Small victories

DAY 6...

I'm glad I had mentally prepared myself to start from square one with this mare. She's definitely not wild but she has so many hurdles ahead of her. The first of them is trusting people. She's not scared of people but she's very wary. Today was the first day I was able to reach up and grab her halter without bribery of some kind. I wanted to reward that with something that she wouldn't find as difficult as picking up her feet. So, we decided to go for a walk.

We walked around the yard and along the fence line of the pasture. We walked by the chickens while the dog was sprinting circles around the yard. I picked grass for her and we just hung out for a bit while she grazed. She would pick her head up when I asked her to but she did NOT want to leave the grazing spot. And then, spontaneous training time... She stepped over her lead rope and it went in between her front legs with me behind her. She ended up turning again so that she was facing me but now the lead rope was wrapped all the way around one front leg. I focused on moving slowly so I wouldn't startle her and she stayed calm the whole time. I was able to grab the lead rope closer to her halter and unwind it from her leg. We took the opportunity for me to place the lead around her leg and pull her leg up and forward. She responded much better to that than she does if you're trying to pick up her foot by hand. We can explore more of that another day. I wanted to end on a good note so we called it a night.

I've started keeping a tally of the "cost of rescue" at the bottom of the posts. Obviously, these numbers can vary wildly depending on the situation of the owner. I'm thankful that I'm able to have my horses at home and I don't have to factor in boarding costs. I do plan on adding in training costs once she reaches the point where she trusts people enough. At this point we're just working on trust and making sure she can be handled safely by a trainer, the vet, and the farrier.

TOTAL COSTS:

Purchase Price - $357.50

Blanket - $121.32

Supplements - $78.81

Total - $557.63