Settling In — Catherine Sauer

It's been almost two months since the horses came to North Carolina, over six weeks for myself and the rest of the critters. The last few weeks have been… a lot, but there is a rhythm starting to emerge that slowly looks like life being put back together.

Though there's a lot to unpack - both mentally and physically - it's been a circumstance of forced pause in some ways. Within the first two days of being here, my senior cat required an emergency room visit - talk about a crash course in local veterinary - and was put on an hourly medication. I'm not ready to share the rest, but after four days with meds, she was continuing to fail and sadly passed away in my arms a week into being here.

If nothing else, it has reminded me of loving my creatures more - the small and the large - and cherish my time with them.

The horses shipped down before I did, and I admit oscillating between grateful for one less thing to deal with and anxious that somehow something was being missed for them because I couldn't see it to check it. But ultimately it was a lesson in not being in control, and trusting others - and as it turns out, I found a pretty amazing barn family to fall in with. In the last few weeks of introducing myself and the horses, I've learned the bits and pieces of their arrival through the lens of the farm:

A boarder was on site when the shippers arrived, and helped them find their new stalls. Both were warm from their travels, and she pulled their blankets and wraps, making sure they were comfortable Two more boarders arrived and the barn night shift, and speculation went around at the two young, lovely looking new warmbloods with great manners. The impression of them as warmbloods went around until the the farm owner provided that they were OTTBs, one of whom recovering from sesamoid surgery.

After settling in a bit, we started meeting fellow boarders in the crossing of barn times. There are at least two other OTTBs on the property, both in their teens - but they are both kindly gentlemen. One fellow boarder and I started down the topic of hoofcare, and about how my two were OTTBs and barefoot. With the new footing and soil, and simply my over-extension of self prior to the move, I was glad for a recommendation on local barefoot hoof trimmer.

We scheduled a visit, and after he went over my two horses, I was thrilled to hear that my feedback was overall quite consistent across both of them - and that beyond this area of focus, I was doing a good job! He gave me a few great tips that are sure to save me some exertion when I continue working on my two, but I’ll be continuing their hoof care dutifully.

As for the horses themselves, Factor for his part has been settling in nicely. He joined turnout with enthusiasm, and now hangs out with everyone through overnight turnout when the weather isn’t gross. Cruz has also has really started to enjoy her time outside, though getting her there has been a fun adventure. At first, Cruz was not so certain she enjoyed the move but she’s got a rhythm of moving between two stalls - her house for daytime and a stall in the main barn next to the other horses on stall rest when the farm goes out for the night. Her rehab work progresses well, and we just recently sent in her 6 month progress report to FLTAP!

Let’s leave on a fun note - here’s Cruz exploring the paddocks with me, enjoying the chance to trot a little bit outside: