Judge is a twelve year old, Arabian gelding. He came from the same group as Zezz. He was locked in a stall where he had to stand on top of 3-4 feet of manure. And his water bucket was so full of manure that it was muddy - but that's all he had to drink! AND the latch of his stall was rusted shut. Can you believe that?
He says he had completely given up when Jennifer and her crew got there. Even when the other horses started whispering that some humans had showed up in uniforms and other humans showed up with horse trailers and were taking horses out of there, he didn't believe it. When the humans walked into his barn, he didn't believe it. He said then Jennifer climbed into the stall with him, put a halter on him, and rubbed his head and told him it would be ok. He wasn't sure if he believed her then, either, but he hoped it was true.
When Jennifer climbed back out of his stall, he almost panicked. But a little later, someone else came. They beat on the latch until the rust broke free and then put a halter on him. When they led him to the open door, poor Judge was terrified. He didn't know what that green stuff covering the ground was and he didn't know how to step down off of his mound of compacted manure. He just stood there shaking while people talked to him and told him it would be ok. Eventually he jumped down and then shook some more. The people were kind and took him to a trailer and then to another barn.
Poor Judge panicked again when those people left. But the next day a nice lady came with feed. And she visited him every day after that. She brushed him and got the tangles out of his mane. And she petted him and promised him it would be ok.
Then Jennifer came back and told him they had WON. She told him he would be going to see a vet soon and then he would come live with her at her house for a while. He started to get a little hopeful then.
When a trailer took him to Jennifer's house, he was excited but a bit scared. He didn't know what to expect. Jennifer put him in a stall next to Zezz and brought them good food and he slowly settled.
But poor Judge hasn't been left unscarred by his experiences. He's really insecure now. When he meets a horse he likes, he really bonds to that horse and doesn't want to ever leave him. So he and Jawhari are pals now, and Judge panics anytime Jennifer takes Jawhari out of the pasture. Or if she tries to take Judge out, he won't listen to her and they have an argument. Tonight Jennifer told me she's going to have to change the way she handles Judge. The poor guy is so insecure and so scared of being left without a human or horse friends again.
He really needs to find his own person - you know, an adopter? Someone who will take him home, take the time to win his trust, and show him life is good and not scary. He's not a bad horse - just insecure. And I feel bad for him. I mean I've had a rough time of it, don't get me wrong. But I know that all humans aren't bad. Judge has had more sorrow in his life than joy so far - and he needs an adopter who is going to change that for him. I hope the poor guy gets that soon. Jennifer will be real sad to see him go - but she'll be happy if he's happy. That's what fostering is all about, she tells me. You have to let go so they can go find their own person and you can help another horse.
Maybe we horses need to foster people? We can find the person who needs help and coax her along. And then one day she can go off with a horse of her own. I'm gonna have to think about that a little.
Back to my food,
Tex from Bluebonnet
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