Learning the Ropes of Lead Ropes

Yesterday I did lead work with Phoenix and Raven along with Nora, another volunteer. This is the fourth time lead work has been done with these two mares. The first time was 6/5/13. We clipped the lead ropes on to their halters as they were eating and when they were done, a little bit of work was done with them. They both fought against the lead ropes. Since then, Phoenix had a lead rope on her a few times to keep in place as I cleaned her wound.

On 6/17/13, Sam, Nora, and I did put lead ropes on them again. Sam was able to catch Raven without food because she caught her while she drinking water. Phoenix, however, approached me and I just clipped it onto her halter. Phoenix struggled a little, but for the most part it was like walking a really big dog. Raven struggled a lot and is clearly not a fan of lead ropes.

On 6/26/13, Nora and I tried catching Raven and Phoenix without food, but they kept walking away. Raven didn't want us near her with the lead ropes and Phoenix follows her everywhere. We decided to catch them while they were eating. When I told this to Cynthia, she said that we need to work on not giving up and catching them without food. We did a little work with them and decided to really work on capturing them without food the next day. I walked Phoenix around the pasture for about five minutes and then let her go. Phoenix was like walking a dog that didn't really feel like going on a walk. Sometimes she would stop and I would have to really pull to get her to me. Raven seemed to be freaking out, but Nora said she did better than the last time.

The next day we spent nearly two hours in the pasture trying to catch Raven. We tried catching without food and once again they kept walking away. Nora decided that we should get a little bit of food, but only give it to them when they allow us to catch them. It worked perfectly with Phoenix. It didn't work with Raven. At first, she was interested in the bowl. However, she quickly moved away anytime we moved near her halter. Nora and I took turns with one of us going after Raven and the other working with Phoenix. We did grab Raven's halter a few times, but we never got the lead line on her. At one point, I crouched next to the bowl to make myself small and I looked at the ground so as not to put too much pressure on her. When she stuck her head in the bowl, I grabbed her halter. She pulled me into a standing position and jerked me around so much I had to let go. After that I decided that it was Nora's turn again.

We'll have to keep working with both Raven and Phoenix. Raven needs to be caught and Phoenix needs to work on backing up and getting out of my personal space. Phoenix also has a tendency to walk directly behind me instead of next to me. If she walks like that and gets scared and tries to run, I would get trampled. She's good about stopping when I stop, but she stops with her nose pressed into my back or my ear. When I try to get her to back up, she might move one hoof, but then she put it right back where it was. But, hey, at least I can catch her and walk her, which is more than what can be said for Raven.



Also, this past Tuesday, Raven and Phoenix decided to share their food with Sam and I. Here's some photos to give you a good laugh:

Introduction to Phoenix and Raven (But Mostly Phoenix)

On Monday 5/27/13, Trinity rescued two horses. These four-year-old mares had been unnamed and untouched by humans for their entire lives. Trinity volunteers named them Phoenix and Raven. Sam, a high school aged volunteer, decided to use their rehabilitation for the topic of her senior project.

Though Phoenix and Raven are Sam’s senior project, I've been out there helping her out. Two unsocialized and malnourished horses can be a lot to handle for one person. On the Wednesday after those two beauties showed up at Trinity, I started interacting with them. As the photographer for Trinity, I wasn't intending to be part of Sam’s senior project. I just wanted to get some good photos of our new friends. However, I spent a lot of time in the pasture with Sam and I took an instant liking to Phoenix, causing me to just become part of the project. Josh has been helpful, too. We even decided that we’re a little family. We decided that Sam is Raven’s mom (because Raven is her favorite), I’m Phoenix’s mom (because she’s my favorite), and Josh is the crazy uncle (well, he used the word “cool” rather than “crazy”).

I love working with Phoenix. I love Raven too, but I definitely interact with Phoenix more. During their meal times, Sam always feeds Raven and I always feed Phoenix. The girls have learned this very quickly and whenever we walk up with their food bowls they immediately go to their person. Raven is calm enough while eating that Sam can stand next to her and hug her neck and just love all over her. With Phoenix, I can pet her but it wasn't until Wednesday (6/5/13) that I could even try hugging her. Phoenix is sweet but eating just gets her so excited the she paws at the ground. The few times that I put her food bucket on the ground instead of holding it, she paws so hard that she dumps her food all over the dirt and grass. However, on Wednesday she stopped pawing long enough that I could stand next to her and slightly hug her neck. Of course, I couldn't do that for very long because I’d rather not get kicked. Thursday she allowed me to hug her multiple times and even seemed a little more careful as to how hard she was pawing. Friday, I put her food bowl on the ground and with her neck down I hugged her neck in way that I was leaning against her. It didn't faze her at all. I just love the small victories that Sam and I make with these girls each day.

