are so sensitive that the cinch alone will drive them into a panic and make them rear upon the feeling of the saddle wrapping around them. Other horses are fine with the cinch but will buck or bolt if there is hair on it that is rubbing them. Yet some, like Annie, are willing to deal with almost anything so long as they feel good. The hard part is finding out how far you can fill their cup before they spill over, then slowly increase the threshold without hopefully never spilling it again. Diva is a horse that has a low threshold, not as low as some of the horses I've worked with but she can only tolerate so much without spooking. Some things she's better at than others, like she hasn't had issues with cinching up the saddle. She will however:

*Spooks at the saddle but is ok once it's on her back

*Holds a lot of tension in her neck to where she won't bend

*She is incredibly head shy most likely from being hit in the past

*Pulls back on halter and lead rope when she thinks you're trying to catch her (this I believe is a tactic she has used to get away in the past and has mastered it)

*Will not accept shots unsedated

So we have a bit of work to do. Admittedly I haven't put much work into Diva last year. We were told at the auction that she was "broke to ride and drive" but I honestly believe she was just a broodmare all her life and never broken, or maybe when she was really young. Either way, she needs a complete restart. Unlike Roy, who also needed a complete restart and had a threshold so low that being tied up would send him into a rearing frenzy because he was barely halter broke, Diva is more accepting. She is just nervous about everything until she realizes it won't hurt her. The first few times she'll spook, but she easily gets used to things. For example, the first time I blanketed her in the winter and used fly spray in the spring, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Now she takes it like a champ. I feel the same would happen with haltering and saddling with enough consistency. 

While I have ridden her at least a dozen times, it's always been in a round pen, and only in a hackamore. In all honesty I probably had no business being up there at all, but I have a cowgirl heart. I've been introducing a bit, which she first refused to open her mouth, but after several tries, we were successful. She was not thrilled, but eventually she stopped chomping it. Today, we tried to push the envelope by taking her out of the round pen. My husband was leading her around with me on her back, and he turned to sweep a fly off her face. His hand moving to her face reached her threshold and she reared on me. I knew she was going to pull back and snap the halter so I yelled to my husband to let go, then I made an emergency dismount before she took off running. It cost me an injured knee that bruised up something awful later but at least my halter wasn't broken.

Let's hope we get a break from any more bad luck after this.

And Then There Were Nine...

Raccoons. These nighttime predators have long been a thorn in my side ever since I began raising birds. I've had to fortify my coops in the past, and still they'd find a way to break in. Back in Ohio, they were ruthless. Here, they are just as cruel. Now we didn't have any issues with predators last year for whatever reason, but that also happened in Ohio. There'd be "breaks" when we wouldn't trap anything for a few months, and then all of a sudden we trapped raccoon after raccoon after raccoon. I remember one year they had babies and we had to release six of them. No matter how much we tried, they would always manage to get in, even going as far as digging underneath. Our neighbor swore by dogs, but I work long hours so I wouldn't be able to let said dog out to do its business most of the day. I also don't think leaving a dog outside all the time is a good life for the dog, especially for my neighbor's dog, who leaves her dog chained to a doghouse.

Three duck hens were gone. They never take the drakes, only the hens, most likely because the drakes strong wings fight them off. One of the Muscovy ducks was sitting on eggs. All except three eggs are now gone. I found a Muscovy hen still alive but bloodied and with a chunk missing out of the back of her neck. This was the reason for my husband making the second coop. I wanted her isolated, and in the meantime I moved the Cream Legbar hens with her since they got along better with her than they did with this year's chickens, which were housed with the Muscovies in the main coop. No longer are they allowed to roost in their favorite tree at night. They must remain behind fencing. Finally, a hole was made in the wire on the rabbit hutch. Thankfully the rabbits got away, and because they're well trained, we were able to catch them again.

I'm tired of this constant battle with these masked bandits, but I also know it comes with the territory of raising birds. I'm just sick of it though. I'm sick of finding bodies of perfectly healthy and happy birds senselessly mauled by critters that just take and take like I'm their KFC and the food is free. Many farmers in the area have told us that they've given up after losing their flocks. Maybe I should've taken the hint. My husband is greatly against this, as he says I have a way with animals of all sorts, especially animals like birds and horses that are instinctively on the shy side. In the end, I always go back to the birds.

