Today was the big adoption day for the new girl. Truck and trailer left our house at 5:16 A.M. and after a remarkably easy journey north without any turnarounds (isn't the GPS age novel?) we made it to Passion Horse Ranch at 10:12 A.M.
Touring the site was wonderful.* Debra was incredibly inviting and both Richard —my husband— and I were completely taken back by the beauty and size of some of her PMU rescues. Gorgeous horses. Part of me can't wait for Pax to be grown and flashy and massive like the rest of them, but when we first got a good look at her, backed into a corner of the covered stalls, I decided it's quite all right that our bonding is going to take years and her body needs to grow. She was huge and lovely. I'm so pleased with her confirmation— the one (ONE!) image I saw before adopting her, despite being a month or so old, was fairly accurate. My only complaint is that her front end is a bit splayed, but part of that may be baby, part of it may be fixed with good trims, and goodness knows Bandit (my other horse) is not a photograph of perfectly balanced legs and feet, and his soundness issues have been all but zero except for a bad bout of "natural barefoot trimming" which didn't work so hot in volcanic West Texas rock.
*Backing the trailer in between a couple of goosenecks, a roundpen, and a garage with an audience of six was not, however.
It didn't take too long for us to coax her out of the stock trailer into the arena, what with a very faint dusting of grass still growing in it and a pile of Coastal. The other 19 CFA horses were beside themselves trying to get a peek at Pax, but she remained fairly aloof and visited them only briefly. At first, Bandit was the only horse with his rear end turned to her, head down, about fifteen feet away acting disinterested, but as the others drifted apart he came in for a good sniff and a loud, appraising whinny, which she answered. My tiny proud-cut gelding has the gutteral yell of an old stallion, and this gigantic filly sings like a four-year-old kid! I put Molly, my favorite pet of the herd— a 12 or 13 year old APHA mare; in-your-pockets kind of sweet— in with her and they seemed to get along immediately.
I mixed up some soaked beet pulp and alfalfa pellets (just about a scoop and a half total, more of just a starter for the girls) and left the pan in the arena, sitting about 10 feet away. Molly, of course, came over to rifle through my hands and hair before eating, and Pax was right behind her. I stayed out for thirty mintues or so, not trying to touch anyone or move, just watching them eat and entertaining Molly as she saw fit. Pax never really spooked, but she would catch an eye at me every few mintues and saunter off, appearing to be terribly interested in nibbling at the dirt before returning to nose Molly out of the pan. Will feed them separately and properly tomorrow but it's good to see them getting along so well.
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