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Aby is my name and this is my blog. Enjoy reading about my adventures. |
Its been three months to the day that the two big Warmbloods "Max" and "Marcus" arrived here. I must tell you how unbelievably proud we are of both of them but especially of Max. Max has gained an enormous amount of weight. He is becoming quite a looker I must say. He still needs some more but what he looks like today is a far cry from what it was three months ago. When he got here, he nipped, bit, kicked and was generally pretty hostile and mistrusting. Well, as you can imagine that didn't last long. Once the meds kicked in and he felt better and the peaceful aura of the sanctuary got a hold of him, he changed. Today he is a big calm friendly pet. It's a pretty amazing transformation. I will get to work and try to take a photo of him in about the same angle as the one below so you can compare.
Till next time
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
Springtime - to be exact April 13, 2011
Yes its me again. I am still around. I hope you have enjoyed yourself this past winter as much as I have. The cold cannot bother us around here because we have our villas. They are cozy shelters and situated so the icy north wind is blocked. We all like the villas and use them often if the wind is chilly. Our human even fills up the hay bins inside so we can snack without having to go outside. Now that is really convenient! Usually though we eat from the big round bales outside. However, I like having options and being able to exercise my own choices. Pretty cool!
A big building project has been completed recently. The complete renovation and interior reconstruction of the old barn. There are now two big new stalls inside. One is so huge, you can put the two draft horses in it and still have plenty of room to walk around. The other one is about half that size. One has floor with rubber mats and the other one sand. The partitions are made from beautiful wood and not prison looking ugly metal. There is also a large grooming area with rubber matting on the floor. In short - it's AWESOME!
February 16 was a big day. Yes - I know you guess it - we have received two new horses. There names are Max and Marcus. Both of them are Warmbloods. One is HUGE and the other one less huge but still huge. Oh well - I am getting used to being the short one around here. Fortunately, I am very adaptable. Anyway, one of them - actually the bigger one "Max" - was frighteningly skinny when he got here.
Here is a picture of him taken the day of his arrival:
Max was in need of medication for stomach ulcers plus more calorie dense food. The pain from the stomach ulcers made it almost impossible for him to eat even a small meal without having to walk off and take "breaks". After he got the medicine within 48 hours he was a new man - so to speak. Ever since then there is no stopping him from eating. We are giving him a mixture of "Equine Senior", Alfalfa, and free choice coastal hay. He is gaining weight beautifully! His agitated nervous behavior is long gone, too. Max was bred and born 1990 in Canada to be a super athlete. So, he is supposed to have a lot of muscle. Well, with all the food and the exercise he has here every day moving around with a whole herd of spirited horses, his muscle mass is returning beautifully as well. He also had some joint problems that are disappearing. We are so proud of him!
Marcus is healthy and uncomplicated. Well maybe with the exception of pigeon toed front feet that the old farrier failed to address. We will no doubt get that under control with our farrier.
I shall soon post a picture of Max as he is nice and round like the rest of us.
Till next time
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
November 2010 -
Gosh, almost the end of the year!!
O.K. this blog writing thing is really getting away from me. I should have a secretary or some other employee for support but I don’t. So, I am having to do everything myself around here. You may not understand. It is a lot. I have to keep the other horses in check, make sure the humans keep up their work (especially the baking of the treats), mow the grass, and and and. The to-do-list goes on and on.
Since my last entry we met a new special person. Her two horses have moved in as well. See, more work. I had to whip the newcomers into shape and show them the ropes around here. However, I must say I am proud of them. They are doing well and have been integrated into our group without problem. One is named Johnny and the other one Roper. Both of them have lots to tell us. I am quite blown away by the things I am hearing from horses who have lived with humans all their lives.