I also think our farm is becoming a drop off location for strays, as I've found an incredibly skinny yet obviously pregnant cat hanging about the past couple weeks. A week later, an orange tabby male cat with a bruised face showed up. I began feeding them - yes, I know, shame on me - and have befriended them. Then, another tom cat showed up just today, but I haven't became friends with him yet. Our local humane society is offering vouchers to get pets spayed/neutered and vaccinated for free. I may take that up if they stay around. I've posted them on the humane society's website to no avail, no one will claim them, and I can't stand seeing them starve. Just look how cute and comfy!

Mr. Orange hangs around all day and I'm pretty sure has claimed our house as his own. I plan on trying to take in the female so she can have her kittens in peace, and get her fixed before putting her back with the boys. She disappears in the daytime and then comes back later in the evening for food. I've checked with all my neighbors who confirmed she's not their cat, and with the amount of cats hanging around lately, they probably think I'm the crazy cat lady. I never would have thought I'd like cats, in all honesty. I just had no interest in them. That they found me I guess you could call it an act of fate. I just hope whatever is out there mauling my birds doesn't get to the other cats.

I have yet to decide if I'm officially done with poultry this time. I've raised them for over 25 years now, and this issue with predators has been an on going problem. There may have even been multiple raccoons, we don't know. I do know that there will be some changes in order. Up on the list of future investments is a solar security light and a couple tree cameras so we can see how many there are. Traps will likely be in order as well. I've even been contemplating adding geese back to the farm, as I never seem to lose very many birds with them around. Then there's still that rescue donkey I've been talking about but as of yet never have found. Plus, y'all should see the grass now. Think it was long before? Oh, my goodness is it tall now, and it's only May! The donkey(s) would love the grass, but I have a feeling they'll be signaling all night though...

Never Again

I'm not really sure how to start this post. Fair warning, this will be an emotional rollercoaster, so proceed with caution. Here goes... 

A couple months ago, I responded to a Facebook page about a couple of geldings that were posted from a kill pen. While I condone paying money to private horse traders found through social media who make money solely off of flipping these innocent horses, this page was run by the owners of the kill pen itself, who also profit from this dirty business. They advertise the horses they believe will get more money sold online than for meat. Sometimes these horses are just not cut out for the meat market - because believe it or not they have laws on animals used for human consumption - and the kill buyers have no use for them. They starve them until a bleeding heart buys them or they die.  Rescues all the time scoop up these horses and the kill pen owners know that so they hike up their prices on horses that have a lot more issues than what is mentioned. I always say there's a reason they end up there, and I stand by that. Sham and Beau were an experiment on my part because I felt that in order to be a true rescue I had to take a gamble on site unseen kill pen horses.

They arrived from Kansas to Nashville via the transport I paid to haul them there, and we drove down to pick them up. As most of you know from following this blog, only a couple weeks later, Sham died of what we later found to be was kidney failure via an autopsy, most likely from months of starvation and dehydration. Then this past Monday, we tried riding Beau again. He was getting a bit pushy in hand and I didn't feel comfortable with the way he was acting to hop on, so my husband volunteered. Beau immediately reared and threw him to the ground. This wasn't like Beau. He is typically a laid back guy that is phased by nothing. My husband tried again, as he only had some minor scrapes, and Beau went to rear again, so my husband jumped off before he was thrown again. We unsaddled him and called it a day thinking maybe he just didn't feel like working. We've ridden him before and he did good so I was confused about this complete 360 in attitude. The next day Beau was severely and suddenly lame. Thinking it was an abcess from his shoes that were pulled not too long ago, we brought out the vet, but the diagnosis was grave... he has laminitis.

We had no choice except to put Beau to sleep, and he was laid to rest beside his buddy, Sham.

This all happened over the past week, however I've been in so much grief since then that I couldn't write until now. I guess I answered my own question in my previous post about how horses like Beau end up in kill pens. What I can't fathom - again referring to my last post - is why can't people do right by the horse and put them down? Why send them to slaughter? Why does horse slaughter even need to happen when there are other animals purposely bred for meat that we don't really need to add horses to the palate? Why can't this end with responsible horse owners? To lose so much on two horses that I just wanted to help has bittered me, especially after so many success stories I've read online about kill pen horses. I suppose there are a lot more that you don't hear about and I think it's wrong. Let's stop acting like these people are doing good by making money off of horses that really should be put out of their misery the respectful way via euthanasia, not force them to suffer until they're slaughtered. As soon as they stepped off the trailer, I'd come to the conclusion that neither of these horses ended up being how they were advertised in the videos I watched and they were likely drugged for the videos. 

Nothing will ever change unless we horse owners change it first.

To the rescues out there that continuously try to save these horses from kill pen pages online... I know you want to help these direct ship horses (believe me I feel your pain) but let's try instead to focus on outbidding the kill buyers at auctions to intercept these horses before they even make it to the kill pen in the first place and not pad the pockets of the people who make a living off of this. To horse owners, please consider surrendering your horse to a rescue instead of getting a couple hundred for it at auction. I offer an owner surrender program, as do many other legit rescues, and I'm even willing to pay you meat price for your horse just to keep it out of the auction. As you can see in the above picture Luna, who was on death's door when she was dropped off here, is blossoming! She is lying in the same hay pile that she collapsed in when we first brought her home, except she was skin and bones then. Now look at that big ole belly! After seeing the change in Luna over a short 6 months I have to smile. This is what keeps me going, even during the times when I feel like giving up. This... this is rescue!

Euthanasia... An Act of Love

To all of you who've been following our journey with Luna, the little grey Quarter Horse mare that we took in as an owner surrender last fall, you probably know how difficult it has been putting weight on this gal. When we took her in, she was between 0-1 in body score, rail thin and had diarrhea from where she was left to eat what little grass she could chew with no teeth. These people knew enough about horses that they were familiar with the term quidding - which is when a horse makes little balls of grass or hay that they spit out - usually meant the horse needed a dental float. Usually.

The exception was that she was a senior horse, and when they are that old, eating isn't about gaining weight but just surviving. Quidding also happens when a senior horse loses so many teeth from aging that it can no longer eat properly. Therefore, since Luna was a senior horse, she was essentially starving to death in a grassy pasture. Imagine being surrounded by steak (or whatever food you can't live without) and only being able to lick it but not actually swallow it. This is how she was living. After this vet visit, the owners decided that they could no longer afford the care required for a senior horse, and luckily she arrived to use just in the nick of time. Had they waited just a few more weeks and she likely would have died. She was very weak to the point where she was basically a walking skeleton.

Luna shortly after her arrival here barely able to stand

Now I know what you're thinking... if they paid for the vet to float her teeth, why didn't they just pay to put her down? Despite what you may think, it is because they cared deeply for her. It took the mom a lot of persuading her daughter to let her go, and I understand this. I get this a lot, and from a horsewoman perspective, I completely understand. I know it's incredibly hard to do so after all the memories made. We actually would've had about a half dozen horses by now if we didn't talk people into doing right by their old horse and putting it down versus surrendering them to us. To others it is simply an expense they can't afford. It isn't going to get better unfortunately. With good feed these days, horses are outliving their bodies these days due to their more sedentary lives than when they were used for daily work, feed that is tailored towards horses' nutritional needs and better medical treatments. Their bodies give out but the horse perserveres.

What people need to realize is that euthanasia is an act of love. No horse wants to be uprooted from everything they know in their final days, and handed off to someone else to do the deed for them. They would prefer to go down with their people with them, holding them in their last moments. While we do take in senior horses as surrenders, we will not adopt out horses 20 years or older to avoid the added stress of going to a new home. They will live out their lives with us here in sanctuary. That said, with having too many senior horses living in retirement here, we won't have the space to take in more younger horses that could potentially be rehomed with either training or rehab, and this won't be helping our initial cause when we set out to rescue horses.

If horse owners would keep horses their entire lives and, yes, even in their last days, less horses would be sent to auction. If the horse has issues that you realistically can't afford long term, don't send it to auction. Do right by the horse and consider euthanasia. If you cannot afford it, search around for a local humane society that would do it for you, often at little or no cost to you. The time will come sooner than later when Luna will have to be put down. She was just diagnosed with Cushing's Disease at her last vet checkup, which we had guessed from her not shedding out her winter coat. This will shorten her life, and we don't know how long she had it before we got her tested. She also had jaundice when she first arrived, most likely from her low body score, so we are keeping an eye on that as well. We're doing everything in our power to keep her going and comfortable, but she's a ticking time bomb.

A Stellar Pedigree

Beau is doing so much better. His coat is becoming sleeker from regular grooming and his limp is hardly noticeable. We will start giving him a refresher soon, but honestly I don't think it's going to take much to get him back to riding. He's pretty chill. Once he gets used to someone climbing on him again, I think he'll be ok, but I haven't did much with him as far as gait transitions go. I know he's a pacer so that makes trotting a little uncomfortable, though I don't think with his arthritis he's going to want to go fast. While the vet was out checking up on his knee, we had his teeth floated and his annual dental done. He is also blossoming in personality, and coming out of his shell. He's a shy guy, but not runaway shy, more "just do what you need with me then leave me alone" shy. To see him starting to show life and that he has an opinion is a huge improvement that I love to see, especially in Amish horses because they were used as machines all their lives.

I know I mentioned previously about Beau's race record, however I didn't mention his pedigree. I did a bit more research on that and come to find out that he has a stellar pedigree for a Standardbred. He is related to Albatross, Abercrombie, Adios and Hambletonian, which were also in Zelda's pedigree. What shocked me most though is that he is directly related to Dan Patch through his mother's side. It is very rare for that line to show up much anymore in modern day pedigrees. The reason is because he only sired 138 foals, which is tiny compared to today's numbers. Being so far "out west" in Savage, Minnesota at the time instead of centralized around Kentucky where the big breeders were, he wasn't exposed to the best mares Not many were willing to travel that far - mind you this was the 1800s - to breed to a stallion, no matter how popular he was. Beau was from Chicago which, when we went to Minnesota to visit my husband's parents that live there, we had to pass through, therefore it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that they could have some Dan Patch blood still hanging around up there.

I mean, I had the Breyer model of Dan Patch when I collected racehorses as a teenager. I had no idea that come 20 years into the future I'd own a distant baby of his! Someone pinch me! It is also shocking to think that he and Diva, two completely different breeds of horses, are related through Justin Morgan, another model made by Breyer and another distant relative also in Beau's pedigree. Standardbreds typically have Thoroughbred and Morgan blood in them in the early years of their development as a breed so this isn't uncommon. The biggest revelation however is that he shares the same grandsire as Foiled Again, Artsplace. He and Foiled Again are first cousins. Artsplace won over $3 million on the track, a huge accomplishment for a Standardbred. Sadly, Beau didn't do nearly as much as his cousin, who won over $7 million on the track, but it is pretty cool that they're so closely related. Of all the Standardbred stallions out there, what are the chances of them having the same grandsire?

It amazes me how you can find such quality horses in kill pens. All these well bred horses, just tossed away without a second thought, and many don't have a chance of getting a good home because people still prefer the prettier colors over bays, chestnuts and blacks. I think of Ferdinand and Exceller, the famous Thoroughbreds that ended up in the slaughter pipeline and were killed. To think that if we hadn't pulled this boy, the same fate would've befell him. He sat in the middle of a crowded kill pen, scared and without anyone remembering him or knowing who he was, the blood he carried, all because he didn't do well on the track and his Amish owners no longer could use him. How many more are there?

An Eclipse for the Ages

How are you viewing the eclipse today? I heard of hotels charging ridiculous prices in the path of totality. While we didn't get 100% totality today, we did get 98% totality, which is good enough in my opinion. It didn't get as dark as pictures sent to me from relatives in my hometown in Ohio where we moved from, and it was yet again stormy. However, I did get a good picture of it before it disappeared behind a cloud. I had a good vantage point, from the back of Annie, when I took this picture. It made for a memorable eclipse since I'll probably be very old when the next solar eclipse comes.

Of course, just like Kentucky weather, it is now bright and sunny as I type this. Thanks, Mother Nature.

I wanted to give a quick update about the worst storm that we had so far this year that happened a couple days ago. Several of my birds went missing. The Muscovy drake, Zorro, went missing but has returned, much to the delight of his brother, Elvis, who is the friendliest duck from my first flock. I don't think they've stopped wagging their tails all day. I think it's safe to say that Bridget, the mother duck from last year's ducklings, is no longer alive. If she flew away with Zorro I'm pretty sure she'd have come back by now. Simon and his favorite hen (she is unnamed as I cannot tell the difference between the Cream Legbar hens) are missing and I doubt will return, since Simon never would leave his hens. I can't tell you how saddened I felt not to hear Simon's crow this morning and him running to the car to see me when I got home from work. I guess you don't realize how much you miss something until it's gone. We finished putting the roof back on the coop this weekend after it blew off during the storm, which was how our chickens escaped. I'm hoping that one of the chicks from this year's flock will end up being a rooster and take over for Simon once he's a bit older.

Hopefully this is the last of the crazy spring weather, and that it'll start warming up soon.

My latest spring project is the dreaded pasture clearing. When we don't have enough horses to mow down all the grass in the pasture by the end of the year, tall weeds and bushes like to grow up in place of the grass. Not only do we have to mow it down, but we have to try to uproot as many as possible to prevent them from growing back because horses don't like to eat them. We need to figure something else out because pasture clearing has left me with a splinter in my thumb, blisters on my hands, cuts all over my skin, a thorn in my leg, a bug flew in my eye and grass bits in my boots. I'm not afraid of hard work, but it would be a tad bit easier if we had enough animals to eat down the entire field. 

Horses only like the "good" stuff so I toyed with the idea of getting goats to help clear out the brushy stuff. Long time readers of my blog will know how I feel about goats though. The damage they do to fences and the fact that they are Houdinis in disguise has always made sheep the better option, as they clean up the grasses that horses don't like, but they also eat the grass the horses do like so it's a double edged sword. Another thought was getting a couple donkeys. Our last donkey we had, Jesse, ate all the bushes around the barn when we first moved in. Donkeys don't need as nutritious of grass as horses, being desert animals by nature. They actually should be kept on a drylot with second rate hay, if possible, as they can get obesity and founder on good grass. One issue with donkeys, though, is the noise, which is why I'd like to try two donkeys this time. I'd prefer to stick with equines since we are set up for them so that gives the donkeys an advantage over the others. I've had beef in the past with cows, quite literally as I worked on a dairy farm before and dealt with some hormonal heifers when they were in heat (and I don't like the fact that cows are constantly kept pregnant to avoid being dangerous) so unfortunately cattle will never call our place home, although there are plenty of farm animal rescues out there who'd gladly take them in. I'm just not one of them.

The neighbors' calves visiting our horses (far left)

I will say though that I caught a couple of the neighbors calves slip through the electric fence into our field (most likely because the storm short circuited it so it wasn't working) to graze with our horses and were incredibly adorable! Until they get to be 2,000 lbs... This is also why if we got goats or sheep we'd need more fencing, because if the calves can slip through, so could our goats and sheep, and I really don't want to chase them through our neighbors herd of cattle hoping I don't get horned by an angry mama or bull. Whatever we decide to do, the animals will all be auction rescues. In the meantime we're turning to other projects now that the weather is getting warmer, like finishing the barn and the welded wire fence that desperately needs finished before we can even think about getting goats or sheep, but especially goats. Basically getting all the loose ends wrapped up. I also need to finally stop putting off that garden. The plants are growing in the greenhouse but I am nowhere near having an area ready to actually plant the plants in.

Being a procrastinator is my weakness.

I feel bad cutting down the bushes because when we first moved in we had Bobwhite quail that loved to hide in the tall grass. They are no longer here, but I noticed a population boom in hares. I think with our farm being almost entirely fenced at this point (minus an area where the bushes are too overgrown to put a fence through) the rabbits feel very safe over here. There were five of them, the most I've ever seen at one time. Last year when we didn't have our welded wire fence up yet, I found a dead hare under our truck, killed by the neighbor's dogs. I've found an endless amount of uneaten wild animal bodies lying on my property, from birds to even a cat. Protecting our animals has been difficult with a neighbor that lets her four dogs run loose - and there are eight acres between us mind you - but because we are an unincoperated community we don't have a dog warden to enforce keeping them leashed. I've lost several of my own animals when her dogs came onto our property, so the fence was a necessity. Now, the wild animals use our yard as sort of a haven, and I want to keep it that way.

