BJ came to live with us on October 26, 2007 for some much needed TLC, training, and love. Very skittish and scared of people, a friend asked me to take him in as a foster to help him overcome his fears. His feet are a mess, and he was so skittish you could hardly touch him. Someone had seriously abused this poor boy, to the point he would not even eat if you were too close, and if you reached for him, his whole body would jerk violently. But he's improving......
BJ was so afraid of people when he arrived that even lifting your arm, not even towards him, would literally send him flying as if the hounds of Hell were on his heels! I couldn't do much unless I could touch him though, so I simply made being with ME the safest place for him to be. If he jerked back, I would send him off, making him move until he would stop and face me, then gently try again. After about 2 days he settled in to the routine pretty well and would stop jerking away, although he was still so scared the whites of his eyes would show if I reached for him. I would reach and gently touch him, then move away, then lean in with another gentle touch, then lean back out. It was obvious he wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but eventually he started to relax and touching him became less and less threatening.
Whatever works to show a frightened horse that you're safe.
Some of BJ's scars :(
