Rewilding the Domestic horse
Since completely changing the way I keep my horses, I have seen some incredible changes that I hope to share with more people! The possibilities are endless when we really take time to listen to our horses. They are really quite communicative and chatty!!
Banks, aka Govenor Bernstein from his racin’ days, is the horse that truly made me open my heart, mind, and ears to really listening to him and actually hearing what he had to say. I did what I thought was best at the time. I tried to give him what I thought was the “best life” - I bought the most expensive (most sugary) grain, kept him in a 16x16 stall with a fresh bag of shavings to roll in every day, turned him out on a grass (sugary) pasture for 4-6 hours a day (alone), bought the fanciest bits and tack, had a full set of the best quality shoes put on him every 4-6 weeks, the list truly goes on. From the very first day he walked off the trailer, he was waited on hand and foot (or hoof!!)
But - he was unhappy. Despite all of my best efforts, thousands and thousands of dollars spent, all with the absolute best intentions. He was suffering. He developed severe anxiety which showed itself in the form of intense fence walking in the pasture, pacing in his stall. He was sometimes explosive under saddle, he was constantly in a state of anxiety. All I thought was best for him was causing extreme damage to him mentally and physically. He was an extremely hard keeper who required insane amounts of food each day to maintain a lean weight. He threw shoes left and right. His hooves were in terrible shape despite my diligence with a qualified farrier. All of this was him screaming at me that he wasn’t okay. He tried so hard to be a good boy but he was suffering.
Once I realized this, I promised him every day that change was on the horizon. Change was coming buddy, I promise! I told him I would find a way to do better for him. This doesn’t mean spending more money necessarily, it honestly requires stripping back! We were fortunate enough to buy property that had a beautiful blank slate for me to build our track system but you can build something unique to your property right where you already are! That is the beauty of tracks, they are highly adaptable for the people and the horses they are built to serve.
When we moved Banks to the track in October of 2022, I had bought a rescue pony on the same day who was severely underweight and shut down. I knew Banks needed a friend and this horse needed a home! It worked out perfectly. At first, both horses were apprehensive of one another after the novelty wore off after a few days. Neither had ever been kept in a herd full time, nor had they ever lived on a track before! It did take a good couple months to fully assimilate them into their own little mini herd but the changes in both of them that I witnessed were absolutely incredible.
Banks still exhibited stress-related, anxiety type behaviors in fence walking but it slowly dissipated. Whenever there is a random, stressful event now he may still revert back to the fence walking but he is easily calmed with a gentle touch now. A gentle reminder from me that hey, its okay I’ve got your back! In the beginning, I would get after him and push him around the arena trying to move his feet and help him work through the anxiety through movement. This did nothing more than get him more worked up! He is a Thoroughbred after all, he has the most stamina of any horse I have ever met!! He does not tire often or easily. I have learned that it is much more important to connect to his mind through energy work - this is a topic for a future blog! But this method has proven highly effective in helping him resolve the anxiety he feels in his body during stressful events. And when I say stressful event - I mean a random coyote/stray dog/etc running up to the fence line, horses roaming in the desert, riders losing control of their horses and horses running up to the fence bucking their riders off… We live out in the desert where a lot of random stuff can happen so I kinda don’t blame him!! Banks is extremely vigilant and I am extremely appreciative of that as he will alert me to anything out of the norm whether that be random people, horses, dogs, or other! But, now when these stressful events happen he reverts less and less back to the fence walking and is able to self-soothe through energy work much more easily. I am truly so proud and so thankful for this horse, he has come such a long way and has taught me so much!!
Next time, I will dive deeper into the stories of Leo and Captain - our other two resident members of the track! Thanks for readin’ <3