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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 10:50:43 GMT 1
Post by horsesarts on Aug 19, 2007 10:50:43 GMT 1
This is a little portuguese boy I have taken under my wing. He's so poor it breaks my heart and he's so frightened of people and noises and movement and everything. He snorts at hay, water, food and the world in general. I cannot comprehend what he has been through to be in such a state, he is very fried mentally, and will take ages to interact with, but he has all the time in the world here. Even my snake-witch mare was kind to him over the fence which is unheard of...... I've started a blog about him if anyone is interested. fenixafarat.blogspot.com/
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 11:26:26 GMT 1
Post by ponytails on Aug 19, 2007 11:26:26 GMT 1
Well done horsearts, he will come round in time i dont think he will take that long how did you come about him ?? was he a rescue or bought from somewhere ? and how long have you had him ?
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 12:35:37 GMT 1
Post by Lorraine L on Aug 19, 2007 12:35:37 GMT 1
I have just been reading your blog and wanted to say a huge well done to you. He is a lovely horse and will be stunning when he is nursed back to health. I don't suppose for one moment that it will be straight forward or easy but as you say, he has all the time in the world. Please do keep us updated. I am glad that he fell into your hands. Good luck
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 12:47:43 GMT 1
Post by iwillbuy on Aug 19, 2007 12:47:43 GMT 1
hi i have just read your blog and it brought tears to my eyes waht can i say but well done, it amazing to read someone elses words and know you to have also been through it and you have wrote it beautifully lots of updates please
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melissa
No Longer Posts on the DG
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Posts: 4,905
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 18:04:39 GMT 1
Post by melissa on Aug 19, 2007 18:04:39 GMT 1
will read your blog too...he looks a poppet, poor boy - well done for saving him.xx
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 19:10:32 GMT 1
Post by horsesarts on Aug 19, 2007 19:10:32 GMT 1
Thanks guys.
Ponytails, he's one of the horses that was heading for the long haul to the Italian slaughterhouses.
The closest I can get to him in the field is to hand him a carrot with my hand behind my back so that I don't look at him. He was in the stable for the whole day after he arrived because I couldn't get near him to touch him or put a head collar on him to turn him out. It took all day and a bag of carrots to achieve it, but the very act of putting a headcollar on him undid all that I had achieved up to that point. But I took the decision to do it and turn him out because he needs grass and time to understand what being a horse means. I only want him whole again, so it has to be when he's comfortable with me that he comes to me of choice, not because he has nowhere else to go. His feet will survive a few weeks before I need to do something to them, and whilst I'm desperate to clean him up and play away with massage on him, and start interacting with him, that is for me, not him. So I just have to watch and see. I'll probably update the blog weekly, because at the moment things are changing and happening fast. I've saved a gee from the meat man before, but he was nothing like this........
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gill
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 1,036
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 19:33:08 GMT 1
Post by gill on Aug 19, 2007 19:33:08 GMT 1
Well Done for saving this poor boy. It was very sad reading his story on your blog. Will look forward to reading all your updates on his progress.
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carol
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 3,084
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 19:53:46 GMT 1
Post by carol on Aug 19, 2007 19:53:46 GMT 1
I can hardly believe the difference between the first photos of him, and when he arrived to you, he's dropped off so much weight, he must have terribly stressed. Despite that he's sooo handsome. You are doing a fabulous job with him already, I'm sure it won't be long before he comes round to your gentle kindness.
Ditto Gill, I look forward to the updates.
Well done.
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 19:55:50 GMT 1
Post by amarche on Aug 19, 2007 19:55:50 GMT 1
horsearts - well done he looks a lovely sort just to say that my boy was very similar when he came to me over 18 months ago and he was petrified of people, in the end I took he decision to turn him away for a few weeks with my veteran pony and he same around in his own time, but slowly & surely. He's like a (large) lap dog now and has been ridden & worked so don't worry, it'll all come right best of luck !
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Fenix
Aug 19, 2007 20:34:44 GMT 1
Post by sarahfox on Aug 19, 2007 20:34:44 GMT 1
well done,he looks lovely,will be great to see him when he's got some weight back poor boy.I know exactly what you mean about the headcollar,3 of mine are terrified of people and headcollars etc,as they are all pretty fat I have kept them in which makes it easier to work with them,however if they had been in his condition I think I may well have done the same as you,difficult choice but although mine are in I still wont push them into accepting anything else,like you say feet trimming etc can wait a while.Best of luck with your boy.Sxx
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Fenix
Aug 20, 2007 10:55:42 GMT 1
Post by horsesarts on Aug 20, 2007 10:55:42 GMT 1
Thanks all of you. I think the differences in the pics from the first page and the second page are photography and dehydration. The person who photographed him the first time said that he looked fatter in the pics than in reality. I also have some where he looks fatter than life. Grey, white and black do not reflect light as well as other colours, so the shape of a horse of those colours can be deceptive. To show what he was really like, I had to shoot him without the light directly on him, the sun was slightly behind him. Because he is so poor, he will also have visibly changed with dehydration. I've seen event horses taken off course with this (not mine, I hasten to add), and what was a superbly fit looking animal at the start of the course is sunken eyed and looks skeletal unbelievably quickly. He drank, in the 15 hours after he arrived, a whole large black dustbin of water. I duno what size it is, but my other gees would take 4/5 days to drink that much. He also was visibly softer looking by the time I turned him out after those 15 hours, so I suspect it has to be water. As I said on another thread, I suspect that he will have been herded into a barn and left for a day or so without food and water to await the transporter. The French are very different to us in how their horses are treated, and moreso when they have no use for them. He wanted to speak to me this morning, but bottled out at the last minute, so still progress of sorts! Sarah, I'm not a anti-stable person, far from it! My horses love coming in at night in the winter, and bring themselves into the barn in the summer all day, and the space is just two stables size. If it is cold and rains in winter, my WB/TB shouts at the gate to be brought in! Just in Fenix' case, I know he needed grass, and I felt that any progress I made in the stable would be lost as soon as he went out anyway, because he was having to compromise and had to deal with me in his space, IMO a major issue for him. That is relevant only to him, tho', if I had read him differently, and thought it would have helped him, I would have kept him in. He's funny tho', he watches me with O & M and is astonished that they speak to me and come to me. You can see him thinking it might be a good idea, but there are too many scars at the moment. Should have put all that on the blog, sorry, rambling.........
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Fenix
Aug 20, 2007 11:17:37 GMT 1
Post by Chestnutmare on Aug 20, 2007 11:17:37 GMT 1
Such a lovely but sad story that brought tears to my eyes,it will all be a happy ending and well worth the wait.He's a lovely horse good-luck with him!
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Fenix
Aug 20, 2007 16:12:56 GMT 1
Post by jillnbanks on Aug 20, 2007 16:12:56 GMT 1
hes going to be stunning when hes back to full health....good luck with him xxx
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