Phase 2 - Aggression, or hunger?

“Hello?” Sally answered her phone, resting the pitchfork down next to the wheelbarrow.

“Hey Sally!” Theresa Sutton’s voice came through the other end, the rattle of the truck and trailer she’s driving coming through the phone. “I’m about to pull into the driveway. Can you get one of the mare and foal stalls ready for the horse? She needs the space. Preferably close to the door. She’s… interesting. I’ll fill you in when we get there.”

The truck and trailer slowly roll to a stop in front of the large blue barn. The trailer rattles with the pawing of the horse within, desperate to get out. Theresa puts the truck in park and steps out, and is met by a short girl with blonde hair. 

“Hey Sally. I want to get her out quickly, but to sum her up, she has barrier and food aggression. Loading her went well but I’m unsure how she’ll be for unloading. Just open and close doors for me when I ask.” Theresa is moving swiftly while she talks, grabbing the leadrope out of the trailer’s tack room and moving around to the back of the trailer. 

“Okay. Just say when.” Sally readies herself by the trailer door, and on Theresa’s nod, she unlatches the doors and lowers the ramp.Theresa slides in, and the mare swings her head around, ears pinned. 

“Hey girl. You’ve finished your hay already. There’s nothing in here to guard.” Theresa says, approaching the mare, who allowed her to clip the lead rope to her bright yellow rope halter. The girl and horse exit the trailer without fuss, and Theresa allows the horse a moment to survey her new surroundings. 

“Damn, she's gorgeous!” Sally exclaims as the sun gleams off of the purpley-brown patches on the mare’s white coat. 

“Her name is Magpie.” Theresa responds with a smile, turning the mare towards the barn. The walk into the stall goes smoothly, and the gate gets securely latched after Theresa safely exits the stall, Magpie restlessly inside. 

“Well, all we can do right now is let her adjust while we feed. Let's go load up the feed truck.” Theresa says, hanging the halter and lead rope on the hook next to the stall door. She walks past, when suddenly she feels teeth graze her shirt sleeve. Moving reflexively, she jumps back, turning to see Magpie half out of her stall: head, neck, chest, and front legs hanging over the lowest part of the stall wall, designed so that feed buckets can easily be filled. 

“Shit. SALLY!” Theresa calls, wondering what the hell she got herself into. Sally runs over, and it is evident that Magpie is good and stuck. The mare struggles, throwing her head and flailing her hooves, trying to get back into her stall.

“What the hell?” Sally asks, and Theresa just shakes her head.

“I don’t know how the hell to get her back in her stall. Can you go get Tom?”

Sally nods, and takes off towards the main house to get the barn owner. Theresa looks at Magpie’s yellow-gold eyes, and sees how panicked she is at being stuck. By this point, the mare has shut down, not flailing, just sitting there, her eyes starting to glaze.

“Hey girl. We’re gonna get you out of this. Will you let me help you?” Theresa speaks softly to the mare, taking a few steps towards her, testing if she would let her approach. Magpie’s eyes open a bit wider, and Theresa sees the glaze leave them; she is alert again.

“Okay. You’re okay. If I move the mounting block over, do you think you can use that to push yourself back in?” At this point, Theresa isn't sure if she’s trying to calm the horse or herself. She quickly moves into the tack room, where a solid wooden mounting block is stored, used for therapeutic riding to help those with mobility issues mount easily. The top step is almost level with Theresa’s chest, which is where the stall wall comes to. She rolls it out -- thank God it's on wheels -- and stops just short of Magpie’s stall.

“I’m just gonna move this right up to your stall okay? You can use it to push yourself back in.” Theresa locks the wheels, and forcibly shoves it across the aisle. Careful to not pin Magpie’s hooves between the block and the wall, she settles it into place. Theresa jumps to the side as the mare begins to flail again, struggling for a solid hold on the steps of the mounting block. Finding purchase, she places her front hooves solidly on the block, and pushes herself back into the stall. Pulling her hooves off of the mounting block and onto the stall wall, Theresa holds her breath, worried the mare will get just stuck again, or injure herself. Pulling her head and neck back into the stall, the mare gracefully drops into the stall, and moves to get a drink of water, as if it never happened. Just as she does this, Tom and Sally race into the barn.

“Where is she?” Tom asks, looking around.

“She… figured it out.” Theresa says, gesturing to the stall, horse fully inside. The newcomers look at her in disbelief, and she begins to explain.

That night, when she gets home from feeding, Theresa curls up on her bed and opens her laptop, and she begins to research.

How to fix food aggression in horses

Stall aggression in horses

Horse that is stall aggressive

Resource guarding in horses

Aggression in horses

She reads article after article, taking notes in her spiral bound notebook, making a plan to help Magpie. She feels her eyes getting heavier and heavier, until suddenly, she's sound asleep, illuminated by the light of her laptop. 

The next day, she arrives at the barn bright and early. First thing she does is fill up a haynet for Magpie, and clip it in her stall. Her research had told her that food aggression often stems from limited access to food, such as only being fed a few meals a day with nothing in between, as opposed to constant access to hay/forage. She had texted Tom as soon as she was awake, to ask him if there were any pastures he was okay with her turning Magpie out in.The response she had gotten told her that if she could make a pasture available, she could put Magpie in it. After a few days of her sharing a fence and getting used to food in her belly, they would turn out other horses with her. Theresa got to work, quickly deciding that the peninsula pasture would be best; it was small, only had two horses in it, and only shared one side of the fence with other pastures (hence the name). She moved the horses out of that pasture and into the one adjacent, which had space for two temporary members. After distributing the breakfast grain and supplements, she went into Magpie’s stall and was able to halter the mare without incident. Once again, as soon as they were out of the stall, the mare led like a dream. Many of the horses come to their fences to investigate the new resident, and Magpie pins her ears at them. Once they arrive at the pasture, Magpie strains to get to the grass. 

“Let me take your halter off first you goose!” Theresa laughs, quickly untieing and slipping the halter off of the mare’s silky nose. The mare goes straight to grazing, and Theresa slips out of the gate, grinning at her new horse.

“You don’t have to worry about going hungry again Magpie. You’ll have hay and grass available whenever you want.” 

Every day, Theresa goes out to the barn, and the weeks begin to fly by. With grass and hay available at all times, Magpie slowly begins to realize that she doesn’t need to worry about going hungry ever again, and as her aggression subsides, Theresa begins to work with her. She discovers that the mare is a dream under saddle, and a quick learner. They begin to trust each other, and Magpie begins to blossom into a wonderful young horse. She still has lots to learn, as does Theresa, but they learn and grow together. Theresa sends updates to Sagebrush Sanctuary, and as the final date for the makeover approaches, she begins to plan what to do for the final exhibition show, which comes as the final event for the makeover. It’s optional, but a way to show off how your Loshenka’s issues have been handled, and how they have grown and what they have learned. She has been training Magpie as an all-rounder, waiting to see what discipline she takes to. So far she was excelling in everything, but took a special liking to obstacles; she loved using her brain. Trail class maybe? Poles, bridges, gates. Magpie would love all of that. She was also a gorgeous mover. Perhaps jumping or dressage? Theresa decides that’s a decision for a later day. Now, she just wants to go hug her horse.