Brody came to the farm in July. He was quite the mess, through no fault of his own. He needed a lot of weight, I am a horrible judge however, I think it is safe to say a good 150, if not 200, pounds were necessary. He also had issues with his foot, it's better now. He was also very sad. He was barely there, and the little you could see had only come out in the few weeks he was with Drea right before he came here, we'd barely touched the surface.
I think the best illustration of where he was and how far he has come is in the picture below.
I tend to want to wrap Brody up in bubble wrap and tuck him in safe so nothing in the world can hurt him ever again. I'd probably bring him into the house if I could justify it for even half a second. I am, secretly, convinced that he is the single most fragile creature on the planet.
He's not.
He's very healthy these days although I would like to see another 50 or 75 pounds on him. I suspect his keeping weight on is always going to be an issue. He is, most definitely, a hard keeper. He has legs that go on forever and a neck that resembles a giraffe. He is also hyper-vigilant, nothing escapes his attention. His stress level is something I have worried over since the moment he stepped off the trailer.
I baby him. I can't help myself, let me rephrase, I don't want to help myself. He deserves to be babied after what he has been through. By that I mean, I baby him. I thought about justifying it with stress level concerns and his being a hard keeper and all that however, fact is I baby him. I will probably never stop, well ok I won't stop for some time. I remember too well what he looked like, how he felt, when he came here. If I could build Brody a cloud I'd do it and he and Charlie (my friends horse) could live on it together.
All that being said, Brody has proven to be anything but fragile lately. Rev came to the farm about a week ago. I've kept Rev's coming to the farm pretty quiet. Normally I plaster pictures on Facebook and talk to anyone stupid enough to listen about the "new guy". Rev was in need of a new home, I had an open stall, Rev came. There was no need for hoopla :-) He is settling in nicely. He is a beautiful deep bay, sweet disposition, history of dressage and jumping and is apparently in love with (or tolerating) Katie.
Brody on the other hand is none too pleased with the addition. My fragile, bubble wrapped boy, chased Rev into the arena and steadfastly refused to let him out and / or near Katie. The first day they were out together there was a biting incident, Rev got bit, I suspected Katie. Let's face it if someone is gonna bite someone else in the pasture and / or push them around it'd "likely" be the princess. I suspect this time it was Brody.
We've been taking the integration slow, about an hour or so each day they are all together in the pasture. Otherwise Rev is in the yard/arena area and the other two are in the pasture. They can play, sniff, etc...over the fence however they can't completely mix it up.
Funny thing is, the day before yesterday, I was watching them as they were "mixing it up" in the pasture together. It really is Brody who is bothered. He is determined to hold his spot as "second". Katie is, and will always be, first. And much like Patch, whom I'd have wrapped in cotton and tucked into bed every night if I could have gotten away with it, Brody is tougher than I like to admit.
I suppose after what he's been through his constitution should not be in question.
I suppose after watching his progress I shouldn't be too terribly surprised that he can exert himself.
I suspect Rev can more than handle himself.
I assume after a few weeks I'll stop worrying that Brody is gonna stress himself out and subsequently stress Rev out.
I hope all of the above is true otherwise my favorite hard keeper, and the new guy, are gonna be living in the house and I am really not sure how I'd explain that to anyone!
I think the best illustration of where he was and how far he has come is in the picture below.
He's not.
He's very healthy these days although I would like to see another 50 or 75 pounds on him. I suspect his keeping weight on is always going to be an issue. He is, most definitely, a hard keeper. He has legs that go on forever and a neck that resembles a giraffe. He is also hyper-vigilant, nothing escapes his attention. His stress level is something I have worried over since the moment he stepped off the trailer.
I baby him. I can't help myself, let me rephrase, I don't want to help myself. He deserves to be babied after what he has been through. By that I mean, I baby him. I thought about justifying it with stress level concerns and his being a hard keeper and all that however, fact is I baby him. I will probably never stop, well ok I won't stop for some time. I remember too well what he looked like, how he felt, when he came here. If I could build Brody a cloud I'd do it and he and Charlie (my friends horse) could live on it together.
All that being said, Brody has proven to be anything but fragile lately. Rev came to the farm about a week ago. I've kept Rev's coming to the farm pretty quiet. Normally I plaster pictures on Facebook and talk to anyone stupid enough to listen about the "new guy". Rev was in need of a new home, I had an open stall, Rev came. There was no need for hoopla :-) He is settling in nicely. He is a beautiful deep bay, sweet disposition, history of dressage and jumping and is apparently in love with (or tolerating) Katie.
Brody on the other hand is none too pleased with the addition. My fragile, bubble wrapped boy, chased Rev into the arena and steadfastly refused to let him out and / or near Katie. The first day they were out together there was a biting incident, Rev got bit, I suspected Katie. Let's face it if someone is gonna bite someone else in the pasture and / or push them around it'd "likely" be the princess. I suspect this time it was Brody.
We've been taking the integration slow, about an hour or so each day they are all together in the pasture. Otherwise Rev is in the yard/arena area and the other two are in the pasture. They can play, sniff, etc...over the fence however they can't completely mix it up.
Funny thing is, the day before yesterday, I was watching them as they were "mixing it up" in the pasture together. It really is Brody who is bothered. He is determined to hold his spot as "second". Katie is, and will always be, first. And much like Patch, whom I'd have wrapped in cotton and tucked into bed every night if I could have gotten away with it, Brody is tougher than I like to admit.
I suppose after what he's been through his constitution should not be in question.
I suppose after watching his progress I shouldn't be too terribly surprised that he can exert himself.
I suspect Rev can more than handle himself.
I assume after a few weeks I'll stop worrying that Brody is gonna stress himself out and subsequently stress Rev out.
I hope all of the above is true otherwise my favorite hard keeper, and the new guy, are gonna be living in the house and I am really not sure how I'd explain that to anyone!
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