The feature photo shows Saadi and Danny enjoying lots of hay before they were put to sleep. No preparation was needed for these two. They were calm and happy.
This is how I would imagine most horses who have a planned death would be.
However Magnum isn’t ‘most horses’. This requires extensive preparation.
I asked Doug if he could build me a yard area using star pickets and tape. I thought that having a yard would help. On the first day I went down with a halter and rope and a full treat pouch.
For the horses, it’s a common sight to see Doug fiddling with a fence or pulling out fireweed etc., so they weren’t really concerned. But Magnum WAS concerned about me with the halter and lead rope.
They were standing close to the magic tree. I walked slowly towards Magnum and called out – he was having none of it! He turned around and walked away. I realised my mistake – or rather – mistakes!
I knew the different environment would make him suspicious – but I really didn’t think he would move away from me!
I will post this link to a previous blog post. I very much needed to take note of this again. https://horsemagic.blog/2020/02/17/15-science-camp-dont-fight-extinction-jesus-rosales-ruiz/
In reading the above post, it is obvious why Magnum was so suspicious and why he moved away. There was a combination of events happening that put him into extinction. What is lodged in his memory is this event – please click on the following link:
https://horsemagic.blog/2018/01/08/another-home-for-magnum-a-traumatic-experience/
It had been 18 years since that event, but still, the combination of the yard building and me approaching him was too much.
I had ‘lumped’ rather than ‘thin sliced’ the process.
Once I realised this I immediately moved to Ducati who was doing everything to get my attention. I made a huge fuss of Ducati and gave him treats. I also played the ‘touch’ game with him – putting his nose on the halter and lead rope.
After that I turned my attention to Magnum who had moved closer to us. I reached out and gave him some treats, then put my focus back on Ducati, who was loving this extra game time.
Magnum came closer. I dropped the rope and halter and put my hand out for him to play the touch game. He joined in. My next step was to turn away from both of them and take a few steps towards the yard. Ducati was right behind me with Magnum following him.
I stopped and asked Ducati to back up a little and then we did some of his regular moves. He was thrilled! Then I went to Magnum who now wanted to join in – even though I could feel his tension. I continued to do some targeting – and then told them both that it was the end of the session and we would do more tomorrow.
I felt like I had saved the situation, and Magnum’s extinction moment had given me valuable information.
Now it was time to prepare for the next step.
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS STORY, PLEASE START AT THE BEGINNING HERE – Part 1 – An Introduction
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