It's hard to believe we've had Freedom for 2 1/2 weeks already. The horse greeting me every day from his stall is not the same horse we loaded into the trailer a few weeks ago. His coat is getting shiny, his eyes are bright, and he has enough energy to run around the pasture with the other horses. Shortly after my last post, I turned him out and he ran off across the field, dropped and rolled to scratch his back. I can't help but get excited about little things like this, because it is showing he is a normal horse again! He still has quite a long way to go though. A few days later we were busy, and had my friend feed that evening for us. The next day, as I got out to open the gate, Freedom looked over his stall door at me, but instead of greeting me with his usual whinny, he pulled his head back in the stall and wouldn't look at me. Talk about making me feel bad!
We're planning on moving the horses this weekend to a barn that is awesome. It is indoor, so no more slopping through mud to feed and clean. Also there is an arena and a round pen, as well as lots of room for turnouts and a hotwalker. It's a lot of work planning this move, but I think it will be the best for Freedom. My older kids have been a tremendous help with him, they get his halter and lead on by themselves and take him for walks. He is such a sweet soul, never walking too close behind them, and dropping his head down low enough for them to reach. I wonder if he was a kids horse at one time, or just really well trained. We'll see!
