I had a sweet visit with Odin today. I found him in the barn with his girl friend Shadowfax. I could tell he has been spending a lot of time in there by the number of manure piles! After spending some time with him in Present Moment using the Trust Technique I decided he really needed to get outside and experience the fabulous weather. I left the barn hoping he would be curious about my disappearance. I was delighted to see that he came out looking for me after about 5 minutes. He was generously rewarded with a few slices of apples and a couple of peppermint candies. I was pleased to see that he was even quite willing to take his treats with me standing. He is often initially resistant to approach a standing versus sitting person.
He has two new pasture neighbors but he doesn’t seem to even be remotely interested in either one of them. One of the horses (Cajun) is very curious and continuously walks the fence line leaning over trying to attract Odin’s attention. Odin is perfectly content to turn his back on him! I’m curious to see if he warms up to his new neighbors since he really hasn’t been in close proximity to other horses in about a year. So far Shadowfax is still his favorite.
Written by: Susan Jarvis
I just want to add a few notes on top of Susan Jarvis’ post today…
First, that video is a fabulous depiction of the results of the Trust Technique. The yawning that Susan captured in the video is a horse’s way of releasing stress and tension in the face and jaw. We are grateful to the TT Foundation for sharing this method with us, as it continues to heal Odin in powerful ways. And with regard to the poopapalooza 🤣 , I just wanted to add that Susan and I really do work hard to maintain a very clean environment for Odin, despite the looks of the barn. We hand pick/clean both his barn and entire field at least 4 – 5 days a week for overall health reasons and the health of his hoofs in particular. You may also notice that we installed some rubber mats in the barn because flooding is a common problem in his barn in wet weather.
Lastly, Susan and I have been discussing ways in which Odin may be able to act in a service capacity in order to help pay his way and raise money for the ranch. Traumatized horses often aren’t able to serve, so we are investigating creative ways to go about including him in service work. Odin may not realize, but Susan and I realize caring for non-service horses are an expense and now that Odin seems to be adjusting well to life on the ranch and forming bonds with both humans and horses, we are even more determined to make him a permanent part of the Bearfoot family.
Of course, we are open to both suggestions and donations to ensure Odin finds his forever home here at Bearfoot so he never has to go through another (traumatic) move again. Please add your suggestions in the comments section and send donations using the QR code below. Be sure to add Odin’s name in the notes, so we know where to direct the funds. We are grateful.
Odin 