What A Girl Wants

If I had a dollar for every person who has said to me "I want a gelding only" I wouldn't need donations. It is a commonly known fact in rescue that mares make up the majority of intakes, mostly broodmares who've had little to no handling done with them in their lives. They essentially become half feral, with many being field bred by stallions and raising foals year after year, just to have said foals ripped away from them. This leaves them with emotional trauma. These horses need special people to overcome their trust issues, and often times have never even been ridden in years. This makes them essentially worthless to anyone who wants a riding horse. Not to say that broodmares can't overcome the fear of being ridden, just that it's harder because they need to really bond with the person on their back. Such was the case with Diva.

I started working on winter refreshers with the horses as well. Admittedly I don't do much riding throughout the winter and prefer to deal with the consequences in the spring. Annie did really well and actually seemed ready to ride. She put herself in her stall when she saw the saddle come out. Diva, on the other hand, ran the other way. The running away from the saddle is typical of Diva. What I can't tell is if she is simply doing it to get out of work, or because of a legitimate fear. When she is ridden, she always goes right back to the way she was before no matter how much time has passed, who is so sore while I reused muscles that I forgot I had over winter break. She'll act like a bag of nerves when the saddle goes on, but once it is on, she'll stand nicely to mount without fuss, and always has her ears back listening to her rider.

While she knows her cues, she isn't confident under saddle and can be jumpy, which I can ride through, but is incredibly buddy sour and I'm always afraid that she'll bolt off. Nothing good has ever happened when a horse has bolted on me without a brake. While she has never showed any interest in her herd when I'm on her back thus far, I've admittedly only ridden her in the round pen because I don't trust her. After I give her a few more rides to get her used to being ridden again after the winter layoff, I'm going to try having my husband walk Annie in front of her and see if Diva will follow because, honestly, I'm tired of riding circles and this was the next step I used with Robbie (successfully) when he graduated from the arena to the pasture. I know Diva is buddy sour, so I think riding in company might be the confidence she needs to ride outside of the round pen.

During ground work, she's shown interest in jumping and also seems to have some cow sense when our neighbors' cattle come over in the afternoons. Like the typical Morgan horse, she seems very well rounded in what she can do, if she can just learn to control her anxiety. This is a reason why I've been teetering about keeping her as a permanent resident. She is a one-person horse and has to learn to trust each individual person that works with her before she feels comfortable. For example, I primarily do the ground work with her, and she'll stand without flinching if I throw a lead rope over her neck, but when my husband once reached up to give me the reins while I was riding, she nearly reared on me. He doesn't work with her nearly as much. She'll follow me anywhere, and has followed me through water, over scary tarps, over a downed electric fence. She'll let me touch her all over her face and ears, which she had a problem with at first. She'll even follow me around off lead in a small area, but she won't do this with everyone. She's broken away from my husband on the lead a couple times when she felt overwhelmed and her flight instinct took over.

I understand how she ended up at auction. In the wrong hands she would've been deemed "untamed" or "wild" and has to be handled with kit gloves, as she's not as forgiving when you break her trust. She'll definitely need someone with a lot of patience if she ever was adopted. I'm more than willing to take my time with her. I plan to start hand grazing her (she is entirely food motivated but I'm not a clicker treat trainer because I've had a horse once become a nipper after I tried that) and grooming her under halter instead of in her stall so she starts associating things that she likes with being haltered instead of just when the halter goes on she thinks she's being ridden. She has been aged by our vet to be about 20 years old, meaning that she's already a senior and her days as a riding horse will likely be limited anyways. 

I'm hoping with time, and consistency, I can get her to enjoy riding again. It worked with Annie, another horse that associated the saddle with "work" when I first started riding her, and is a common occurance with Amish horses. With time, they realize that the things I ask them to do are easy. They are not going to trot 10 miles to town, and usually they come around. Honestly nothing may work at this point. If she were a young, fresh horse it would be different, but because she is old and more than likely knows that running will get her out of work, she may not respond to re-training. She may just have to be a pasture pet the rest of her life.