New Pictures of the Girls…

*Warning: These pics are a bit disturbing. Rosie is extremely underweight and you can see every bone in her little body. I’m posting them to document their progress and to educate in the process.*

We spent most of the weekend out at the barn working with Rosie and Beezus. We are learning more and more about these sweet girls’ personalities. Rosie is definitely head of their mini herd. Beezus looks to her for everything. Due to Rosie’s position, she has been on super high alert and was on a bit of a hunger strike the first few days she was at the barn. We had to shave both girls, due to the rain rot and the results were pretty shocking.

It was shocking to see just how skinny she really is.

It appears that their previous owner would feed them together and Rosie would give Beezus the majority of her food. We suspect they weren’t on grain of any kind and maybe a bit of hay. Plus, they are both infested with worms, which contributes to the emaciation.

As I said earlier, it’s been difficult getting Rosie to eat any food. I finally was able to get her to eat out of my hand, on Saturday, and she ate almost a whole scoop of grain. Audra, our instructor/ barn owner, told me she started eating more yesterday morning and evening. She also finally started drinking. So, hopefully she will be gaining weight as the weeks go on.

Here she is with, Anna, a 9 year old student who is in love with Rosie. When she is up to health, Rosie will be the perfect child’s horse.

This is Beezus and I riding yesterday. This was before we shaved her. I, unfortunately, did not get any post shave pics yesterday. I hope to get some tomorrow. Anyway, Beezus is doing very, very well, she’s eating and she’s settling in a little faster than Rosie. However, she has separation anxiety when Rosie is not in her sight.

We have been working each horse on the ground for a few minutes and then I’ve been riding Beezus for about 15 minutes, only walking and trotting lightly. She is extremely out of shape and has little muscle tone; so much so, that she pants and huffs after a few laps of trotting. However, she is trying hard and has a lovely smooth trot. We’ve been riding her in Western because that’s what she knows and she is a bit unpredictable with her cues. I’m hoping to get her into an English saddle once she settles in more.

Well, that’s all for today. I’m sure I will have more for you as time goes on.

God Bless!

Love Lauren