4 July 2002 - Well, as I said before, it's been a month now and time to update the happenings. I was right with thinking he's wonderful - he's a lot more than that, he's fabulous! I sometimes wish all the guys were like him, life would probably be a fair amount easier.
First, the meeting of "all the guys" went rather well, with one little exception that didn't surprise us at all. Max and Banjo accepted Blackie right away - no problems at all. Blue, however, gave him a rather hard time for over a week - actually tried to drive him out of the field a couple times. Things have settled down now and the "marks of meeting" are healing nicely. Gotta admit, though, that we were wondering about whether this would work out for quite awhile. Blackie's got a few scars to heal - Blue does too, surprisingly. But, all in all, things are much better now.
A few days ago we let Arizona and Cherokee out into the main field for the evening, for the first time. We've been rather apprehensive about how they'd be received by all the guys - should have known better. Blackie casually walked up to them, took one look and turned away - minding his own business. Max was pretty much the same way, as was (surprisingly) Blue. The only problem came from Banjo - who's been "king of the fields" for quite awhile now. He gave her a rather hard time for a bit - I can see more coming, but that's another story. It's really interesting to watch them all talk to each other, and being able to understand what they're saying.
In case you haven't seen the other sections of "Horse Country", there's a bit of a story here. We follow the Monty Roberts & John Lyons method of training and working with all the horses. A very large part of this is paying attention to what they have to say. If you didn't know, Monty Roberts is the real-life person that the story "The Horse Whisperer" is based on. John Lyons was one of his first students. Between them, they're the greatest horse trainers in history - and they both "listen to the horses". We follow their methods religiously. Horses have a language - almost all body language, and we've learned a respectable amount of it. We've learned to talk WITH them, to listen to them, and to gain their trust in all things. It has resulted in some very relaxed horses, some very relaxed people, and an awful lot of fun. I heartily invite y'all to click on the "training" button to see how all this works - including a couple pages on a night we spent with Monty Roberts in Harrisburg, PA.
Now, mind you, we don't "work" Blackie a whole lot - hardly at all, yet. But using these methods we've learned to communicate with him in his own language, gain his trust, and convince him that we're here to help. It's worked quite nicely. When he first got to the fields he would pin his ears back every time we approached - he really wasn't sure of just what we were all about. He was also rather hesitant about entering enclosed areas (with the singularly odd exception of the horse trailer) - he'd stop dead at a gate, wouldn't take another step forward if we were near. He hasn't done either in weeks, not even once. He's now completely relaxed around us, he even helps direct the other horses into their feeding places on occasion. What a change!
I don't know whether we'll ever be able to ride him - he's still awful thin, but if & when the time comes I'm sure that our methods of working with him will come to our aid and there will be no problems at all.
6 September 2002 - Blackie's in trouble! We got a call tonight at work that he's down in the middle of the field. Heading out...
10 September 2002 - Finally! Back to the chronicles. Blackie was in trouble alright, and he's still not out of it. We called the vet out to see him on the 7th - he got a shot of vitamins and something else, but still wouldn't/couldn't get up. I spent the night there, with him, a blanket over him and his head in my lap until about 2:30AM when he finally started to show some signs of life. If you've ever spent a night with a sick horse you know just how I felt, totally helpless, totally scared - I thought we were going to loose a family member that night.
Anyway, by 3:00AM he was standing, very weak and shaky, but standing. I took him into his stall, gave him some extra grain and a lot of hay, set up some lights so I could see him decently, and spent the rest of the night in the van trying to get some sleep or checking on him. Banjo (Holly's paint) was absolutely wonderful - he stayed with me in the field and once Blackie was in the stall Banjo never left his side. Every time Blackie would move Banjo would come to the van and wake me to come and see what was happening. What a night! Anyway, I talked to the vet again on the 7th and he thought that maybe some higher-energy feed might do some good. We've started him on Purina Equine Senior feed, first couple days we're giving him 10 lbs in the morning and 5 more in the evening. He's awful wobbly so we're keeping him in the stall for awhile.
20 September 2002 - The Equine Senior feed seems to be having an effect. He's now getting 8 lbs in the morning and 8 lbs in the evening, along with all the hay he can handle. We've added some muscle-enhancing steriod powder to his feed too. It seems to be working, at least with some limited effect. I brought him out of his stall so we could clean it better and he's walking a bit better today. He's back in it tonight though.
30 September 2002 - The Equine Senior is definitely doing some good. He's gaining weight, finally, and his legs are showing a bit of muscle again. He's walking better too, still a bit wobbly in the hind-quarters but he's definitely improving. We let him out of the stall on the 27th and he headed straight back into the field - no muss, no fuss.
28 October 2002 - What a change! The feed's definitely the right way to go, and will be permanent. He's getting 2 full scoops in the morning and 2 more in the evening - eats everything in sight. Blue's chasing him around again, as per usual, but Blackie's now trotting all over the place with him - muscles are re-building and he's showing a fair amount of flesh over his ribs, actually all over. His eyes are shining, he's perky with very little of the wobbliness left, we've definitely saved our guy! Winter's coming on fast and he's grown a beautiful, thick black coat of fur. We're brushing him down every day now, and he absolutely loves it! He's even competing with the other guys/gal for attention. This whole episode has had another effect too - Blackie was a complete "loner" in the field with the other guys/gal around, now he has grouped-in with Banjo and Blue. The Banjo/Blue pairing was evident in the first few days they were together in the field, it's really nice to see Blackie join in with them. Guess the emergency's over for now.
10 December 2002 - Things are looking good and new pic's are in his gallery, this date. He's filled out quite nicely and is standing up to the snow & ice better than some of the other horses.
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| "BLACKIE'S" PAGES |
| Page #1 Introduction |
Page #2 27 May - 4 July 2002 Awards Blackie Bestows Webrings Blackie Hosts |
Page #3 4 July - 10 Dec 2002 |
MEMORIES My Days With Blackie |
| "BLACKIE'S" GALLERIES |
| Gallery #1 May 28 2002 July 16 2002 |
Gallery #2 Dec 10 2002 |