Back to the newbies “Roper” and “Johnny”. Roper is an old guy. He is 28 already. Way back when the Abilene police unit had horses. He worked for the police for a while. Then he lived with other people and was cowboyed around and experienced very rough handling. A few years back a nice lady named “Christine” found him and took good care of him ever since. She showed him that people can actually be likable. Roper did not know that up to that point. Who would blame him? Now that he is here he likes it so well he appears to be getting younger rather than older. I make sure he gets his exercise to sooth his arthritic joints.
10 year old Johnny is super handsome! His prettyness though didn’t help him from being harassed by his many different previous owners to the point of mental breakdown. That’s when he proofed to be “not very useful” to the cowboys and almost went on a one-way-trip to Mexico. You know what’s in Mexico, right? The slaughter houses. O.K. here is something somebody please explain to me! People break something or somebody down. It is their actions that do this. Then they turn around and complain that this thing or individual is no longer useful. How does this even make sense? Not that I want to be pessimistic but I will probably never understand.
Well, Johnny’s story does have a happy ending. Or should I say a happy way of continuing. Christine found him up for sale. Johnny’s big sad eyes and his distress reached out into her heart and captured it. Now she was in a true dilemma! She knew that she would need help in dealing with a traumatized individual like Johnny and if she wouldn’t find this help she would not be able to purchase and help Johnny. So, through some weird other connections and some word of mouth she had heard about us and this place of healing!. Yeah! She contacted Diana who quickly reassured Christine that even a scared soul like Johnny can be helped. An arrangement was made for Johnny to come here and be enrolled in our Trauma Recovery Training. Now, Christine and Diana work together in helping Mr. Johnny. He is well on his way to becoming more trusting and more self confident. I mean let’s be realistic here. It’s gonna take a while and it may be quite a journey for him. But then who cares how long it takes?
You know, out here at the ranch time stands still. Nothing matters out here but healing and growth for horses and humans alike.
So! I think I should let you ponder this thought and while you do that I will go back to work.
Till next time
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
June 25, 2010
In this little bit over a year that I have been here, I had many opportunities to study humans. This is great fun and very enlightening. It is quite interesting to see how diverse people can be. The difference that is most astounding to me and to all my other horse friends is that some humans are straight forward with real easy to read intentions and others are not. I am not talking about people who steel or do other harm. What I mean is the ones that aren’t straight forward can be nice people and very friendly but at the same time there is something about them that seems sneaky like they are hiding something. Of course I do know that absolutely no humans are allowed on our property who would actually try to harm us horses. So, it is not that I feel physically threatened. But somehow, in the way they are holding themselves back, they have an intensity in their body language that is so confusing to me. Have you ever met anybody like that? Diana says she has seen this many times and in fact invites people out to the ranch to overcome their inner obstacles. She tells us that there is something broken inside them that needs healing. Their self confidence is often so low it literally prevents them from being comfortable inside their own skin. As a result, they cannot authentically be themselves. I am not sure if I get that but in a way it makes sense. Diana asks us to be patient with people like that because they are struggling. I do know what it means to struggle. In fact she tells me personally that I specifically am a good teacher to those humans. Now, that’s a stretch for me. Me? A teacher? Anyway, we horses and particularly we mustangs have an extremely keen sense of awareness for when someone is not honest. I mean not honest with themselves and, therefore, is not authentically themselves. It is that very fact that puts the intensity into a human’s energy field that scares or irritates us horses. It is interesting that humans can have so many problems and fight so many of their own struggles way inside them.
Before I forget to mention, two of my wonderful human-friends came all the way from New York city to visit me! Oh boy, I was very honored. They like me and have in the past send me money to help pay for all I need. I know I said this before but I never get over being so amazed that the world has humans spread out all over it who do care deeply enough to take action and help out. My humans here at the ranch, George and Diana, also enjoyed the visitors from New York.
Well, now that I have been helped so much by humans (something a couple of years ago I never thought could ever happen), I hope that I can at least try to help a few people heal. My own level of self confidence is pretty solid by now but I do know how much it hurts to have very little self confidence. I will make this my goal to help people with this same problem. O.K. enough talk. Take care now. I am off to the races.
