Who is that masked horse? 🙂 Freya’s protection from the flies

Circle Game

Squeeze Game

Greetings Freya fans! There’s been a lot going on at White Sulphur Springs in May. Whew! We hosted: 1) many guest groups in the hotel 2) the Harrison house ribbon cutting ceremony 3) our WSS volunteer time. 4) another sold-out Horse Adventure Weekend (which was soooooo much fun!) Additionally, our summer senior staff (college-aged young adults) have arrived, and we’ve launched into training.

To add to all that goodness, Katy Pistole and Richard Kurz came in and worked with Freya in May to help us understand the next steps with our big little horse. It’s been blessedly busy, and I’ve had less time with Freya than I would like. But the time we’ve had, has been good.

Freya is beginning to build more stories. She’s got character! She’s connected deeply with Daisy, another mare in our herd. It’s been a beautiful process to watch because previously Daisy was very disconnected- she was obedient, but not connected to humans or other horses in our herd.

That changed when Freya came. The first thing Daisy did when she met Freya was give her a good thump with her back legs in her chest. After that inauspicious beginning, they started to connect on a deeper and deeper level. Daisy became a surrogate mom to her, and they began to mutually groom each other.

After a couple months, they began to protest when we had to move one away from the other. The outbursts and complaints grew from a low roar to loud cross-camp calling for one another. On Horse Adventure Weekend, after we collected Daisy for trail rides, Freya broke down the gate to follow Daisy. The buddy-sweetness is strong! Daisy also threw a little temper tantum despite being older and wiser?!?

Long and short of it- we’ve separated them for a while. My heart is sad to do it, but we also can’t reinforce behavior that could hurt both horse and facilities.

We are also continuing to teach all the initial lessons of turning, yielding to pressure, and friendly game (flicking the whip across her back in the same way a mother horse flicks her tail.) We’ve added the circle game (having her move in a circle around us while we stay stationary) and squeeze game, leading her forwards and backward up against the siderails of the round pen. (Please see the videos for both games)

God bless you and have a good start to your summer!

Our horses are a community affair. Would you consider donating for hay, farrier care, repairs to tack, medication, or even sponsoring Freya or your favorite horse? Please join us on the the horse adventure!