[PHASE #3] LITTLE PAWS

“The mare has made so much progress over the past few weeks! She will walk to her stall willingly with or without a leadrope and is even getting quite comfortable around all the cats, not just little miss whiskers! Tonight we had a pretty bad storm rolling in so I put all the horses up and stayed in the barn with all the animals to make sure Tigress didn’t spook if all the cats were running around inside by her stall. As the hours passed the storm wasn’t seeming to let up but to my surprise even through the thunder the mare stayed quite calm unlike some of the other horses. The cats are quite scared of thunder, some much more than others so it was hard trying to keep them calm with what I had around me which was just some boxes we were moving around earlier today…hmmm maybe they would like to play with some rope! Whiskers of course jumped down immediately to pounce on the rope, while another cat much younger came and sat by me, seeming interested in playing but still too scared. The mare standing over her stall door by my shoulder shocked me when I turned to look at her to find one of the older cats seemingly  trying to jump on her back from the ground. The little guy has never shown interest in the horses, especially the mare but it seemed like he felt safe being around the mare with this storm around. Since she was so calm I decided to halter her and bring her out so the older cat could jump up easier from the railing and without hesitation he jumped up within seconds to start making himself into a comfy little loaf on top of the mares back…and yet again to my surprise the mare seems very curious and very loveable to all the cats for the first time. I began to play with whiskers again and Tigress stood there calmly just watching the little fluff ball play. As time went on the storm started to let up and became a soft sprinkle before it was sunny again. Most cats went about their business and the horses went back to the pastures while Tigress let the little cat just lay on her back the entire time even when I put her back in the stall he didn’t want to get up from his comfy nap spot. Whiskers started pawing at my leg wanting some dinner so that of course got the old guy to jump off the mare's back because he never misses a meal haha! But even after all that the mare sat and watched all the kitties as if they were all her new friends, nuzzling them if they walked by her stall and letting them rub up against her legs. She's come a long way and I’m so proud of her progress, maybe the next step will be finding her another horse friend so she doesn't just talk to the cats like me haha!”