Till next timeYours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
May 26, 2010
May is almost at it’s end. It is getting warm out here but still fairly pleasant most of the time. We had loads of fun this past month. A brand new area of the ranch has been opened up for us to roam around in. It is called the Mesquite area because it is overgrown with those kinds of trees and thick like a forest. To get to that area we have to cross the creek bed which is dry most of the time but not always. This is fun because it makes me feel like a wild horse again. I laughed at the other horses at first because they were all spooky back in the forest. When you are back there the wind in the trees sounds a little bit like the ocean - if you have ever been at the ocean that is. The other horses especially the big black lead mare think there are boogy men in the forest who are out to get them. They are not real smart when it comes to wild horse stuff. I absolutely LOVE the Mesquite area and never get spooked there. The environment really soothes my wild horse soul. As a result, I have decided to sort of ignore the lead mare and run my own show back there. The humans think this is remarkable and have nicknamed me the “Mesquite Queen”.
Actually someone new joined our Rising Sun Ranch family this month but sadly only for about ten days. Her name was Polly. To be honest, we do not know for sure if she was really a she or a he. Polly had an accident and broke a wing very badly. Her kind of bird is called a turkey vulture. She found us after her accident and stayed with us because we do put lots of cat food out during the day. Polly ate it and seemed to like it here. Although the wing I must say looked rather painful. It dragged on the ground when she walked. At first our cats - you remember those things that look like mutated mountain lions - did not like Polly and tried to gang up on her. Although after a while they realized that when they stand next to Polly they have to look up to her and that makes Polly not qualify for a truly “chaseable” bird. So, the cats ended up accepting Polly and tolerated her sleeping and walking in and through the barns, tack house, and hay areas. Everything looked so good and we all started having fun calling a vulture a family member. I was particularly impressed with her shiny black feathers but overall she did look depressed. I heard somebody say, her face looks so ugly she could stop a train! I found that very very mean! I guess her depression would be no wonder. Imagine you had an accident and loose anything and everything you were used to in life. Well, all we could do was welcome her. One day we noticed that Polly just didn’t have the energy to go walk around. The next day she just sat and never moved. She passed away the following night.
Now every time I see another big bird, I look up at the sky and hope Polly’s spirit it soaring with her friends. You are missed Polly!
Till next time
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
April 10 in the spring of 2010
Today is no ordinary day. It may be to you but not to me. Today I let my human put a rope halter on my head and actually wore it for a few minutes before she took it back off. I was pretty confident throughout. If you remember from my previous blog entry, it was December 6 when I did decide to let her take the ugly halter from the auction off. For months my human practiced with me a few minutes each day until today when I was ready and confident to actually put the new halter on. However, now I wear it only for activities unlike the old halter that was on all the time. So in this light, you could say that today is a breakthrough day. As I have observed around here watching the other horses, being able to wear a halter is the key to much fun. This makes me realize it is really close to my first year anniversary living at the sanctuary. If I remember correctly, it was April 25 that myself and Little Sunshine were rescued and taken away from that nasty auction to safety.
Anyway, back to the halter thing, today I observed that Molly went to the round pen with two humans. She had her saddle on plus a special kind of halter with long strings on it. To be exact those strings are called reins. This was the first time that Molly had someone climb on her back without another human leading her. The person on top of her was trying to make Molly understand a signal that means “please start walking“. This confused Molly and she didn’t get it at first. Although the humans can be confusing they are also creative at times. Give them credit when credit is due. To help Molly make the connection, the human on the ground without leading Molly walked backwards a few steps coaxing Molly to come along. She made three insecure steps forward. The two humans together stopped her and cheered “good job Molly - very nice” and gave her a treat. This went on a few more times but altogether only maybe 5 minutes. Then the human on top which was our Diana got off. She believes in short sessions that end with a good experience. The human on the ground by the way was our wonderful volunteer and friend Cari. She and also her husband Mark help us a lot with all kinds of things. We love them but I believe they love us, too. Since I got here I have only met nice humans. Before I got here I had a very low opinion of humans but this has changed now. It is nice to be proven wrong in this way. I guess the moral of the story is, never hang on to any opinion too hard or else you might miss the moment were you could be proven wrong when this would be a good thing. Am I making any sense? In other words, always leave the door open to be pleasantly surprised and your world may just look a lot brighter one day than you ever thought it could. My world looks very bright now.
