One year ago....Our Odyssey

One year ago today, November 11th, 2008, Remembrance Day,
things sure changed around here!!!

you see, all my life I've know about the slaughter industry, there was nothing I could do about it and coped with it emotionally by turning a blind eye.
last year I followed a link, and ended up on a website... with snapshots of young horses (1 - 3 yrs old) being fattened and within weeks to be headed off to slaughter.

well, now I was in position to do something, maybe I could save 1, or 2. 3 maybe?

ok, ok, 7. :roll: :lol:
when they arrived they were as wild as could be, 2 and 3 yr olds, and untouched.
we couldn't get closer then 50 ft to them, and that distance was because it the the middle of the barnyard and when we would cross the halfway point they would stampede in a herd around behind us to the farthest point again.

here they are on day one.



so, we mostly saw a lot of this ....









had a few near misses in stampedes :roll:





so i spent A LOT of time doing this...













finally we started to get some of this...



after the first few weeks my friend took one of the seven home, which left six, which were quickly dubbed the sixpack by my friends on OTHG

i continued to spend lots and lots of undemanding time with them and and we were gaining ground.
we had first touches



and first rubs



and soon everybody was getting pretty friendly :D



we graduated to halters .....







and thankfully we didn't have very much of this....



as trust grew they really liked to hang out with us, even in odd places .... :lol:



good thing we had warm clothes, cuz we spent lots of time lying around :D



lots of cuddle time!







and hoof care got much more relaxed :lol:



spring arrived, .... and so did "Remember"







followed shortly by "Celebration"







the "bonus pack" ...



.... was here! :D







and boy oh boy, haven't we had fun playing with them!!!















we didn't forget the others, and continued to play with them.



meg really likes the water. :lol:



so, fall is rolling back around, and even tho we didn't get anyone started under saddle this year...
or for that matter haven't even got thru the 7 games with them all....
we continue to spend lots of undemanding time with them....











and of course still keep up with maintenance things such as hoof trimming. :lol:



it saddens me to think of the ones that didn't get saved,
but my heart thrills to see this



and today, we are here...
hang on, i have to go take some pics :lol:

ok, several hours later i'm back.
we took the camera out to see what we could get.
and it was good. :D

i've never had more the a clp on ropes at the same time, i decided to try to expand that. :D

two....



plus three...



makes five :D



one more to go, .... and the sixpack it is :D







let's see, let's get the bonus pack in here :D

there's one



come join in ember....





come on babies, co-operate



i guess i'll settle for this



and we even managed to use the timer on the camera so my daughter and i could both get in the picture :D



halters off.



we decided to try some other new things...

first time astride (while he's standing up anyway :lol: )



and first ride :D :D :D



and then some trailer loading with the babies.











so, there ended our day, but our journey continues...