On Tuesday (6/4/13) there was a victory for both Phoenix and I. I cleaned her wound! The previous day I had begun to clean her wound but I didn't have gloves and I got grossed out. Cynthia had to finish cleaning while I petted Phoenix and Sam held on to her halter. The wound on her leg is from a rusty bolt in a catch pen. It gets filled with pus and blood and is completely disgusting. However, on Tuesday I cleaned it all by myself! It helped that I had gloves and the wound seemed cleaner than the previous day. It was a victory that Phoenix allowed me to clean this wound while she ate dinner and nobody was holding her in place. It was also a victory that I could clean it without getting disgusted. She now lets me clean it every day as long as I have food with me. Cleaning it has helped it so much that I no longer have to clean it. The wound is now tiny and will soon be nothing more than a scar.

Sam and I have become very attached to these girls in a short time. The day the vet came (5/30/13) Sam and I got quite stressed out. It pained me to see where the tranquilizer gun had hit Phoenix and was gushing blood. It upset Sam to see Raven upset, kicking, and running in circles as the farrier trimmed her hooves. We both tried to remember that it was only temporary stress for the horses that was necessary for their own good, but we couldn't help but feel upset. They really have become our babies. Wednesday (6/5/13) we went to the movies thinking that we would be back in time to feed Raven and Phoenix their dinner. Some of the other volunteers teased us about our jealous reactions when we found out that other volunteers had already fed our babies. It’s been such a short time, but we sure do love them.

In my previous blog, I mentioned being bitten by a horse. The funny thing about the horse bite giving me some fear of horses, I’m now aiding in the rehabilitation of a horse that had no human interaction until two days before I met her. And which of the two did I build a relationship with? The one that bites. Phoenix doesn't bite in a malicious way, but she has tried to nibble on me when she’s annoyed or I have food on me. One day she tried nibbling on my arm after meal time. When I feed Phoenix, she always finds a way to get her food all over me. That particular day, she had wiped her lips on my arm. A little later I was sitting down in the pasture and she sniffed my arm and then tried nibbling on it. Another day, I followed her around the pasture to pet her without the distraction of food. I should have backed off after she first let me pet her, but I had continued to follow her around. She slowly moved forward with mouth open to bite but I just took a step back and she stopped. It was just her way of telling me that she’d had enough. Also, she sometimes bites objects after sniffing them. She’s like a toddler that wants to put everything new in her mouth. Humans are certainly becoming less new to her so I don’t think biting will really be an issue. It's been weeks since I've seen her biting or nibbling.

Raven and Phoenix are improving quite nicely. On 6/9/13, we went to the Animal Rescue Fair. It was a lot of fun, but I was happy to return to the barn when the fair was over. When Sam and I walked over to the pasture, they came right to us. We fed them dinner and afterwards we spent some time in the pasture to see if our mares would let us pet them without food. They stayed near us and we squatted down in front of them. Raven didn't do much other than sniff us. However, when I puckered my lips, Phoenix squished her face against mine for a kiss. For the most part, Phoenix just allows kisses when she’s distracted by food. It was nice for her to approach me instead of the other way around. Since then she's been very generous with kisses.

Another way they have improved is with grooming. I had been able to slightly groom Phoenix, but not very much. Cynthia, the lovely owner of Trinity, told me that she had been able groom Phoenix. I hadn't really tried grooming, but then on 6/12/13 I groomed her. She looked like she had been rolling in the dirt and I felt the need to clean her up. I groomed her during lunch and dinner. She let me brush her mane and use a curry comb from neck to butt. I haven’t tried this without the distraction of food, but I have a feeling that she would be pretty accepting of it.

As with most things, Raven is a little less accepting than Phoenix. She allows Sam to brush her mane while she eats, but she doesn't tolerate more than that. She is a strong headed horse and a little less willing to trust humans. The fact that she is less willing to trust, just makes Sam’s progress with her so much more impressive.  Raven is very protective of herself as well as Phoenix, so even though she won’t let us touch her very much, she trusts us just enough to allow us to touch Phoenix. Her trust of humans is growing slower than that of Phoenix, but she is becoming slightly more trusting each day. Friday (6/14/13) was the first day that Raven really let Sam touch her without the distraction of food. She has let Sam touch her slightly before, but on that day she let Sam rub her face and pet her more than ever before. Sam is really starting to win her over.

