Dr. Meg really wanted me to find a stall with an attached paddock for Nox. He was going crazy in his stall and when I did let him out in the ring, he'd just explode from the pent up energy and boredom. The stable only had stalls or large group pastures and neither was suitable for Nox on stall rest. I felt so bad on beautiful sunny days, knowing that he was standing in his stall, waiting for me to come to let him out. It just wasn't working out.
I talked to my friend Penny, who owns a stable just down the street from where I was boarding Nox. She has stalls with paddocks and I asked her to please let me know when one opened up. Penny's place is like Disneyland: lots of horses, ponies, pigs, a mini donkey, chickens, cats, a guinea pig and rabbit who live together, a huge dog, and a goat named Agnes. Penny and her family live on site and they are very dedicated to their farm. The trainer that I really like started working at Penny's stable a few months ago, and Penny had a horse that needed to be ridden. So, a few weeks ago, I started riding Baya, a cute buckskin warmblood, and taking riding lessons. I'd ride and then go over to the other barn to see Nox.
Last week, Penny told me a stall was opening up! I've been so excited to move Nox, but I've also been dreading it. I haven't trailered Nox since he arrived at the barn 2 years ago. In his old race horse life, he was trailered often and I imagine that he must have been pretty good at it. But, it's been 2 years.
Today was moving day and Nox did not get into the trailer. We tried for an hour and he simply refused to get in. He wasn't scared, he just flat out refused. We tried walking him on. We tried standing in the trailer with grain. We tried picking up his front hoof and putting it in the trailer. We tried cracking a lunge whip behind him. He just stood there at the entrance to the trailer, refusing to step up into it. If I pulled on the lead rope, he'd snap his head up and hit it on the top of the trailer doorway. It just was not happening. Finally, I decided that struggling with him for another two hours was going to do more damage to his ligament than just walking him the mile and a half to the new barn.
So, that's what we did. Penny's son and I each clipped a lead rope to Nox's halter and walked on either side of him down the road, with Penny following us in the truck and trailer. We were the goofiest parade ever to march down the road. He spooked at the first three mailboxes we passed, but was surprisingly calm for most of the walk. As we neared the new barn, he whinnied to the other horses. They called back and the horses in the pastures came running over. Agnes the goat met us at the property line and escorted us to the barn. I turned Nox loose into his paddock and he immediately rolled, looked around, and spooked at the pigs. An hour later he had calmed down and was walking in and out of his stall and paddock, meeting his neighbor horses and making friends with Agnes. His stall is very open, so he can hang his head out into the barn aisle, and his paddock has a view of the pastures, the riding ring, and the pig pen. I was so happy to see him so entertained and engaged! He was so isolated in his old stall. By the time I left a few hours later, he was eating hay in his stall and playing "nip the nose" with his neighbor Ellie.
Hopefully, this little bit of freedom to be outside whenever he wants will be just what the doctor ordered. After he calms down a bit and gets used to his surroundings, this new arrangement should make the next few months of stall rest much more tolerable and help his ligament to finally heal. In the meantime, I can keep in shape riding Baya and taking lessons, and see Nox at the same time. It's a better situation for both of us. Good news!
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| Nox standing in his paddock. |
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| Nox standing near the doorway to his new, larger stall. |
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| Nox making friends with Agnes. |
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