Till next time
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
Oh the progress I am making. I am almost ready to have a halter put on me. We practice every day and I am well under way of getting desensitized to the feeling of something touching me at several places on my head at the same time and kinda feeling stuck in the thing. I still have a tendency to pull back hard when I panic. That’s why my human doesn’t rush me. I am actually surprised how much my ability to concentrate for prolonged periods of time has increased. Learning used to just exhaust me mentally within just a couple of minutes. Now I can go on much much longer. Of course this is only because I know I wont be pushed into something that scares me. It’s more like I am being given an opportunity to try and somehow that always makes me want to try it. Often I get “big eyed” and breathe real hard while I try something new. My human finds that amusing. Since my last writing I have taken three more walks with my human without halter or lead rope. On one of the walks we took a new narrow path up through some oak trees along a little creek bed. I saw one of the shrunken mountain lions (around here they call those things “house cats”) run after a leaf right behind me. Oh boy - did that give me a scare for a moment. I jumped forward just to realize that it probably wont help matters much if I jump on Diana’s back who was trying to lead the way. She has to lead the way since I don’t know my way around the property yet. Fortunately, she did not get mad at me when she turned and saw my face half an inch from hers which is a bit close I have to admit. We then came out of the oak trees onto the main drive way where we had to pass the big white thing they call the horse trailer. I wanted to keep walking so I just mustered up my courage and passed it. Of course I was breathing quite hard as I did that. My thoughts were going a million miles an hour but I had so much fun. After that we returned to the corral. It was nice to get back to familiar grounds and relax. But you watch! I will go out there again and discover more of my world. With the support of my humans I know I can get braver all the time and the sky is the limit to what I can learn! No longer am I the “old unwanted through away Mustang” from the auction. You might as well now call me BRAVE HEART ABY!
Of course I will update you on all those adventures. Till then...
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
The new year is well under way and nothing spectacular has happened so far. We are all doing really good here. The ranch is shaping up. All the old ugly cattle shut equipment from the previous ranch owners is being torn down and will be replaced with decent looking and safe horse fencing. The trail system on the ranch is coming along also and will soon connect the trails from the oak forest down to the mesquite forest and all the way around the property. My human says this is where I will get to go for walks with them once I can lead comfortably. That sounds like something exciting to do! I have not seen them but I have heard from the big lead mare that obstacles have been installed on some of the trails. Trish says it’s a piece of cake to jump over the tallest one. Well, look who is talking. She is as big as a house. No wonder it’s a piece of cake for her.
Molly is by now progressed to where she lets a human sit on her while another human takes her on a walk. Diana now rides quiet a bit with Shahba our little Egyptian Arabian. Although the two are not really a perfect match considering that he is short legged and she is long legged, they get along well. He never tosses his head or anything else which he constantly used to do with other riders. The nice teenage girl that came out last year to ride with Shahba would have been a good match size wise but his spirit was too much for her and her skill level at that time. Oh well, we are no longer looking for young people to ride with him and that’s o.k. .
You may already know this, but of course all horses out here are being ridden bitless. No exceptions! In fact Diana has been awarded a certification called “Bitless Bridle Instructor” by Dr. Cook‘s organization. Dr. Cook is an equine surgeon who specializes on nose-throat-ears-chest. You ought to read his book “Metal in the Mouth“. It explains all the medical facts and evidence of the harmful consequences bits have on a horse‘s health. For me it is just hard to imagine having a metal object in my mouth and then go out exercise while the human on top of me expects me to have a good time??? I mean - come on! Now honestly - how would you like that? Any horse no matter the breed, age, spirit, background, or discipline is rideable just fine in a bitless bridle. Ask Diana - email her or call - and she will proof it to you. From my perspective, I can guarantee you, your horse will be eternally grateful for it. Oh, and also email or call to get your copy of the book I mentioned above.
