Ex-Racehorse Story Sharing

Jan has been a long time supporter of LOPE. He is very interested in natural horsemanship and horse psychology. Jan recently emailed me an interesting story about his mare Queenie:

"Queenie is six-year-old bay thoroughbred mare. Her racing career was very short; there is some evidence of some old leg injuries. She suffered a severe cut to her left rear foot in a trailer loading accident in 2007, and was nursed back to near-normal by a friend of a friend. Queenie was therefore essentially a three-legged horse for over a year while she convalesced. I adopted Queenie in 2008; I'm at least her fifth caregiver.

Queenie is a very smart TB and fits many of the Linda Parelli ;Horsenality' profile attributes of a Left-Brain Introvert. I've been retraining Queenie using a blend of Pat Parelli, Dennis Reis, and Clinton Anderson techniques.

I just recently adopted another horse, Sienna. Sienna is a 13-year-old bay QH mare. I'm her third caregiver. My initial impressions are that Sienna has some of the Linda Parelli Horsenality profile attributes of a Right-Brain Extrovert.

Now, here's the real reason I'm writing you. In one of Pat and Linda Parelli's DVDs, Linda comments about going out to the horses and the horses say 'Take me, take me!'

For reasons unknown to me, "Queenie" has had an indifferent attitude since I adopted her. Her attitude has been essentially, 'please feed me, but it's OK if you don't want to work with me, I'm content to hang around in my stall.'

My friend who was Queenie's caregiver before me thinks that Queenie's attitude is a result of her severe injury in 2007. Have you or your readers seen similar behavior in the TBs you've taken in who suffered severe injuries and were immobile for a long period of time?

On a positive (and very interesting) note: once Sienna arrived and settled in at our place, Queenie is now the first to say 'Take me, take me!'"

My response: We sometimes have seen horses in rehab become withdrawn emotionally. My thoughts are that this is due to the horses feeling vulnerable -- as if they want to take up as little "space" as possible (both literally and metaphysically) so as not to be noticed by predators. But the horses all did rebound quickly once they felt better and began to heal. I would guess Queenies behavior might be also due to her large number of caregivers in a short period -- she may have decided to not become attached to any one person (since her ownership changed so frequently).

Comments

[Amy L.]

My experience with OTTBs, especially the ones that were passed around from trainer to trainer or owner to owner, is that they're very much like kids in foster care. It takes them a while to trust and love again. For all they know, you're just as temporary as all the rest of their handlers. It took a good two years for my mare (who raced for 3 years) to let everyone know that I belonged to her. :)

[Kirsten]

I think each horse has a unique personality. I had a rescue TB who in no way was abused prior to me getting him but he had suffered an injury to his hind leg that required a lengthy recovery period. He was always friendly but a bit aloof - he didn't get along very well with other horses either - pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole. My current TB was very difficult to catch when I first got him 12 yrs ago and continued that way through a period of temporary retirement after an injury. He has been back to work for 2 yrs now and 9 times out of 10 runs over to the gate to be caught and get treats. He too in the big picture is a bit aloof and cautious about being handled and brushed. He is very aware of his surroundings. Ultimately who knows...I just work with each personality and try not to invade their space - whatever it is.