Wild Ponies?

Our particular horse came from Alberta Canada. His owner's representative told us that he hadn't been in contact with people and wouldn't be until he was weaned. She told us that he would probably be so scared that even seeing us would make him "freak out." We planned for the worst not knowing how wrong this advice would be for this particular colt.

When we left to meet the colt at the delivery site, I was brimming with questions: Where was it? Why was it wild? My mom told me I was going to have to wait and see like everyone else. When we finally got to the delivery site the first thing I did was ask if I could

help load the colt. She said that it all depended on who was there to help her. When we got to the colt's stall, I was bursting with excitement. But, when we saw it, I realized that the poor guy was exhausted. The owner of the property that received the colt said the transportation was terrible and the colts were in bad shape. She added that the colts were still probably wild, but unable to show it because of their exhaustion. Our colt was surprisingly cooperative getting into the trailer. So, we loaded him up and went home. That first evening was un-eventful.

The next day I went out to find the colt relaxing around his breakfast. We had left him in the trailer overnight with food and water thinking he would be hard to catch if we put him anywhere else. We also had made the trailer warm and comfy. The trailer (a three horse trailer) seemed the best and safest place to leave him that first night.

When we went in to the trailer the next morning, he didn't even move at our presence. So we worked are way in his direction, only to find that he would come to us when we weren't facing him. This was our first surprise since I expected him to try to kick us. Our second surprise came when I was able to get a halter on him with no trouble whatsoever. Every move he made seemed as docile as the first. He didn't spook when we waved something that even adult trained horses are initially scared of. Even then, he only rolled his eyes. Sometimes his eyes got bigger, but he didn't move or startle. It seems that once again nature surprises us by making a horse with no contact from people as friendly to people as it surely was with its mom.

Two weeks after getting the colt, we have begun his training. Our expectations were low, but the colt surprises us constantly with his curiosity and willingness to learn. No surprise came when after only a couple minutes the colt was almost doing it without our help and encouragement. He is leading well. We also let him out in the pasture during the day to graze on his own because it's so easy to catch. If it were not for the fact that he is still so young and we fear that the other horses might bully him, this colt would be out on the pasture with the other horses day and night.