The Story of Maggie

Even though Maggie was a PMU mare, I never thought of her as Rescue Horse. The same as I never thought of my nutty feral dog as anything other than, Well, He's Our Dog Now. Maggie was just a fat horse that needed a home, and untrained and needy was all I could afford. I knew I could offer a few good things - humor, a family, love and experience. I'd been riding for other people since I sold my horse in my 20's. I wanted a horse to bond with. When I got Maggie the draft cross PMU mare from Colorado a year ago, she was 10 years old and had been ridden about 6 times in an arena. I had put up an ad on Dreamhorse looking for a "short, fat, slow family horse." A lady in Colorado named Amy responded to my ad. She had bought 3 mares from a rescue there, and when she was leaving, the lady had said "here, take these two also, please!" That was my mare, and another mare, they were named Mary Ann and Ginger. I always look for drafts for my neighbor's carriage company, she rents riding horses and carriages, and she always needs fat horses to carry her fat riders (people are getting fatter, she says). So I told my neighbor about these two horses in Colorado, and she said "Get them!" I said, "Wait, I want one! Maybe!" So we worked it out that I'd try out one, and if it was too difficult or I couldn't keep her, my neighbor would take her. Amy in Colorado was going to give us the mares. We would just have to pay the shipping cost. She told me the smaller one was bolder, more curious. I decided that was the one I wanted, since we had adopted a feral dog 9 years ago who was shy and I didn't want another shy animal. The bold horse was 16 hands, had rock solid hooves, weighed about 1600 pounds, and had been a pregnant mare for maybe six years while they harvested her pregnant mare urine (PMU) to make Premarin, a hormone replacement for women. So she stood in a stall for many months out of the year, with a bag to catch her urine, and in the spring she was let out to have her foal, frolic for the summer, and then have her foal taken, impregnated again and put back on the pee line. Maggie (or Mary Ann, formerly) was used to being handled like livestock - herded into the barn, put into a chute twice a year that held her still to have her feet trimmed and get vaccinated. She was used to people working around her rear end. Amy had Maggie for a year, just in the pasture with her other horses, before I came along. She had never intended to keep her, just kept her on 30 beautiful acres in rural Colorado with her other horses. Maggie was second in command there, so she wasn't the total leader. While Amy had her, she gave her one bath - Maggie was nervous of the hose. She hadn't had her feet done. She'd had her shots and been wormed. They had tried her out in the arena a few times, but she was hard to bridle because she hadn't been trained to bridle yet. She had never had her own person. When we got her, Amy said I'd probably have to have her sedated to do her feet. But she said to do a little bit each day, just touch her feet, use a rope to lift them, eventually lift them with your hands. When I got Maggie, I just decided to start from the very beginning. Handle her gently, introduce the bit and bridle, groom her every day, work with her feet, take her on walks. The only reason I stuck with it was because Amy said, "Aww, she only needs a couple of wet saddleblankets. She'll be okay." Meaning, a few trail rides where she sweated, she'd get used to it. I had never had a green horse before. I had ridden for 35 years, but all the horses I had ridden were easy, trained. It was sheer ignorant optimism that kept me going. And the free help of a local girl trainer, who appeared after 6 months, just when I felt like giving up. The trainer guided me into the arena, suggesting a few days a week for me to work her there, to shape Maggie. Also, to be strong. And to have courage. And it made all the difference. I have taught Maggie: To bridle and saddle. To stand still while mounting. To stand for the hose and be washed. To allow the hose near her face, and to be washed on her face. To wear a fly mask. To pick up all her feet and have the trimmer work on her feet. To turn with direct rein pressure, right and left, and back up. To stop, walk, trot and canter from voice command and leg cues. To bend left and right from leg pressure. (if sluggishly counts) To walk next to busy streets and traffic, bikes, kids, strollers, lawn mowers, trash trucks, motorcycles, joggers. To go out on the trail without balking. To open and close gates. To ride with a horse buddy on the trail. To be harnessed and ground driven. To pull a tire and shafts. And most importantly, when Maggie first came, she wouldn't eat apples or carrots. She didn't even know what that was. We would cover them in molasses, and she would lick the molasses off and spit out the carrot or apple. She had never had a treat. I am happy to say that Maggie is a complete pig now. She loves donuts, granola bars, potato chips, oatmeal cookies, (any cookies), pizza crusts - and she loves pears, apples and carrots. She loves her family. Because we have food. We are still working with her - my trainer friend (whom we see once a month, happily) and I. This year I'm hoping Maggie will: Reduce her bolting to rare or never Be quiet enough to teach the kids to ride Stand tied Canter on trail Pull the cart safely I'll continue to improve with her manners - she used to bolt forward, or turn and run if she was scared of something. She now will raise her head and stop like a rock. I have to keep her moving forward, and have a strong leg and hand to remind her that bolting is not an option. Her bolting is maybe a ride in a new place, and once a month if we ride in familiar places. And her bolting is very small - three steps, and I turn her and she stops. Luckily, she's lazy. She is now 90% trustworthy. I'm hoping to get her to 99% at the end of another year. I don't know if she'll be easy enough for the kids to ride her -alone, I mean. (She's fine in the backyard when they get on her. I'm just cautious.) She's pretty strong. But a beginner adult is fine, with supervision. She has room to settle and grow this year, now that the basics are pretty routine in her head. She has about 10% of her own stubborn opinions, but she will listen if you guide her away from her usually bad ideas. She is a horse that, once she learns what you want, she wants to do it for you. She doesn't buck or rear, or bite or kick. I haven't taught her to tie, yet. I should, I've just never had to tie her. When I saddle or unsaddle her, or do her feet, or wash her, she's just so happy just to stand there. There's nowhere else she wants to be. The biggest thing I've learned, is if you know how hard something is going to be, you'd never start it. It's an impossible job, if you're a rider that's had confidence shaken by a bad fall and an injury. But Maggie has made me a tougher rider. I'm not sure what I've done for her, but I'm just glad she's let me make mistakes, and has still been there every day, funny, mellow, and curious, to start again.