A Little Piece of My Heart

Tonight I decided that I would mess with Savanna. She was cribbing so bad yesterday that I was worried what the stall would look like tonight. I pulled her out and let her eat just a little bit of grass. I have no idea what she was eating (if anything) before she came to Borderlands. I think the highlight of her day was getting out to eat grass. I wanted to walk her around so she could stretch her legs after being cooped up in her stall all day. Perhaps it's not the right method to keep her calm and only let her out for short periods of time until she gains a bit of weight, but that's the method that we are doing.

After her little bit of grazing and walking, I tied her up to see if she would stand tied. Yup, stood like a goddess, never moving an inch. I ran into the hay barn to grab a brush and as I walked out, she nickered to me. Absolute music to my ears.

I groomed her down as best I could. What I can't understand is that you can see someone took a curry comb to her at some point recently. I just don't get it. How can you starve a horse yet spend time brushing her down? It's absolutely mind boggling.

Savanna stood there without moving an inch while I groomed her. The only moving she did was to switch which leg she was resting or to swing her head ever so slightly to watch me work. She did try to crib once but decided that it wasn't worth it as I was moving slow and staying quiet. I think the more upset she gets, the more she cribs.

After all the chores were done, I decided that I would check on her one last time. When I first checked on her before chores, she was facing away from the door. When I checked on her again before going in for the night, in she was again facing away from her stall door.

I let her know I was coming in to her stall, and as I entered, she turned around to face me. I would have been happy with that much progress, but she walked up to me and put her head into my chest. She let me hug her head, petting her face and simply enjoying each other's company. Of course the gambet of worries started in, thinking she was colicy (no signs of colic and there were gut sounds) or thinking she was getting sick from something. I'm hoping that she's just coming down from all the stress and now not having to worry about her baby, she can focus on herself.

As I was hugging her head, gently petting her, she let out the biggest sigh. It almost brought me to tears. There's nothing wrong with her, she only wanted to be comforted. I absolutely adore her. After only three full days of being at Borderlands (and only getting a little bit of time to play with her), she has stolen a piece of my heart.

Her one and only fault that I can find is that she cribs when she's upset or nervous. That's why she was cribbing so much Sunday and Monday. Now that she knows what the routine is, and she doesn't have to worry about her baby, she isn't cribbing. I can't blame her for that little fault. Heck, we all have our faults, some greater than others. I'll admit that I stress eat when I'm upset or nervous. So for her to crib when she's upset, so be it. I'll at least know what I'm getting in to.

I am truely honored and blessed to have the opportunity to know Savanna. I look forward to watching her pesonality shine through.