On a different subject now, we had to fire the latest farrier. He seemed like a nice guy at first but then on only his second visit he lost his temper badly and hit Molly with the nippers three times hard in her side. Molly did not cooperate with him that day although she did just fine for work on her hoofs with Diana. Makes you wonder, he? Anyway, even in a frustrating situation it is not the farrier’s right to beat a horse and then want money from us. Some people are really out to lunch! Oh well, his loss. O.K. so far so good. I will let you go know - and hey - as always thank you for reading my blog!
Till next time
Yours truly Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
December 2009 (on the very last day)
It is still 2009 even though only for about three more hours. This last month of the year was marked by a quite visible step forward in my training. On December 6, believe it or not, Diana was finally able to take my halter off. it’s the one that was forced on me at the auction the day of my rescue. I had been squeezed into a cattle shoot, a guy climbed up on the rails and put it on my head. Since I was unable to move, I could do nothing about it. So, it took over seven months for Diana (trying and practicing daily) until I had the confidence to let her take it off my head. I have gained a lot of weight since the auction so the halter had become a bit snug and it felt good to be rid of it. Since then I have gotten even more enthusiastic about my training sessions. When I see Diana and she makes eye contact with me I run to her. I put on my show horse trot to get there as fast as I can. The sessions are very interesting. I get rewarded for trying even if I don’t get something right instantly. It makes me feel appreciated and I try even harder and learn even more. Diana has nicknamed me “the workaholic” because I am asking her for a session every time she comes through the corral. Sometimes the other horses are giving me a hard time with that as they come up and also want to ask for their sessions. Then we crowd each other and start fighting. I can’t believe we are fighting for work!
I have to tell you something funny. Well, now I think it’s funny - at first I didn’t. Some horses wear dresses! Colorful ones, too. No really - I know - it sounds unbelievable but a few days ago it got really cold. I didn’t pay much attention to it but Diana had come to take one of the Arabians “Shahba” with her. Meanwhile I was hanging out at the hay ring with my mustang friend Little Sunshine and the new big girl Molly. All of the sudden the three of us simultaneously heard a hushing sound. As we look up we realized in shock that Shahba was coming back with a big blue thing hanging over him. We didn’t need to think about it - we ran from him. Shahba looked around puzzled and not knowing what we were spooking from, decided to run too. Oh no! Now he was coming after us. We ran faster. Shahba is not at all a spooky horse and eventually thought it was entirely unnecessary for him to run from something he doesn’t know what it is. So he stopped. Good - now we could stop, too. At this moment it was like as if you could see the light go on in his head. He realized we were running from him! It was somewhat insulting to see the disgust with which he looked at us. Then he turned around and left returning to the other horses who seemed to have no problem with his blue hushing dress. But really - what is the guy thinking? Excuse me, but none of us three girls had ever seen such a thing. Not even Molly who grew up with people. Anyway, in the hours following the “dress incident” we managed to sneak up from behind Shahba to sniff a corner of the bizarre object. “It” is actually considered a “blanket” not a dress and helps our good friend Shahba who gets hypothermic easily. Somehow he doesn’t have a dense coat like we other horses do. We would hate for him to get sick. So, thank heavens for blankets and who knows maybe I will have one, too. Someday - maybe.
