#lethorsesbehorses #fortheloveofhorses #morganhorse #ottb #baygelding #silly
Nothing better than post blanket removal rolls 🤩
This handsome devil is an early 20’s bay warmblood gelding who is reliably content, social, and hungry 🤣 the way he looks at passersby’s convinces them immediately that no one has fed him EVER and they should return to the barn to find him some kind of snackie. Outside of his robust love for food, this guy is sweet as the day is long. He has a gentle but enthusiastic way about him that helps people feel comfortable and grounded. He’ll stand in the barn all day for groomies but loves hanging out with his horsey pals too. He and jack regularly engage in bay gelding activities such as face fighting, mutual grooming, grazing side by side, and watching each others backs while they sleep. He’s also been pretty persistent with Winnie who is not certain they should share a water trough or that he should exist in her vicinity while she’s eating 🤪 two of my favorite things about him are how content he seems in his own skin, and how easy it is to call him off grass despite his tremendous love of food. Oh! I would be remiss to mention his beautiful floaty trot that’s so lovely to observe when he comes over for meals. Such a special dude, this one! ❤️
Now for more important introductions- our wonderful herd! I’ll start with Jack since he’s our namesake and has been at the farm the longest 🩵
Jack is a 2013 OTTB who raced pretty successfully until 2019. Through Turning for Home, he retired to New Beginnings Thoroughbreds due to a sesamoid fracture. I saw his photos/videos online and was immediately smitten! He moved to CT in March 2020 with six rides off the track and has been at the farm ever since.
Jack is incredibly bold and smart. In our almost 5 years together, I’ve seen him startle at basically nothing- but not in a shut down/desensitized way- in a confident, “try me” way 🤣.
In our early time together, I was incredibly challenged by his behaviors. I did a lot of anthropomorphizing so that I wouldn’t have to admit that he made me feel nervous and incompetent. At that time, I was incredibly unaware of and incongruent with my emotions, which he was unwilling to tolerate. I focused tremendously on his plentiful physical issues so I could feel like a good owner without actually looking at what I needed to change internally to be a better partner to him.
Over time, it became apparent that he needed a more evolved human. So, down the path we went. There was a lot of crying and questioning myself, many failures, and my share of bruises (physical and to my ego lol). I had to learn many “hard” skills related to horse care/nutrition and even more “soft” skills like grounding, trusting my intuition, and advocating.
Today, Jack is retired from ridden work. He’s an extraordinary partner for wellness programs and he enjoys learning tricks basically immediately through R+. He has strong boundaries that he’s not afraid to assert and I swear he holds the wisdom of 1000 lives. He tolerates no bullsh*t, is a giant goober, loves to zoom and leap around after rolling, and will do anything to be sprayed in the face with the hose- even if it’s 10 degrees out.
As an interesting aside, if yo
Warren and I have been working on confidence away from his brother, who has been his riding partner for many years… he’s a super compliant horse so it can be hard to tell his boundaries/threshold inside the arena. I was so pleased today when he offered going over to the mounting block to tell me he was done 🥳 what a smart boy! #fortheloveofhorses #wedontdeserveanimals #morganhorse #relationship #horsebackriding #Horsemanship #healingjourney #healingwithhorses
It’s not their job to fix us, or to turn our bad days around… but, when they saunter across their paddocks just to be with you all the problems seem to melt away. What a gift it is to be loved by a horse ❤️ #lethorsesbehorses #outdoorhorselife #fortheloveofhorses #horsemanship #ottb #mindfulness #wellnessjourney
Giddy living his best life 😍 #outdoorhorselife #fortheloveofhorses #retireeslife #horsesofinstagram
Freya girl loves her drive through scratchies 🥰 I start at her shoulder then she moves herself to where she wants to be itched… she thinks this is a pretty good arrangement, besides when my arm gets tired and I need to take a break 🤣 #rescuedismyfavoritebreed #cdhr #fortheloveofhorses #OutdoorLiving #percheron
The cutiest snoot there ever was 😍❤️ #lethorsesbehorses #outdoorhorselife #retiree
Such a fun day at the farm today, just what I needed 🥰
Ben and Arica were immensely helpful with a bunch of random tasks, plus working with awesome people always makes the day go by faster.
We (Ben) installed eye hooks in all the sheds so the horses could enjoy the jolly balls easily. Maverick especially liked the alfalfa ball donated by Donna Morrell Bourn and thought his Grammy might like to see him “using” it. He did eventually get the hang of it 🤪
#10yearoldgirlhorsemanship #ottb #forthefunofit #outdoorhorselife #equineenrichment
#GratitudeAttitude #glimmers #grateful #outdoorhorselife
Four years ago today, I met Jack for the first time at New Beginnings Thoroughbreds 😍 he was 6yo, retired from racing for a few months after rehabbing a sesamoid fracture. This was his fourth ride off the track.
I watch this video and I think a couple of things:
- I somehow miss the unconscious incompetence that allowed me to feel absolutely no anxiety around riding a baby ottb 🤷🏼♀️🤪 I have much less gumption for those kinds of activities now!
- I remember how emotional I was and how immediate and easy the decision was to adopt him and that makes me marvel over how the universe gives us exactly what we need exactly when we need it 💜
- look! I can at least kind of ride 🤣🤣🤣 most of my boarders have never seen it so here’s the video evidence!
Morning views 😍 #outdoorhorselife #lethorsesbehorses #belgian #drafthorse #warmblood #ottb
