Thursday, October 14, 2010

Day 5

Alicia told me to write tonight's blog since I spent a lot of time with "Doc" (or whatever he eventually tells us his name is). I finally got a chance to spend some time with him after work today. I couldn't believe how much progress he and Alicia have made already. As soon as I went in the pen with him, he turned to watch me come in. I could hardly get the chair set up, and myself sat down before his head was in my lap wanting to be scratched. He still has no idea what to do with cookies (but I can fix that!); he just loved to have all the itchy spots scratched on his head, neck, withers, and chest. He even loves to have his ears itched!

 
 

I spent a lot of time reading and ignoring him mixed with periods of good quality itching and scratching (some of which was reciprocated on the top of my head! ). I went out and came back with the carrot stick and a lead rope. I sat back down and let him investigate the stick… it turns out he thinks "carrot sticks" are actually carrots, and he likes the taste of them. In a short time, I was scratching him with the stick over his entire body. I didn't even try to touch the back legs or groin area, but everywhere else was fair game. He really seemed to enjoy it, and even asked for more several times. By the end of our session, I was able to walk around the pen and have him follow me from point to point. I certainly plan to go back tomorrow!

 
 

I can't thank Alicia enough for taking notice of a horse that so many people could have turned a blind eye to. He is an amazing, kind soul, and he deserves to have a much better start than he did for the first 15 months of his life. I can't wait to see what the next days, months, and years have in store for him!

 
 

~Jackie

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