Till next time
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
December 2009 (on the first day)
I was going to make another entry in November but never got around to it. Too much to do! You might think a wild horse could be bored at a regular ranch but I am here to tell you - it ain’t so. Let me tell you why. The humans have routines. That means they do the same sort of thing every day at the same time. It’s a little bit a like a merry-go-round but they like it that way. It sounds silly but in actuality since I caught on to the routine-thing my life has become more interesting. See, during my first three days here, I got caught off guard every evening when the other horses left me behind in the pasture. This scared me a bit until I realized this is what we do every night – we leave the pasture and come into the main area where all our hay is because that is also our sleeping place. Ahhh. Yes, and then of course the lunch grain thing which is really exciting to all of us horses. I am particularly good at telling what time of the day it is and so I always know whether a routine activity is on or behind schedule. When Diana or one of the volunteers is a little late with the lunch grain, I call out to them in a high pitched voice when I see them walk by. Although the humans have invented the routine they are not always accurate about the schedule. Now, I know, that does not make sense and should not happen. I point this out to them and hope to get them trained better soon. If you don’t have routine than I suggest you get one or two. Why? Well, if you don’t have routine, you have nothing to look forward to. Then everything is a surprise. I must say, I don’t really like surprises. They are rather nerve racking to me and I can tell the other horses feel about this in a similar way. Of course humans are a little different – now that I think about it. They give each other fake birthday cakes that open up all of the sudden and a person jumps out yelling “happy birthday”. How could anybody be happy about that?? This is beyond me. I would turn on a dime and kick the hell out of the guy in the cake!!
Anyway, I just thought I make an entry out of the routine topic and give you some good advise for your own life although you may not be a wild mustang – but still.
Till next time
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
NOVEMBER 2009 (mid month or so)
For the first time ever I saw a human cry. A woman I had never seen before drove up to speak to Diana. The woman was crying. Through her tears she said that she could no longer afford to feed her horse. Her horse needed help because he was already terribly thin and with colder temperatures fast approaching he may not make it through the winter. In such a heart breaking case the first thought is of course to just have her bring her horse over but our facility is full at the moment. Remember, from my last blog entry that we had just gotten Molly. We have shelter for seven horses and there were already seven of us if you count Molly in. By Diana’s facial expression, I could tell that her heart sank. She took the lady’s phone number loaded some alfalfa hay into her car and promised to come up with some idea for the poor starving horse named “Buddy”.
I don’t want to overuse the word “miracle” but miracles happen all the time here at Rising Sun Ranch. Buddy needed an angel and he needed one fast. Through some strange twists of faith Diana had just, a few days earlier, run across a lady on the internet who lives nearby and also owns a mustang. So, the two started a friendly off and on chitchat about Mustangs. You need to understand how strange this “coincidence” is because the internet is big. Very big. There are so many people that you cannot just find one. It is a little bit like an ocean. You couldn’t just see one drop. I guess by my awkward ways of describing this you can tell that I am not really a computer user. Anyway, through some grace of the great spirit this lady from the internet stepped up without hesitation and offered to take the starving horse! How amazing is that? It took a week or so until the Buddy could be transported. Meanwhile, we from Rising Sun Ranch donated and delivered food to Buddy to make him regain some energy and help him feel better. I was in full agreement of giving up some of our hay to him. We have lots of it here. We have the whole barn full of big roles of hay. The cats use them, too. They don’t eat hay but they sleep on the tall roles. We will have enough until next year in June. I believe its some 38 or 40 tons of hay! Wow.
I really feel fortunate because I do know there are many horses like Buddy. Horses that are starving because people buy them even though they cannot afford the hay and other things needed. It is very sad but also a little bit maddening. But let’s remain positive and celebrate that we were able to help Buddy – another successful rescue – oh yeah.
Till next time
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
OCTOBER 2009
This month’s biggest event was the arrival of Molly, another Aiderbichl horse. This happened all real fast. One day we horses out here were just happy and enjoying our peaceful herd of six, the next morning Diana said there will be another horse coming to join us. I know it is important that we help other horses in need but it still worried me. I figured the humans have a way of adding a stranger into a herd but in the wild where I come from this kind of thing is rarely done and if so there are always fights. By now I know that my humans care deeply about me and try to protect me from harm. This is wonderful because, as you know, I have a crippled leg. Speaking of my bad leg, I guess I was lucky that the government cowboys at the BLM are so superficial and did not even notice my condition, otherwise they would have “euthanized” me which means they would have shot me. A captive bolt to the head – bang. No such luxury as being put to sleep for us Mustangs, the international and universal icon of freedom and independence. O.K. here I go again – digressing. This blog writing thing is to my liking and I could go on forever.
