This is Owen, a 6 year old American Curly stallion who was surrendered to SAFE by his owner. He’s a handsome young horse, healthy and sound, and he seems bright, curious, and smart. He’s also 6 years old and completely unhandled, not even halter broken. He doesn’t even want to be touched. Make a mild attempt to touch him and he moves away. Anything stronger and he will run away, hiking his rear end to emphasize his point.

To be honest, when I went to pick Owen up, I had no idea that we were about to take in an unhanded stallion. I might have had second thoughts about accepting him as a surrender into our program once I found out, but if ever there was a horse who deserved an upgrade in life, it was Owen. I can’t go into detail about his past situation, except to say that his owner loaded him into my trailer using panels, and that was a terrifying experience for him. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so badly for a horse before.

Once he was in the trailer, it was time to start re-examining the plans we’d had in place for Owen. Initially, he was going to spend a night or two at my farm and then I’d haul him over to NWESC to be gelded. Instead, I had to take him home, back my trailer into the gateway of my side pasture, open the trailer door, and turn him loose. The halter that had been put on him while he was pinched in the panels was too big, and had slipped off his nose and now hung from his neck. Any attempts to fix it or remove it were futile, as Owen was not going to let me close enough to do any of that. This horse was going to be staying put for a while.

I’ve said this before and I’ll likely say it again: I think that letting horses grow up wild and unhandled is a form of abuse. Horses are just too darn big to be allowed to grow up not knowing how to be caught and haltered and led safely. Owen is 6 years old and he doesn’t even wear a halter. And because of this, Owen was headed to death by euthanasia because that was the only option his owner had left for him. All because no one took the time to gentle him and teach him to be handled safely when he was small. It’s goes beyond the basic convenience of having a horse that you can lead from place to place…what are you going to do when the horse needs his feet trimmed? When he needs shots and dental care? What if he hurts himself? Or what if you can’t keep him anymore and nobody wants a six year old stallion that they can’t even touch? It’s the unhandled horse that will pay the price in the end.

The bright spot in all of this is Owen himself. I think he wants to make a connection. He will approach me and as long as I don’t try to touch him, he is cautiously engaged. He has soft, soulful eyes (with curly lashes!) and he listens closely when I talk to him. He’s a thinker, and he is clearly very smart and sensible. Even from the day he arrived, he’s been willing to accept handfuls of hay from me, as long as I didn’t try to touch him. He gets fed in my trailer, and he’s now getting inside of it of his own free will to eat his meals. He seems happy for company when I come out to see him, and he’ll even trot down from the top of the pasture to say hello now.

But this morning we took the biggest step of all. I put his breakfast in the trailer, and went over to him to say good morning. I had a nice long talk with him about all sorts of things, and then, using just my voice to praise him, he allowed me to put my hand on his muzzle. If it got to be too much for him, I’d back off and wait for him to come up to me, which he immediately did. Pretty soon, he allowed me to put both hands on his face, and the next thing I knew, I was gently scratching the sides of his muzzle! He was licking & chewing and yawning, and it was wonderful. I could not be more proud of this horse. Looking into his eyes, I told him about the future and how happy he is going to be.

He wants to believe me.

It’s going to be a long road for Owen, but I think he is just the horse to make the journey. I’m already jealous of his future adopter because they are going to get an absolute gem.