The Horse Forum banner

update: rescue filly is finally home! (pics)

2K views 14 replies 13 participants last post by  muumi 
#1 ·
hi everyone!

in case anyone was interested in an update on my old thread, here is the filly that ended up with me. she is the very light, very young palomino filly in the original line-up.

these pictures were taken last week, on the first day she arrived... she is absolutely terrified of being touched, does not know what carrots are and hence will not eat them, and is in pretty poor shape. but she was happily trotting about, exploring, within minutes of her arrival.

according to her records, her birthday is on christmas day, and then she will be 2!









so, now the hard work begins: wish me luck!
 
See less See more
4
#4 ·
thank you guys for your kind words!
i've never taken on a horse like this before so its pretty overwhelming... she is really quite petrified of being touched and handled, and even just having a human stand to close to her gives her the willies.

but. we have been working hard on that these last few days. me just standing in her personal space and her trying her best to be fine with it. if i reach my hand out to her like i am about to touch her, she wriggles her skin as if at a fly. and if i do make contact, she starts and tosses her head. her ears actually quiver with nerves. sometimes she stamps a foot and tries to turn her bum on me.

luckily she stables easily, which was something i was very nervous about, but she just follows her food inside, and actually seems to like it in there.

so last night i think we finally had our first breakthrough: after her dinner, i spent a few minutes with her in her stable and then went out riding. when i returned about an hour later, i approached her again, and she didnt turn away from me like she usually does. she let me stroke her neck and cheeks, and then let out a massive sigh (of relief! it seemed), and leaned her head against my shoulder. we stood like that for maybe 20 minutes; me actually cradling her head in my arms at one point, as she seemed to drift off a little.

here is a pic that i took on my phone to show everyone:"look what she let me do today!"



it was really such an amazing moment for me, and really made me feel glad and grateful to have her around.
 
#6 ·
Good Luck!!! It looks, and sounds like your doing a great job though! I do know that when I bought my then 10month old, even though he had been worked with daily, for me it was hard work to finally gain his trust to even put, and take off his halter. But 10months later, and Im finding it hard to find things for us to work on, let alone do ;D

Good Luck! Keep us updated! She is adorable, and look forward to seeing her fat and healthy ;)
 
#7 ·
She is beautiful! I'm sure you will continue to make a lot of progress with her! My rescue gelding, Sampson, was extremely head shy when I first brought him home. He was going to be put on the trailer to go to the slaughter house when I bought him. I've only had him for a little over a week now and I can put his halter or hackamore up over his ears without a problem, and he even lets me rub his ears! Rescue horses often seem to be extremely grateful and make wonderful companions, at least from my experience :) Good luck with your new filly!
 
#8 ·
oh, what a cutie. And it sounds like you're already making a lot of progress! Good luck to you and you're definately in trouble if we don't get regular updates!

patience patience patience! It's the three laws of rescuing a horse :)
 
#13 ·
she is gorgeous! poor dear but it looks like you're making good progress with her. from what I can tell you guys are gonna be great friends she'll be the knd of horse that trots to the gate to meet you!
 
#15 ·
Thanks everyone for your encouragement and advice!

I am really enjoying reading your stories about your rescued horses or young horses that you really had to work to bond with. Keep 'em coming!

And of course, I love hearing any and all advice and/or tips!

Last night we had a couple of 'setbacks':

Firstly, (and it couldn't be helped, but I still feel very bad and very sorry!) I had to give her a vaccination shot and deworming. So there goes all my whispered promises of 'treating her well' and 'that I was never going to hurt her', when i stabbed her in the neck with a needle and forced her to swallow yucky substances. Humans are such liars. She took it all quite well though, and even patiently allowed me to groom her a little afterwards.

And secondly, and I suppose i should just laugh at this, my neighbour (who can be a bit overwhelming) came round to question me about this horse. I wasn't there to defend myself, but apparently she got quite huffy about why this horse was in such a state? And are we even feeding her? And we're obviously not feeding her enough, or the right stuff etc etc. And she directed all this at my poor groom, who isn't fluent in english yet, and therefore a poor match for her interrogation.

I can't help wondering if she (and perhaps others?) think that somehow, even though this filly only arrived at my place a few days ago, I am somehow responsible for the state she is in? Or that at least that I am maintaining it?

Oh well, I don't mind... I actually really appreciate her concern. I would be more upset if no one in the community bothered to raise a fuss about a horse looking like this right under their noses...

(But I do still feel a tiny amount of secret shame that I am sure that many of you can relate to, and that I am trying my best to suppress).

And to apologise for the wordy and selfish post, here is another photo of the young lady in question, hanging out with brand new friends, also taken on her first day here. I intend to take follow-up pictures tomorrow, at the one week mark, and hopefully we can actually see some physical improvement...


PS. I haven't come up with a name for her yet... any suggestions? I quite like old-fashioned English names that are a bit tongue in cheek. Eg. my chestnut mare is Sophie Grey, and my tiny little mule is Rupert II (there was a tiny little Rupert I in my childhood...), and if I had a choice to name my grey, I could see myself naming her something with 'Scarlett' in it. I'm sorry, its very silly I know but I like things that are a bit like a private joke.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top