We really do not know what goes on in a horses mind.  We have to take the expressions and body language and assume.  I don’t like to assume anything, but we just put the pieces of the puzzle together and go from there.

A woman called me two weeks ago and said that her instructor and vet recommended that she retire her horse.  He’s a 27-year-old Thoroughbred with injury and old age issues.  He’d never pass a soundness test, but he’s what I would consider “serviceably sound.”  Things just don’t work like they used to, but he could go on a trail ride.   He protects what aches.  He’s like many of us.  We don’t walk like runway models any more, and we don’t walk with an even gate, but we get along just fine with a little hitch to our giddy-up.  So we discussed her bringing him up here for retirement.  She told me she’d like to bring him in on the following Sunday and would call me at the end of the week to confirm it.  She wanted to take him on one more trail ride with her barn friends before closing the book on him.

Well Friday came and went.  Sunday came and went.  No call, no horse.  This happens often.  People think they are ready to retire and let go of their best friend, but when it come time to do it, they just can’t.  So I don’t give it any thought and just go on with my life.

Tuesday comes and I’m working in the garden and I get a call.  Could you please unlock the gate?  I realize it was the same stableman who brought the other Thoroughbred two weeks ago.  So I asked “are you bringing someone or picking up someone?”  I’m bringing Sky.  Well my reply was one of confused shock.  I told him that I had spoken with the owner but never heard back from her and wasn’t aware that the horse was coming.  Of course his reply was that he thought all the arrangements had been made.  So we brought him in and turned him out.  We had a nice conversation about his health, feeding, and any odd behaviors.  I like this guy.  The horse came with nothing but a halter, lead, Coggins, and shot record.  All the gentleman was told was to load up Sky and bring him to Dade City.  He asked “where Lou is?”  Yes.

When he was settled I went in and called the owner.  I told her I had a surprise guest.  Well she was as shocked as I was.  Okay, that made me feel better.  She had talked about bringing him up, lost my phone number, but just didn’t get to it.  She said she’d be up the next day to bring his things, and pay his board.

The horse was interesting.  He immediately, upon being turned out, dropped his head and started eating.  This after the gentleman told me he was not a good eater and didn’t graze much.  He recognized Lou (the Thoroughbred from the week before)  from his barn so making friends became easy.  He wasn’t sure about what the pig was, and he acknowledged Copper.  He kept looking around, which is normal.  But he got really upset when the other two horses (Copper and Lou) in the next pasture would get out of sight.  That falls into the normal category.  He didn’t want to come up for dinner, so I brought dinner down to the bottom fence so he could eat near the others.  I walked him up to show him the water and he took a mouthful and went back down.  He was very worried.  He paced and screamed all night when he couldn’t see the other horses.

I can only imagine what was going through his mind.  We don’t know how much they think, but I think that they piece things together to figure out if they are safe enough.

Okay lets look at what he might have been thinking.  The person that brings me my food has just taken me and put me on a trailer and brought me to this strange place with strange humans, dogs, and horses (not to mention a pig).  I know one of the horses here that was taken out of our barn and never came back.  My owner has not been seen.  Will I ever see this person who brought me all kinds of goodies again?  She was a nice person who loved me and took care of my grooming.  Is it going to be like the last time when I was put on a trailer, taken from my home, and I never saw those humans again?  I’m alone in a strange pasture with the sounds of Coyotes in the distance.  Am I safe?  I’m old and don’t see as well as I used to.  My legs are sore and I can’t run away from danger like I used to either.  Will the other horses tell me if there is trouble?  It’s dark and all the new humans are not to be found.  Somebody help me!

He was still worried the next morning.  Ate most of his breakfast but was still walking around unsettled.  He calmed down a little by lunch time and started grazing when he saw all the activity by the barn and the other horses, dogs, and pig (which he still wasn’t sure what it was, it smelled funny and made strange sounds.)

Then came the turning point.  He thought he heard his owners voice.  That familiar voice that called him and brought him treats.  He picked his head up and his ears were straight forward, but he didn’t run to the gate like he always used to.  She told me that he used to call to her as he came.  She was horribly disappointed, but he stayed by the fence with his new horse friends.  We had to walk to him.  He circled her before coming to take his treat.  He loved on her for a while and then walked back to the fence to show her his new friends.  He grazed a little and then would come back for another treat.

She asked me if he was mad at her?  I’m not sure.  I’ve seen this reaction before.  Do they get mad at their people?  Disappointed?  They don’t scream at us and tell us how we upset them by sending them away alone.  By not explaining that we will still be here, and that they are not sold or discarded.  Tigger did the same thing when he left and went back to my friends sale barn.  He became very depressed.  How many times do horses get sold and sent to different places?  Some of them do better, and some of them worse.  Do they feel abandoned?  Sad?  Do they feel the loss of the people they knew?  The barn they knew?  The other horses they knew?  They are a herd animal, and they’ve been ripped from the known, and thrown into a place and situation unknown.  What are they thinking if anything?

The bottom line has a good ending.  When the owner was leaving, she kept calling him and taking to him.  She was telling him everything was alright, that he would be fine, and that she would be back.  Did he understand and believe her?  He didn’t come and follow her like she expected.  He put his head down and grazed.  He would pick it up every now and them and listen to her voice.  He then went and rolled.  Everything was going to be okay.  He finally relaxed.  She was a little heart-broken because he didn’t come running after her, but then she realized that he was happy in his new home, with his new friends.  She will be back to see him and take him for a little trail ride.

So what do I see from all this?  When I came home last night from Church and went out to feed, he was waiting for me at the gate.  I didn’t have to bring his food down by the other horses.  He ate by the gate and cleaned up all his food.  So much for a horse that picked at his food and took hours to eat.  He drank and grazed up by the house all evening before I went to bed.  He occasionally looked to see where the other horses were, they were off in the distance, but he was okay with it.

I think he knew that everything would be alright.  That his person knew where he was and it was okay with her.  This could be his new home now.

This is what I experienced with this horse and others.  They are just expected to go along with whatever we humans choose to do with them.  No explanations.  They have to figure it out by themselves.  The sight and touch of the people who are familiar is so important for giving them confidence that everything is safe and okay.  He’s at peace and so am I.  Some settle in right away and are just fine.  Some who have been bounced around and sold time after time just accept it and go on.  But some worry and question “Why!?”

I can only observe and imagine.