Thursday, August 30, 2007

A Baby Boomer Gets on with Her Dream of Arabian Horses Part 3


Getting on with the Dream Part 1

After the filly reared and struck the doctor in the head that was the end of our trip outside. He didn't get the horse any farther out into the open, we just stood there looking at her in the mist, But she did stand quietly.

Even with that scene, I liked what I saw! Not her behavior, or course, but I really liked this horse. She wasn't going to be a halter horse because of the shape of her butt but that didn't matter to me. I knew from looking at her that the horse could get well underneath herself. She had a great neck and a pretty shoulder, nice short back and a pretty face. This was a nice mare.

We went home to think about it. It was a few months before I made my decision. I just couldn't get over thinking Scandalous was going to give me another colt. If I was going to be left with a stallion as the mare's replacement, this was exactly the type mare I would want to breed to that stallion. How's that for thinking down the road?

The mare's behavior was troubling but I knew it wasn't her fault. The horse had not been taught anything. Heck, the horse had never even been outside before that day. The only time she left her stall was to be walked across the aisle to another stall while someone cleaned hers.

It was clear the longer she was left in that situation, the harder it was going to be to correct the behavior. If I was going to buy this horse, it needed to be sooner not later.

The mare's price was dirt cheap probably because they have trouble selling their horses with their bad behavior. Another plus was the people would take terms. Once I figured out how I could actually swing this deal I decided if I was going to buy this mare. I was going to do it now even before Scandalous foaled so there was no more re enforcement of her bad behavior.

All I could think was getting her on the horse trailer was going to be very interesting. I wasn't sure if I was up for it. I couldn't imagine if the doctor could barely get her down a barn aisle there was much chance he could get her into a horse trailer.

I knew that the doctor had problems with how other people treated his horses and that anything he thought was abusive could kill the deal. The problem was every one's idea of abuse is different. I was really dreading going to pick this horse up. Anything could happen trying to load.

But I finally did it, I made an appointment to go do paperwork and pick the horse up. Just my luck it was raining that day. I knew my building tension wasn't going to help the trailer loading one bit.

It took us a while in the house before all the i's were dotted and the t's crossed but the rain still hadn't subsided. After her last outburst over precipitation I was worried.

We all went out towards the barn to get the filly. I headed over to the trailer first to open up the door. To my surprise the doctor was already coming out of the barn with the horse when I turned around towards the barn.

The Arabian filly was still being "managed" the same way that she had been that first day. She was freaked out of her mind pushing into the doctor and he was pushing back into the frightened horse guiding her along the way. Just watching them come towards me made my stomach do a little flip. Was I really up to this challenge?


To be continued.............

Part 4

7 comments:

  1. You are right that everyone sees abuse differently, and I am glad that you thought seriously about that before picking the filly up.

    It always scares me, though, when someone will not lay a finger on their horse no matter what. I find pushy horses VERY scary.

    I also spent time as a working student for a trainer this summer who would beat a horse with a whip for extended periods of time for what I felt were rather minor things. I guess to her, this was appropriate punishment. To me, it was over the top and it was one reason why I left the facility after only a few weeks.

    I love your blog! I look forward to reading how you got the filly on the trailer!

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  2. I cant wait to read more! like, how did she do loading, and when you got her home, what happened, and, the name of this filly. And if her bahavior ever got better? she is definitely very beautiful filly, I want to see what she looks like today.

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  3. I can't believe that she started her life that way. I would have never guessed from watching her interact with you on cam. I won't mention her name, but I will tell you that I did my homework as to which mare this is.
    I can't wait to continue reading. You have a wonderful way of telling the story, maybe you should have the blogs printed out and you can sort them into chapters, starting with the "Dream" ones and moving into the twins. It would be one autobiography I would buy.

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  4. hmm i thought you could use blinders for a horse like that? i mean those things you put on the sides of there heads to keep ther periphal vision out? that way she wouldn't be so scared? thats why she was acting the way she was wasn't it?

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  5. Yeah, I did my homework too, and believe that I now know which mare this is, by reading her pedigree info. And reading who is in her family tree.

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  6. Wow, I'm always surprised when people breed horses when they don't even know basic handling techniques! And for her not to have been outside before 8-O

    I'm glad she found you! Looking forward to the next post...

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  7. Boy, Julia, I'm with you, I find pushy horses to be very scary. I really had to think long and hard before I took this filly on.

    And I, too, have seen trainers that were over the top. I have intervened with trainers that were over the top even though it caused me a lot of trouble.

    Kim, I will be doing some posting about how I dealt with this filly starting tomorrow, I think.

    Cheri, this really is quite a story and believe it or not I'm really shortening it up. I think if I ever put it all together it would be volumes! lol but someday maybe I will get started writing a book. There is a lot to tell. Stay tuned........

    wolfbaby, blinders or blinkers prevent a horse from seeing what's coming up behind them. They are used mostly for horses pulling carts like the trotters and some racehorses. For this poor filly it was everything she could see that scared her because she spent most of her life in a stall. Any form of restriction on her sight would have only terrified her even more.

    and kim, if you did that much research and checked the pedigree then you must have the right horse.

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