Despite his pretty coloring, this five year old pinto was hard to adopt

The longer a horse has lived their life wild, the longer it takes to gain their trust and confidence. You can tell them till you're blue in the face that you only want what's best for them; that fences are there to keep them safe from semi trucks passing down the road or cougars out in the trees. They don't understand you, of course, and they take a long time to convince.

Some can never be convinced. We can offer food and water and shelter...but they'll turn their backs on us. Sunny is proving to be like that. She wasn't even that old when captured or adopted, but she's made up her mind that she doesn't want to be handled or taught to do things that she thinks are unimportant. She gladly accepts food from my hand, but doesn't want to repay the kindness with any form of relationship.

Quiet Storm, being adopted at such a young age, came around very quickly. Jet's natural curiosity has made her even easier. My farrier, Cheryle, has a gelding that wasn't adopted until he was 5 (or was it seven?), and he's proven to be a real challenge. He's taken a long time, just like Sunny, to win over. The older they are, the harder it is.

Quiet Storm and Darling buddied up quickly.

Domestic horses are introduced to a concept when they're young; at birth, for most of them. They're taught not to fear and can be approached in a completely different manner than their wild counter parts. I once bought a filly who, at age three, had yet to be halter broke. Still, she'd lived her life around humans and didn't have any fear of us when we haltered her for the first time. Her relationship with humans had begun at an early age, even if formal training hadn't.

Quiet Storm was a baby and her fear and distrust disappeared rapidly. Jet, a bit older, was naturally curious and came willingly. Sunny, no matter what I do, still hangs back. I offer her everything that is good for her, but she'd prefer to turn her back on me. Imagine how much more fearful she'd be if she'd been a couple years older before finding herself in captivity?

My horses are all offered a choice; a choice to trust and become productive members of equine society. Jet and Quiet Storm have made that choice; they've become willing, valuable partners. If for some reason I were forced to give them up, they'd stand a better chance of finding homes that would care for them. Sunny has yet to make the choice. She's come close, but not totally given herself over. Right now, Sunny is a prime candidate for slaughter, or worse yet, be be left abandoned or abused by someone who just tires of her and gives up. Which is why I don't give up. Sunny has great value to me in that I know what the outcome will be if she's allowed to stay the course she's currently chosen. It may take years, but I'm unwilling to give up on her.

Sunny sees herself as capable of taking care of herself in this world. She's the independent sort who thinks she doesn't need anyone else to see her through. You and I know that isn't true; she's very dependent on her owner in order to survive.

These reflections caused me to see a distinct similarity between my relationship with these horses and Christ's relationship with us. Some of us are introduced to Him at an early age. It may be an introduction like the three year old filly; we know He's out there and that He brings us good things and that there's nothing to fear, so that when formal training happens later, we're not shocked or opposed to it. It could be that we're introduced a little later, but still with open and curious minds. Or maybe...maybe we're like Sunny. Maybe we don't want to believe that there's someone out there that will love us unconditionally, no matter what choices we've made in the past or will make in the future. But just as I will continue to give Sunny every opportunity to make her choice, Christ will do the same for us. Yet his rewards will be so much greater.

Sunny struggles to accept the gift that is freely given.

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Sunny Evening

Two weeks have gone by...or is getting closer to three?...since I last worked with any of the horses. Too long for Sunny, or so I thought. Tonight as she and Jet were finishing up their hay I wandered out into the pasture. She moved away, white of her eye showing. I can't imagine what it must be like to be harboring so much fear.

I let Sunny lope down to the end of the field and waited for her to turn back towards me. I knew she would, as facing up has become routine for her. Once she was looking at me, head in a semi-relaxed position, I began to walk closer. Some folks would say to just stand and wait it out, but hey, this is Sunny we're talking about, right? There is no out waiting this filly. So walk towards her I did, coming to within ten feet or so before she showed signs of stress. I stopped and let her gather her thoughts.

It may seem odd to a non-horseman that a horse would have thoughts, let alone that you'd allow them to gather those thoughts. In fact, it would likely irritate some folks who consider themselves horsemen to do so as well. But I want Sunny to make the choice to do what's right. I can force the issue, but I don't want a horse who needs to be forced; I want one that has decided to work with me. Sunny may never enjoy the work, but I never will enjoy the fight, so we're working on meeting somewhere in the middle.

After a few minutes, Sunny allowed me to walk up alongside her and stroke her neck and shoulder before moving off. I had the halter in my hand and had thought I'd lead her back to the barn, but now my objective had changed. Sunny took a couple steps away; she was protecting her right side again, but not in such a fearful way as she'd done a few months back. She just didn't want to give me access to that side. That was okay by me. I reached out for her again and this time she stood still, allowing me to run my hand over her neck and rub on her mane, eventually reaching over to take the halter that my left hand was holding beneath.

The white didn't leave her eyes, but Sunny stood and allowed me to halter her. I gave her a good girl rub, then took it off and walked away. That was enough for her first day back in the 'work force.' Tomorrow we'll step it up and see if we've really lost any ground or not.

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Sunshine...

Sunny stands in the old paddock.

I can't believe the sun is shining! And am I getting ready to work a wild horse or two? Or even three? No. I'm getting the kids up and ready to leave because the Keizer meats is coming today to butcher the pig. No one really wants to be here when it happens, so we'll head off to town and do a bit of shopping to distract ourselves.

The weather report sounded good for today and tomorrow, but instead of mounting up, which I'd dearly love to do, I think I'll just be leading through the field and trees. City Boy has begun working on the barn extension, and the paddock that served so well as a place to start the youngsters is not only reduced in size, but has all sorts of tools sitting in it at the moment.

The round pen is also out of the question as it's been housing Pig these past couple of months. Instead of in a nice, cleared area conducive to riding, it's found itself encircling a patch of blackberries (which pig was supposed to eat, but didn't.) Perhaps this afternoon I'll sweet talk City Boy into helping me move some of the round pen panels out into the pasture to create a safe place to start working the horses again. None of them has had anything done since the before the fair.

Have any of you got RFD TV? Last night they aired an episode on the Extreme Mustang Makeover. It must be a series of programs as last night was mostly short interviews with the trainers and the folks who are sponsoring the event. It was kinda fun to put faces to the names, plus see some of the trainers that we're following via their websites and blogs. If you get a chance and haven't already done so, visit some of the trainers' sites that I've got listed in to the right. It's pretty amazing what you can do with a wild horse in such a short time!

Sunny relaxes long enough to allow her eye to be photographed.

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