August in Review

This month I officially began my internship at FOCUS, although since I had already been going since June, I did not have to learn the ropes and get used to the environment. This month I jumped right in with starting to teach Bentley respect, since he has an extreme lack of it from hanging out in the pasture for most of his life. It turned out to be an... Interesting experience to say the least. What I was not expecting was that I would be dragged through the arena and almost kicked several times. Bentley ended up being sent to a trainer for a few weeks in order to get him really working and focused, so hopefully when he comes back he will have some manners.

Don't let that cute face fool you.

This month we also had quite a few new arrivals to the barn - Cherry, Heaven, and "Gray Mare" (she does not have a name yet.) Cherry and Heaven had homes before even coming to the barn, but will have to wait a while before going to their forever homes since Cherry had to have surgery for a fracture in her right front leg. Heaven did not come with any serious issues, although she is blind in one eye and slightly underweight. "Gray Mare", however, came with a slew of problems. She had one of the worst cases of rain rot (painful skin condition for horses) that I have ever seen, bad sunburn on her face, scars from kicks and bites, and extreme lameness that made it hard for her to walk. I ended up giving her a medicated bath to help with the rain rot, and everyday I apply ointment to her face and legs, as well as a thorough brushing on her body. Although she is not yet available for adoption, she has lots of people interested in her.

Giving "Gray Mare" a bath.

One time I have showed initiative throughout this month is whenever I clean stalls. Rebecca, my supervisor for my internship, does not require me to ever clean the stalls, but I do anyway, since it is the barn chore I mind doing the least, and it gives her more time to do more important things, and it also keeps the barn looking clean and makes the horses happier.

One of my favorite highlights of this month is my progress with Calvin, the year old black pony. A few months ago, Calvin would have to be tranquilized in order to get his hooves trimmed. So in June, July, and August, I would spend a lot of time with him, just picking up his feet. And so, for the very first time ever, Calvin did not have be tranquilized for his feet! This made me feel extremely accomplished, and was a definite boost to my confidence with horses.

I have learned lots this month, both about horses as well as life skills. Horse wise, I learned all about becoming a farrier and equine chiropractor, like what schools to go to, what to major in, what career pathways to take, etc. I learned how to teach a horse to lunge on a long rope, as well as pivots and send offs. Some life skills I learned this month were learning to control my frustrations, since picking up Calvin's feet and attempting to teach Bentley respect were very, very difficult at times, and often times resulted in me either being dragged across the arena or being almost kicked. Another life skill I learned is taking initiative, as a few times I would have an hour or two to myself, and it would not be productive to just play on my phone. So, instead I would either clean or groom horses, which I am sure the horses liked very much.

A challenge I had this month would definitely be managing my time at my internship. You would think that there would always be lots to do, but that is not always the case. A few days a week we have volunteers come to the barn to help out, and we usually end up getting everything done twice as fast. Some days it would be too hot to spend lots of time working with the horses, so we would just clean stalls and water buckets instead. Some days, it would be difficult to find things to do, so I had to take matters into my own hands and figure out things to do. Mostly, I would end up grooming the horses, since many of them need it (especially now with Gray Mare, Pearl, and Cherry). I would also make sure to fill up any water buckets that needed filled (this is super important in hot months, you do not want a dehydrated horse!) as well as filling up extra hay nets to use later, after the horses ate dinner.

As interesting as this month was, I am very excited for next month. I feel like I have done a lot, despite only going the week of the 13th and 27th because of fair. I plan to work with my supervisor to start getting the barn prepared for winter, and I am also going to start teaching Jesse, the month old foal, how to wear a halter, which should be quite the adventure, since I have never worked with foals before.