I have this gorgeous Thoroughbred Gelding, dark bay (reddish brown with black legs and a black mane and tail) white socks, a big white blaze down the center of his face and soft, loving eyes. He's so expressive with his facial features he's more like a person then a horse. I can tell exactly what he's thinking with a quick glance at his face.
Kash (my horse) is a sad story, and we're still working on the happy ending. He has been starved, abused, placed in home after home having a bad experience at each one. The original owner was going to put him down, when I came along. I took him in, put about 200 lbs. (he still needs more) on him, have gotten his shots, had his feet, teeth, etc. taken care of and he's now to the point where I ride him.
Now most horses that have had bad experiences with riders will buck or try to throw a person off once they are actually sitting on the horse. Kash on the other hand has a fear of people getting on and off. He's perfect once I'm on it's just the getting on part.
Some days he seems like he's really making progress and starting to truly trust me, and then we have days like yesterday where he was bucking in the barn after he was saddled. For no reason! I was so scared he was going to hit a wall and hurt himself. Once he stopped and relaxed, I took him out to the arena and he was perfect to ride, but it's those scary before the ride moments that make me wonder if he just holds it all together while I'm on him cuz he is conscientious of his rider. It kinda breaks my heart to think that he would still be scared of me, but he has had so many people do so many bad things I can't really expect him to trust me.
Here is a little glimpse of his past. He was starved, had a woman ride him with spurs and was so rough she CUT him so bad he has scars & proud/dead flesh, he was beat before, during and after riding, misused, and his trust was completely ruined.
So now, I am just hoping and praying that he will one day trust me, and know that I wouldn't ever hurt him in any way.
Thinking on it, we are a pretty good pair, I have a sprained/broken foot, he has broken trust and we're both clumsy. Maybe I should write a book "Gimpy and Kash on the Road to Recovery."
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3 comments:
That's terrible. I pushed my 70lb dog off the couch yesterday with my foot (as she's not allowed up there and she knows it), but didn't kick her by any means and afterwards I felt SO BAD for just using my feet to push her off instead of my hands. I'm such a sucker for animals. I don't understand why someone would have a horse and not take care of it!! Uh, if you don't want it, sell it!
Exactly, it got to the point the woman who had him hated him so much she was going to put him down. And he is SOOO sweet! I think he was terribly misunderstood and then abused because of the owner/rider's stupidity not because of something he did. Imma animal lover too, I wanted to be a vet but I couldn't deal with the people who mistreated their animals it would just eat me up inside so instead I help local animal shelters and horse rescues :0) because then I have no contact with the stupid people who did the wrong and can help improve the poor animal's lives and help educate people so there is less abuse, negligence, etc.
Abused animals rebound. My dog was horribly abused, but she bounced back. In fact, I think that abused animals make an even stronger bond with their "friends."
Once my dog got over her fear of people...I've never seen a happier animal. And, loyal too. Once they learn to trust again you've really made a connection. It just takes time.
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