11/25/07

This week, Leroy finally laid down to sleep at one point, he had leaves in his tail and a bit of wet soil on his belly. Judging by the mud on his legs up to his knee, and his otherwise clean coat, I do not think he has laid down and had a good sleep for many, many weeks (or longer). He decided to use his run-in shed when we had a lot of very, very heavy rain followed by a big temperature drop, and I was pleased to see that, he is smart enough to know when he needs to stay dry, and also that he is confident enough now to be out of sight of the other horses.

I continue to spend time just sitting on a rock while he eats each day (weather permitting), and on Wednesday, I stood next to him in the afternoon sun while he ate his hay, and he ever so slowly took one half step sideways toward me (I was standing about 3 feet from him, at his shoulder). He had his head/neck curved toward me, and was choosing to eat the hay on the side of the tank in front of me, rather than directly in front of him. Then a few minutes later he took another half step toward me, then another, and another. The entire time he kept his head/neck curved toward me, and I could just feel his energy next to me. It was so nice! Then he shifted his hinds away from me, so he was standing more facing me. Baby steps, but its progress!

Then yesterday (Saturday) I stood next to him for awhile, and was able to stroke his shoulder! I immediately walked away to give him a big release, and stayed away for about 5 minutes. Then I came back for another gentle stroke of his right shoulder, and on the second stroke, he swung his head at me, not aggressively, but defensively. So he had enough, and I just stood with him for another few minutes, not moving, then left for the day. This morning (Sunday), my husband fed, and being a non-horsey person, he didn't even think, just walked right up to him while he was eating, and was scratching his shoulders, rubbing under his mane! LOL! I didn't try to pet him today, I decided to just back off a little, and tomorrow I'll try to give him just a stroke while he's eating, or perhaps I'll just take hold of his halter then immediately let it go, and do that for awhile so he learns that being caught doesn't = work/bad things.

Currently, he is eating 1 lb. VR 2x/day with 2 cups of oats, a 1/2 cup of Canola oil, a joint supplement, probiotic, and Nutrient Buffer (a gut buffer for ulcers/leaky gut). He has had 2 doses of Safeguard so far, 1 in quarantine, and one at the beginning of the week.

Here are some photos from this (Thanksgiving) weekend.