Owen continues to make steady progress adjusting to his new life as a SAFE horse. We’re taking things very slow with him to earn his trust. Fortunately Owen is a very good boy, gentle and willing and easy to deal with. It’s lucky for us that his behavior is so mild because until we’re able to get him halter-broken, it’s going to be tough to move forward with our plans to geld him. Thankfully Owen is cooperating with this and giving us a little breathing room. He’s really a good boy.

So, what’s new with Owen? First of all, he’s no longer living out of a horse trailer in the far pasture; he’s moved into the barn. He was moved using a cunning strategy of open gates and roadblocks, and he reached his new home without incident. He now has in-and-out access to a stall and a fenced paddock with a big tree where he spends most of his time. He’s still separated from the rest of my herd of geldings by an empty paddock, mainly to avoid squealing and striking through the fence, but also to keep him a little more inclined to seek out human friends for companionship. He eats his meals in the stall, and seems fairly comfortable doing so, although he doesn’t seem to hang out in his stall when the food is gone.

The gentling of Owen took a big leap forward once the rains stopped last week. I was able to drag a chair out to his paddock and spend some time just hanging out with him while working on my laptop. The first time I did this, he was immediately quite curious about what I was up to, and within minutes, he was standing behind my chair, sniffing my hair, while I watched his reflection on my laptop screen. After about 5 minutes of this, he approached again, this time from the side of my chair. I had a little bottle of peppermint oil with me, and I offered that to him and he was quite interested in this wonderful smell. I took the opportunity to subtly start scratching his nose, and within minutes, he was happily allowing me to give him a good scratch. So good in fact, that he allowed me to also touch his forehead, under his chin, even pass my hand over his eyes. He drew the line at his ears, not surprisingly, but even when he’d back away from me, he’d immediately move forward again and ask for more scratches. He seemed quite a bit more comfortable with me, as long as I was seated and relaxed and didn’t make any sudden movements.

Owen also got a visit from SAFE President Debi Shatos, who came out to Silverdale last week just to meet Mr Curly Pants. Debi brought him some apples and carrots, and we discovered quite quickly that Owen likes treats, and that they have a definite impact on his bravery! Debi also introduced him to some groundwork techniques which he responded very well to. We also spent some time getting him acclimated to being touched by a halter by asking him to touch it and even reach through the noseband in order to get a carrot. Debi was very impressed with Owen’s willingness to try, and she agrees that once he gets over his fear of being touched, he’s going to move forward very quickly.

So things are going well with Owen. More updates to follow as he continues making progress!