Hello all,
Today was a wonderful day, the weather was perfect for being outdoors and a great day to spend with our new friend. Honey has not shown any aggression and is very curious. Great traits for gentling and training. From what I have observed she was not the highest in rank of her herd. She has many scars and bite marks. I also feel she is underweight by over 300 pounds. I know, I am accused of having "healthy on the heavy side horses" but as an old cowboy saying goes; "the best color on a horse is fat" and well my friend Leann stopped by and immediately agreed Honey needs some extra calories. That can be tricky for a wild horse, first they are not use to rich grains so we have to introduce them slowly and we have no idea of the health of their teeth. But, I love to feed my family both two legged and four so I am all over it and as my Grandmama also said; "the best way to man's heart is through his stomach". Maybe this is true for Mustangs too!
I picked up an antibiotic from my vet this morning for Honey. She has drainage coming from her eyes and all of our other Mustangs needed a course of antibiotic for shipping fever. It was several days before O'Sparky showed symptoms but I decided to get her started right away as it can be fatal. Again, this is tricky as we can only give it to her in her grain as it is a powder.
She also looks like she is in need of deworming. This coupled with the need of dental care could be contributing to her low weight. We will not start the deworming till she has completed the antibiotics and her teeth cannot be looked at until she has been gentled and haltered. Meantime, we are keeping an eye on everything to ensure she is as healthy as can be.
Today, I moved my bench into her stall and sat beside her feeder. She snorts when something new is introduced. Funny, so does O'Sparky{:> I read more of the National Geographic so she can associate my voice. I do wonder what she is thinking. Hopefully, it something like; "This crazy looking creature keeps coming over to me and making funny noises...but she does bring me goodies to eat".
I am careful not to stare at her as that is what a predator would do. I also keep my fingers closed so she doesn't consider them claws. While these things sound unusual to humans, I feel it is important to put myself into the horse's mindset and I feel it is working as she came to her feeder and ate with me sitting on the bench beside it. She snorted and I never looked up but we knew each of us was curious and that is the first step to trust.Angie and Honey
