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| Hi! I'm Polo! |
A few weeks ago, I lived at a racetrack. I spent most of my days in a stall looking over the road between the backside and the gate to the training track. But I wasn't a very good racehorse. In fact, I wasn't even good enough to make it to the starting gate!
Since I wasn't going anywhere as a racehorse, especially not fast, my trainer arranged for me to go live on a farm where I could learn to be a pleasure horse. The woman who owned the farm came to pick me up at the racetrack and took me to her barn. I got some hay and water and a nice stall near the front of the barn so I could see everything going on. She even let me run around in the big outdoor arena where I could see acres of pastures and dozens of other horses to make friends with.
It was all very exciting... as long as I was outside. I didn't like being in my stall very much. I was nervous about being in a new place and anxious to make friends with the other horses. After a few days inside with regular "free lunging" in the outdoor arena, one of the women saddled me up and hacked me around at the walk. I was nervous, but I tried very hard to be good and not do anything wrong. I did so well that the next day she asked me to trot! I was just getting used to not having to work, so I didn't feel much like trotting around with a person on my back, but I did it anyway. After a little while, though, my feet started to hurt. They only hurt after I'd been ridden for a little while, though, and I walked back to the barn completely sound.
Since I'm so young and just off the track, they decided to turn me out in the big front field with several other horses. I was so happy! I was less anxious and they said I was a "completely different horse." I loved the big rolling field with its knee deep grass and little creek. I didn't understand the creek at first, but the woman who had been helping care for me talked me through my first crossing. I admit, I wasn't very graceful. I sort of fell in. Then I realized it was just water and almost immediately discovered that I was thirsty, so I took care of that and we moved on.
Unfortunately, the other horses didn't like me very much. They wouldn't let me graze with them, so I had to watch them socialize from across the paddock. I kept trying to make friends, but they got mean. They bit me and kicked me, and by the time my new owner pulled me out of the paddock, I was hurt pretty bad. They said I couldn't stay in the paddock but that keeping me in a stall when I was unhappy wasn't fair either. No one seemed to know what to do.
After a few days, a new trailer came to pick me up. One of the women I'd seen around the barn told me I was going to a new place, and she was coming with me! She said her name was K and that she'd take care of me. I got on the trailer and we took a pretty long ride out into the country.
At the end of the ride was a big green pasture just for me! It turns out that K's friends have a small farm with a few horses and a lot of dogs, and they have a pasture I can live in until I'm feeling better. It's full of green grass and shade and it has a huge water trough just for me. There's also a building in the corner called a "shed," but it doesn't look too inviting to me.
K's friends cleaned me up and treated my injuries as best they could, then watched me try out my new pasture. After evaluating the past few days, I decided that I don't mind being alone after all, at least right now. I can see two other horses across the driveway, so if I want to talk, I know someone is right there. There are a ton of dogs here, too, and they're really loud. But the train that runs alongside my paddock sure is a lot louder!
I'd only been in my new pasture for a few hours when K returned, and she brought the woman who had cared for me at the first farm, before I got hurt. She said her name is R, and she's my mom, too!
It's been a really rough few weeks, and I've been confused a lot, but I think I'm really lucky. I have two moms who love me and they say I'm well on my way to being really spoiled. They say my only job this summer is to heal and gain weight. While the healing thing is new to me, and I think K and R will have to help, I am a champion eater. So I'll get started on that and let my new moms manage the rest.
Next time I'll have my moms post some photos of my injuries. Be warned, though. They're pretty graphic. In the meanwhile, I'll leave you with a photo of my handsome self, before I got hurt:
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| I'm pretty cute, huh? |
~ Polo
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