We are just a few days short of three months since we opened our doors to bring Junior "home". As always, there's a learning curve with each horse that becomes a member of the Sanctuary. Add to that learning curve, Mother Nature, and life gets even more interesting.
I have only had Junior in with the mares (except for the brief half an hour when the mares broke out and Junior was in with the big herd, but disguised because everyone was wearing green blankets). Junior has had the opportunity to meet the big herd with the safety of a fence in between. I think he would be at the bottom of the herd but would be best friends with Zeke and Junior. I've already seen Zeke grab a bite of hay and take it over to Junior to share.
When we first got Junior, we were told he was hard to catch. If there's no grain involved, he is hard to catch. The way to that boy's heart is through grain. For the first two months, we grained Junior nightly. In January, with all the sickness that ran rampant throughout the Border household, I wasn't able to grain every night. I know, that's not right and it shouldn't happen but it did. I'll take the blame for it. Unfortunately, with that month of no grain and a round bale instead of high quality grass hay, Junior did lose weight. Or at least so I think.
We are back to graining him nightly and feeding high quality, dairy grass hay. Because he's in with the mares, I have to pull him out and stall him so that he has time to eat. I've gotten lazy. I simply put a halter on and open the gate so he can wander over to his stall. Now, tell me if that's a horse that's hard to catch! Unfortunately, he's taken to dumping his grain onto the floor so I'm going to have to come up with a different way to feed him. I stopped adding calf manna because he hated it and feeding time would take a solid hour for him to get through his grain. Now it's simply senior feed, although I want to look at other grain options the next time I can get into town.
I know Junior is settling in well. I was told that he's very non aggressive and when I first put him in with the mares, I was worried that they would push him away from all food. Any time either of the mares gave him the stink eye, they'd run to the other side of the pen.
Not any more!
Junior is finally figuring out that he doesn't have to be pushed around. The other day, I saw him sidle up to Rabbit. She pinned her ears but Junior did run in the other direction. He simply wandered on to the next pile of hay. Then Mayhem decided that she wanted the same pile of hay. Junior pinned his ears and that sent Mayhem packing. I was so proud of Junior.
And then last night! Mayhem was harassing Junior. So he snacked his neck out, pinned his ears, and tried to take a chunk out of Mayhem's neck. That sent Mayhem running. But she came back and Junior decided to turn his butt to her and let both hooves fly. Of course, there was no impact because he wasn't TRYING to hit her. But it was nice to see that he's finally putting the smack down and not getting pushed around. I figured Rabbit would be the top dog in the pen, but it pleases me that Junior is finally feeling comfortable enough to put other horses (even if it's only Mayhem) in their place.
With this cold snap, Junior is tucked into his blanket. Luckily the leg straps can (and have been removed). I don't think we'll ever be able to resolve his back leg issues. But it doesn't seem to bother him. If I'm not out to grain him as early as he thinks, he's pacing the fence.
I also know he's getting used to me as well. During some of the mornings and evenings, he'll let out a low nicker. That nicker warms my heart. It may be that I'm simply bringing food and that's why but I'll take it no matter what.
Junior has become a fixture at the Sanctuary and I'm so glad and blessed to say that we are the lucky ones to be able to take care of him in his final years. Feeling blessed.
