Owen is also a thing called a stallion, do you know that thing? You should know that thing because I explained that thing when I told you about Chip. But I will say again that a stallion is a horse that you use to make baby horses. Baby horses are great, but when there are many many horses who need homes and many many horses who are pointy because of not enough lovely hays to eat, then maybe we don’t need so many baby horses to be made, now do we? Owen can make babies but he’s never done a single thing in his life worth passing on to a baby except be born a Curly Horse. Are we running out of Curly Horses? Owen is the only Curly Horse I have ever seen, but I don’t think that means there is a shortage of Curly Horses. We probably don’t need Owen to make any more Curly Horses.
I spent many times watching Mom work with Owen. She tells him he is a good boy when he lets her pet him on his shoulder, and I try not to laugh because I know that Mom has a thing called Low Expectations when it comes to Owen, do you know that thing? Low Expectations is when you don’t expect very much, so getting to pet someone’s shoulder is still a pretty big deal. Mom would probably not tell me I am a good boy for letting her pet my shoulder. Maybe she would, she loves me an awful lot. But anyway, she spends many times trying to pet Owen’s shoulder, and I watch them carefully to make sure that Owen doesn’t hurt my mom. Owen is scared. I’m scared too, but Mom says I am Different than most horses because even though I am scared, I am gentle and I have a thing called Excellent Ground Manners. Owen is not a mean horse, but he’s big and clumsy so Mom has to be extra careful when he gets scared that he doesn’t do anything to hurt her, even by accident.
Owen makes a pretty big deal out of things that are not very scary, and I think that is kind of dumb. But Mom says that Owen is very smart and that he thinks very hard about everything that is happening around him. This might be another case of Low Expectations, but I want to say to Owen, “Oh Owen! No peoples are trying to hurt you! So please stop making Big Deals out of Not Scary things, and let Mom put the Face Harness on you!” But I think that when Mom gets to put the Face Harness on Owen that maybe he won’t be a stallion any more, and I can’t really remember how you get to be not a stallion anymore. I’m not a stallion, but I’ve been Not a Stallion for a long time.
Oh Honeycutt! You are going to be a big help making Owen trust people! Maybe if you tell him about the big pasture he won’t be so scared of the face harness. Sending you and your new buddy Owen lots of love and treats!
Honeycutt- we really should award you an honorary degree in equine social work. You’ve really had your hands (hooves) full lately.
[…] and all three horses seem to recognize and remember each other from their time in foster together. (Here’s Honeycutt’s take on the Owen situation, written shortly after we rescued the Curl…) Honeycutt remains a little shy, but he’s happy to stand and observe as Sinatra makes friends […]