Magdalene came to us one week after the sudden passing of Eli.  While our hearts still ached, we knew that our mission to offer a safe haven for draft horses needed to supersede the pain that we were feeling.  Maggie’s situation was much different than any of the horses that we had rescued to date.  She walked off of the trailer in magnificent condition  Her golden mane glistened in the afternoon sun,  but when the light hit her hind quarters it was obvious why she was at the rescue.

While it had been three months since her beating, the marks were fading but still visible under her chestnut coat.  She didn’t want anyone near her rear end and was not comfortable with people being at her side either.  We slowly walked her to her pasture so that she could take everything in.  It did not take her long to notice the other residents of the ranch, who she called to with a strong, musical neigh.

We had been told that Maggie liked to be a loner, but it became very obvious that she wanted to be with the other horses.  She spent the entire two weeks of her quarantine pacing up and down the fence line closest to the other horses, calling when they were no longer in her line of sight.  She would not settle down until they called back to her and even then she did not stop pacing.

After the two weeks, we began the process of integrating her into the herd.  At first we let them share a fence line and fed everyone close to make sure that there was no aggression over her food.  It was obvious that everyone was getting along when they started eating from each others piles under the fence.  While happy that she was closer to the herd, she was still not calm about being alone.  She soon made a path from pacing the shared fence line.  It was decided that she would join the herd sooner rather than later.  The introduction went very smoothly.  She entered the pasture and quickly joined up.  The rest of the day was spent exploring her new space with her herd right behind her.

Fast forward to today and you can’t see the physical marks of her abuse, but the mental ones are still present.  Maggie is not open to new people, but has become very comfortable with those that care for her.  She calls every time that they enter the pasture and comes to them for a rub under her mane.  She enjoys being groomed and is an absolute angel for the farrier and vet.  We have not pushed her with her training, instead opting to build her trust with groundwork.  It is obvious that from the little that we have asked her that she does know a lot.  In the coming months we will ask her to do more, but for right now she is happy roaming the pastures with her buddy.