Saturday, August 9, 2008

A Good Deal for Spencer

Spencer seems much calmer already! Sometimes.

He's very swollen at the surgery site today, day five.

I hope that goes down soon. Dr. P gave me some bute for him, but I haven't given him any yet as he seems very active without it. So as long as he's not standing around with the appearance of a horse in pain, he'll be okay.

Lots of food. That's a good deal.
This is taken from across the street. You can barely see Spencer in the Play Field, his enclosure for now, across from the horses. My neighbors are awesome about letting our horses graze in their pasture.

This is Spencers surgery site the day after the surgery. I'm not sure what that piece of tissue is hanging down, but it's still there. I hope it's not a permanent thing. Dr. Perkins assures me it isn't and will shrivel up on it's own.

Spencer will not take treats from my hand. He will pick them up off the ground. I'm not sure why, but if I try to offer him a treat from my hand he turns his head away. Who know why, but it could be a training technique that was used on him.

Some people don't believe in handing treats to horses, which is fine. But I believe it's a bonding and training opportunity that we can use to our advantage. But I finally found his weak spot. Apples! He likes apples! We are bonding over apples!

The first few days he was here, he had absolutely no use for me. He didn't want to be bothered or touched by humans. It's possible that no human had ever offered him a good deal.

I want to show him a good deal. First and foremost. I don't have any desire to start "doing" things with him or getting him to bend to my will in any fashion, until he sees me a promising companion. Someone he can trust. And I want to trust him too, which I don't right now.

We cause each other to jump and that's not a good deal.

I just have to be patient. Keep my goals for him in mind and not be sidetracked by what others think I should be doing with him. Then maybe he'll feel like I have something to offer. Even after everything I've put him through, I just might be a "Good Deal."

3 comments:

LindaB said...

HOORAY FOR APPLES!!! You will be a good deal for him once he trusts you. You stole his manhood so of course your low the list for now...that will change!!

DraftCrossFool said...

I know you're a busy gal, but maybe if you can just bring a book and hang nearby for a while each day, (especially if you're the apple-bringer), he might just start looking forward to seeing you. You know how it goes! :-)

Pat said...

Hey, thanks guys! I have been sitting on the salt block watching him eat.

He bit Rich in the chest yesterday, hard. It was a miscommunication I'm sure.

Once he see how all the other horses behave, maybe he'll come around.