Updates part 2

First, pictures of some of the mustangs.

8 yo sorrel gelding - this boy was a jerk to the other horses in his pen, but my eye was constantly drawn to him.

A very cute and in-your-face filly.  After our first encounter, I stayed away from this pen, knowing that if I wasn't careful I'd get attached.

This mare was another that I was drawn to. 

The same mare again.  Just a lovely girl. 

This gelding had an amazing presence.  He was also huge for a mustang, at least 15.2 and that's probably conservative.  A 5 yo, non-reactive, with a quiet intelligence shining in his eyes.  If I could have taken one home, I would seriously have considered him.

And again.  I wasn't able to get a full body shot - this boy was a master at keeping other horses between himself and the people milling around the pens.

Last but not least, a 3 yo sales authority gelding that ended up at Jennie's farm.  Look at those long legs!

Okay, so back to Vegas.  When I pulled onto the drive and got out to open the gate, I could see Vegas behind another fence, pacing and trotting and obviously agitated.  We drove through the pasture and pulled through the next gate, which is their yard.  I parked and got all of my horse stuff out, working stick, longe line, rope halter and lead, etc., and stuffed my pockets with hay cube pieces.  By this point, Vegas had stopped her pacing and was watching me.  I started to approach her with the rope halter and my working stick - as soon as I took a step in her direction, she walked happily towards me.  She waited patiently while I replaced the nylon halter with the rope halter, then I gave her a scratch and turned to her new owner.  I'm not going to lie - I was completely flattered by Vegas' behavior.  Here I thought I was going to have to really work to catch her; instead she showed me that she has bonded with me.  Her adopter was floored, and said something along the lines of 'No f-ing way...I can't believe it' and put his hands behind his head.  I told him that this was a very good thing.  She wasn't reverting like I'd feared - she was just reacting to a new place, new people, and new sounds.

We stood there and talked for a few minutes while I got the whole story.  Vegas had busted out of their pen (they were warned that she would probably try).  She'd broken the latch (that hasn't been fixed yet) but they tried to return her to the pen to eat her breakfast that morning.  Vegas was having none of it.  The first time they tried to put her in the pen, she'd shouldered them out of the way and taken off.   They tried again and again, and it had gotten to the point that she wouldn't let them take her within 50 feet of it before she pulled away from them again.  Okay.  It took us an hour to make it to the pen so she could eat.  We approached and I asked her to whoa before we completely left her comfort zone.  Stop for scratches and maybe a hay cube, stand for a second, turn around and go back to the safe zone and start all over again.  By the time it was too dark to see, Vegas was eating relatively calmly in her pen, by herself with no halter on.  That's when I heard a weird noise.  It sounded like a pig.  I turned and asked if they had pigs in the shed (that Vegas' pen butts up against) - they have two potbellies in there.  Aha!  So, not only is her pen away from the minis - who scream for her when they can't see her - but she's stabled next to pigs, which she finds terrifying.

It took me only a few minutes after arriving to realize that Vegas was in total sensory overload - their place was pretty overwhelming for a horse like Vegas.  They had very loud neighbors, re: screaming kids and babies.  At one point, somebody pulled into the neighbor's yard and laid on the horn for a solid minute and a half - according to the adopters, he does that every day when he arrives home.  Then there were the screaming minis.  And the barking dog that Vegas had to pass to get to her pen, the constantly crowing rooster, the calves crying to be fed, and the pigs.

By the time I left, Vegas was calm.  I told them that it was going to take a while for her to settle in and get used to everything that goes on there.  I explained that the fact that she approached me on her own showed that she was willing to take direction from a person even when she felt like things were out of control.  I suggested that for the next few days they go outside and hang out with her several times a day.  Practice putting on and removing the halter, give scratches, stand with her while she grazes - just be the calm in the eye of the storm as she comes to realize that everything is okay. 

I'm hopeful that even with the rough start, her adopters will be able to stick it out, for Vegas' sake.  

Miss Fuzzy-Face, the last day on Heather's farm.