Back to the original subject – the new horse. The new girl’s name is Molly. I hoped she would be a little thing I could intimidate easily without getting into a fight but – NO. Diana had to adopt a big one. Almost as big as Trish! Good Lord!
Then the day came when Molly arrived. From the other side of a fence I watched her closely. What I saw made me so sad. She looked like she could be beautiful. Molly is not a wild horse but a young Belgian mare. Despite her size she looked timid. I was able to count her ribs from where I was standing. Desperately she tried to swat flies with her tail but the thing – I mean the tail – was matted into a solid piece like a baseball bat. And her hoofs… ugh. I would have never thought a horse that has lived with humans could look like that. My humans here own all kinds of brushes. Maybe Molly’s former owners didn’t have one. Anyway, she attacked the hay Diana had prepared for her and soon seemed pretty content. I watched her eat for a while and thought about the miracle of life and how she probably escaped ending up at a Mexican slaughterhouse just like I escaped execution by the BLM because of my leg. Don’t you think it is a miracle? Why have we few horses had the great fortune of coming to a sanctuary while 100,000 others are exported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter each year? I have never been in a church nor do I know anything about religion but there must be a great spirit who has more in store for us. Maybe a mission of sorts. Who knows? But definitely there will be more adventures coming up. So, keep checking back into my blog so I can tell you all about it.
Till next time.
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
SEPTEMBER 2009
It's almost fall and temperatures are at least thinking about dropping a bit. Since you read my last blog entry I have made more progress in getting to trust humans. In fact, I tried something really wild the other day. For a long time I have observed Diana taking each horse out individually for walks and stuff. When the horses return they are happy and seem to look forward to the next time. This got me thinking. Maybe I should try this walking-thing some time? So, I decided to meet Diana at the gate upon returning one of the horses and gave her that look. You know, the look, that says: "but what about me?". She instantly understood but told me I could not be taken for walks because I still cannot be touched or led by a lead rope. I was sad. I couldn't accept it. Although I am not quite comfortable with being touched yet, I must say, I have grown fond of my human "Diana". So, the next day when she tried to leave the barn area, I walked after her with determination ready to give her that look again - but guess what - I didn't even have to. She held the gate open for me giving me a look that says: "well Aby, why not, let's try it". For a second, I was shocked, hesitated, but then walked right out the gate! As a Mustang, I have never before left my herd behind to walk into unknown territory - leave alone with a human! I admit, I was a little tense but I stood there outside the gate waiting for Diana to give me guidance on what to do next. She started walking and with body language I have seen her use before invited me to follow. I did. It was exciting! We walked to the front yard of the house. There she sat down on a rock and we just looked at each other for a while. I think we both realized how special this moment was - a human and a mustang - not ready to touch each other, yet connected by an invisible bond stronger than any lead rope could ever be.
Isn't this amazing? Till next time.
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
JULY 2009
I must say as much as I have tried to remain a wild horse while living at the sanctuary, I am now discovering the good sides of civilization. Although we have pastures here and an always open "all-you-can-eat hay buffet", daily around noon some sort of lunch in bowls is being served. So far I refused to try it. The humans call it "grain". All I have known when I got here was grazing. Or let me rephrase that. Prior to my rescue the government employees at the BLM would through Alfalfa into our filthy pens. For breakfast and dinner we Mustangs got to pick Alfalfa leaves out of the pure filth. I am going to spare you from describing the conditions any further. Am I digressing again? To tell you the truth, my humans at the sanctuary were very worried about me in the beginning because I was even afraid of eating hay. Slowly I got over that fear. At least hay looks somewhat like grass but grain ... no way! Finally my Diana gave up offering me a grain bowl. First I was glad but then, well, I was standing there like a stepchild being left out while all other horses had fun eating from those bowls. I didn't like that either! At that moment I realized I was no longer a truly wild horse. My human sensed it and tried again. What a persistent two-legged creature! This time she just put some alfalfa leaves in the bowl and coated the bottom of it with pure sugar ... and ohhhh boy ... now I can't get enough! Yes I know, now the door is open for her to smuggle some pebbles of grain and who knows what else into my sugar bowl. But – whatever. I live here. I like it. I might as well live the good life now.