One of the issues with these girls that we still need to do some work on is food aggression. At first Phoenix would go between the two food bowls, but she allowed us to get a lead line on her to keep her at her own bowl. It didn't take many times of us doing that before Phoenix understood that she needed to eat her own food. Raven, however, is still having issues understanding that. Phoenix is the skinnier of the two. She eats slowly, savoring every bite. In contrast, Raven eats quickly and then rushes over to Phoenix’s bowl to finish it off. Friday (6/14/13), we put rocks in Raven’s food bowl in an attempt to slow her down. Animals generally go for the center of the food. With the rocks in her bowl, she has to work her way around them to get to the food thereby slowing down the eating process. It certainly helped, but it didn't completely solve the problem. Now we've stopped putting the rocks in and instead we correct Raven. We shoo her away and she's getting a little better about leaving Phoenix alone. However, they still need to have supervised feeding to make sure Phoenix gets all of her food. The food issue is still a work in progress, but not everything can be solved quickly.

Both Raven and Phoenix have made a lot of improvement in such short time and they continue to improve more and more each day. I can’t wait to see how they improve next!

Phoenix (left) and Raven (right) on 6/17/13

Phoenix 6/3/13

Phoenix's wound 5/29/13

Phoenix's wound 6/18/13

Me cleaning her wound

This is where Phoenix was hit by the tranquilizer gun on the day of the vet visit

Me hugging Phoenix

Me kissing Phoenix

Me grooming Phoenix

Let Me Introduce Myself

Hello! My name is Gabby and I am a volunteer at Trinity Rescue Inc. I started going to Trinity when my mom came home one day and said "I'm going to a horse rescue this weekend". I had taken riding lessons as a kid but I had not had a chance to be around horses since then. I love animals so of course I told her that she couldn't go without me. She had found out about Trinity through one of her elementary students that would always go on and on about his aunt's horse rescue. I'm glad that little Brian is a talkative kid because otherwise I would've never gotten involved in Trinity.

On my third trip to Trinity (2/3/13), I was bitten by a horse. That particular horse had been acting a bit weird that day. He was getting frisky with a couple of the mares. Also, he kept putting his head over the gate as if he wanted to be petted but when people tried to pet him, he would pin his ears back. When a horse pins its ears back, it’s a warning for you to back off. I was just standing in front of him when he suddenly bit me. He dragged me forward a little and somehow I was turned around and I fell, hitting my head on the iron gate. I immediately crawled away from the gate and sat against the wall. Josh, the son of the owner, and Michelle, a volunteer, ran over to me and asked what happened and if I was okay. I told them what happened and said I was okay. I stood up and went to the bathroom. I lifted my hoodie to see large red teeth marks on my chest. An oval shaped bruise was already forming. The next few days I laid in bed with an ice pack on my chest. As of this writing, there are still the remnants of teeth marks and a hematoma on my chest.

Cynthia, the owner of the horse rescue, told me that she thinks the mares are in heat and that must be why he was being so frisky with them and I may have gotten caught in the horse love triangle. She also told me that the man that this horse was rescued from used to stand in front of him and beat him in the face. Cynthia said that I may have accidentally posed a threat simply by standing there. She told me that the combination of his history and the mares being in heat must have made the unfortunate situation for me.

When I took riding lessons as a kid, there was a day when I had a horse a lead line. This horse was afraid of dogs and that day the neighbors' dog had gotten loose. The horse got scared and reared up, causing me to fall underneath him. I wasn't hurt other than a skinned knee, but I became afraid. I didn't interact with horses much until over a decade later when I started at Trinity. When I was bitten, I didn't want to be that same scared little kid. Of course being bitten was scary and gave me a bit of fear, but I didn't let myself stop coming to the barn. I just picked up my mother’s camera and discovered my passion for photography. With the camera in my hand, I could still be near the horses while also keeping some distance. I quickly became Trinity's photographer and even bought my own Canon Rebel T3.

At first, I was afraid of the horses. I hardly touched them and I jumped or flinched when they came near me. Being around these horses so often and seeing how sweet they are, I slowly gained some confidence with them. What helped me gain my confidence the most was being around Cleo. Cleo is a beautiful and sweet Tennessee Walker mare. She gained an interest in me because I had a weird box in my hand that made funny lights and sounds. She was very interested in my camera and then became interested in me. One day she walked away from being groomed, which she loves, just to come see me. And when I later started to leave the pasture, she blocked the gate so that I couldn't leave. She quickly became my favorite horse at Trinity. She was the first horse I had a lead line since getting bit. She was also the first I hugged, kissed, and groomed. I lost my fear of horse with the help of Cleo.

Working with horses is a never ending journey for me and in this blog I'm going to keep track of this journey.

Some of the beautiful Trinity horses 

Me kissing Cleo