Gaining Lagertha’s Trust

Wrangler’s Log: Day Two February 8, 2024

Today, I spent a few more hours building trust with Lagertha, just sitting and pretending to sleep (and sometimes actually dozing off!) When I was clearly awake, she was slightly more watchful and inclined to walk away on occasion. When I “slept” she was comfortable enough to take her attention off me once in a while. At no point was she fearful or skittish, even when I gave her a light “work” session by moving her around her pen for one lap. In case you’re curious, this consisted of me just following slowly behind her, putting only enough pressure on her to get her to move her feet a little, but not so much that it raised her fear level.

At one point I recruited a barn cat to sit in my lap in exchange for ear scratches, sweet talking, and cuddles, all to show Lagertha that I was safe. When the cat developed a sore throat from excessive purring, and jumped down to leave, she scared Lagertha, who was just a few feet away, as well as all five mares in the next pen. To her credit, Lagertha only backed up a half step a blew a little. The mares in the next pen were several feet away before they settled.

Red Light, Green Light: Day 2 of Earning Lagertha’s Trust

A little while later I was pretending to sleep and Lagertha felt comfortable enough to lay down for a nap of her own about 8-10 feet from me. She slept for about half an hour with her back to me, waking a couple of times to raise her head and look back at me, then rolled, got up and had a good shake.

Building Trust with Mom?

It was at this time that I began to suspect she was carrying a secret. About a half hour later it was confirmed when Stacy, who owns the farm, saw the foal move. The good news is that she’ll have a foal in a few months. I got three for the price of two. The bad news is that she’ll have a foal in a few months and I’ll have three times the vet bills….at least. Plus, after the foal is weaned the board bill will go up by 50%. I just hope I can build Lagertha’s trust enough to handle her before the foal is born. Not sure how much time we have since there’s no way of knowing her breeding or due dates.

I also spent some time coaxing the mares in the next pen to eat from my hand, as much to show Lagertha that if they could trust me, she could, as simply to make more equine friends. You can never have too many of those, right? Of the five, four were willing to leave full hay nets, step over dropped piles of hay, and eat the much better (exact same) hay that I was offering. The only one who didn’t was the one I really liked best…a black mare that I mentally started calling Penny for the perfect white cent sign on her forehead. I wonder if someone in Canada who is expecting a black mare would trade for a black gelding?

Another thing I realized about Lagertha is that she’s not the energetic kind. She’s going to expend exactly the energy needed, and not an ounce more. This is perfect because I don’t need high energy, high maintenance horses at my age. Sadly, it might also mean that she will be Brent’s horse rather than mine. She would love him because he’s very low key, just like her and they’d make a great pair. Hopefully his gelding will be equally laid back, and he and Brent will hit it right off like old-time buddies!

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to come back until Tuesday of next week because of previous obligations, and it’s supposed to snow Tuesday. The geldings and weanlings are supposed to arrive on Wednesday, which means all the mares will again be moved in together in one or two pens and I won’t be able to work with her or the new gelding until some of the other horses are picked up by their new owners and some space opens up. Considering the amount I’m paying for a private stall, I sure hope that happens soon.

Time spent in her company building trust: 4.5 hours for a total of 9 hours over two days.