Stay tuned for more of my adventures.
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
JUNE 2009
It is June and, to say the least, we are sweating here in West Texas. The month has been fairly uneventful which is a good thing. The humans here at the ranch are of course constantly busy. By now Little Sunshine and myself have made friends here with the other horses. All of us horses here are rescued except for the big black one. Her name is Trish. She is Diana’s own horse and is huge! The breed is called “Shire”. We are having a hard time putting Trish on a scale but we believe she weighs about 1900 pounds. When I first got here, it did not take me long to figure out that she is the boss. From my old life in the wild I know how important it is to be on good terms with the lead mare. Besides, it can never hurt to have powerful friends, right?
Oh before I forget to tell you, there was something that really terrified me a couple of weeks ago. The humans took all the horses except me on lead ropes and walked out of the main corral and pasture area and wanted me to come along. I was so afraid! I couldn't make a single step! How could they expect me to leave the area that has become my only safe heaven since I was captured and ripped out of my family of Mustangs that I was born into. By the way, to this day, I do not even know where my own children are or if they are still alive - but - I digress. Well, long story short, I finally went because one of the humans together with the lead mare came up from behind to urge me forward. To my great surprise and relieve, we just went down to another pasture. Wow! I did not even know I was living at such a nice place. That pasture is also large enough to run and play at full speed with plenty of oak trees for shade and yummy grass. I like it here. Since you cannot be out here right now, enjoy the our website instead. Till next time,
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at Rising Sun Ranch an Aiderbichl Sanctuary in Texas)
MAY 2009
It's been just about a month now that I have been rescued and picked up from an auction in Abilene, Texas along with my friend Little Sunshine. Aby is my name. I am an Aiderbichl-Mustang. From now on I will be bringing you updates and newsworthy stuff about my new life with the humans on a regular basis. This past month has been full of joy and stress at the same time. It's quite an adjustment for me to live with humans because I was born and lived in the wild for five years. In the volcanic mountains of northern California to be exact. This is where I was caught or in cowboy language “rounded up”. Little Sunshine was caught in Nevada. Through some twists and unfortunate circumstances we both ended up at an auction in Abilene, Texas, thousands of miles from where our homes and families are. Life is more complicated than I understand because somehow a lady from Bavaria and Gut Aiderbichl came to the auction to buy and help us. She says, “it may seem complicated but it doesn’t matter because compassion knows no borders”. Now Little Sunshine, myself, and our friend Charlie are Aiderbichl horses in Texas. Charlie is not a mustang but he was in need of help, too. He is a handsome Tennessee Walker. A fancy type of horse as I understand.Yet somebody rendered him useless after riding him for years and years. He was found deadly ill with pneumonia and cancer at a horse trader’s place. Someone bought him out of mercy, took him to a hospital and later donated him to Rising Sun Ranch and Gut Aiderbichl. Anyway, there is much to say about this place. Our main human here is “Diana”. She helps us rescued horses at the sanctuary. She is a trainer and teaches us all we need to know in order to be comfortable in a human environment. It’s not at easy as you might think but patients is key and she has lots of it. We all have training sessions every day. Although she doesn’t like the fame, you will hear more about her off and on also as you read my future updates.
Yours truly
Aby
(Wild Mustang Mare at the Rising Sun Ranch Sanctuary)
