A Baby Boomer Gets on with Her Dream of Arabian Horses Part 5 The Next Step

Getting on with the Dream Part 1

The beautiful bay Arabian filly, Krugorrs Heiress, was safely in my barn. The horse had so many issues to deal with I wasn't even sure where I was going to start. I didn't want to get hurt and I didn't want the horse to get hurt but undoubtedly both were going to happen.

Though I considered myself a relative newcomer to the world of raising Arabian (or for that matter any breed of) horses, I was a pretty good hand with a horse. I figured I could deal with most any problem as it came along with my own horses but a totally untrained horse with issues was a daunting task.

Even the most accomplished horse whisperers will tell you they would much rather deal with a totally wild untouched horse than one with issues. Yet, here I was taking on this filly with no idea what to expect. To be honest, I haven't a clue what I was thinking. (Well, that's not totally true, I was thinking the only way I was ever going to get such a great mare for such a small price was to take one on with some major issues!!)

So here I was with this now two years old filly who had lived her entire life in a stall. She had never been turned out. Her only experience with other horses, except her mother, was peering at them through the stall bars across the barn aisle.

That translates to absolutely NO experience or knowledge of herd dynamics. She had all of the instincts of horses but none of the lessons learned. It wasn't just she didn't have any manners with people. She had very little life experience as a horse.

I try to live my life one day at a time and that seemed like the best way to go with this filly. In the morning when the sun was shining, it seemed to be a good idea to get her outside.

After all of the horses had finished their breakfast, I proceeded to put them all outside leaving Heiress until the last. I knew I was going to have to introduce her to the grass, to the fences, to the water trough. We were definitely starting at square one.

Normally, I would put a new horse out by itself next to the horses I wanted to have be pasture mates. But with Heiress, I wasn't sure what to expect if she was turned loose in a large area by herself. I was afraid the horse might freak out and go through a fence. I sure didn't want that.

While Scandalous had always been a dominant, aggressive mare at Feature Farm where I bought her. I had seen a side of her that led me to believe she would see Heiress as the emotional "baby" she was and protect the filly. So I followed my hunch and put the pregnant mare out with the new filly.

Scandalous went off grazing and didn't really pay much attention to me even bringing Heiress out from inside the barn. While the wood floor scared the filly, she actually walked out ok. It was getting her off the concrete and into the grass that just didn't work.

Even though I was able to finally get the filly off the concrete long enough to show her the fences and the gate, I was fighting her every step of the way. The frightened filly wanted to go back to the barn. When I turned her loose, she raced straight back to the concrete. I finally left her there, but checked back often, hoping the grass might lure her off.

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

The Rain

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