I love him <3 So cute! I think I wanna call him Willy for some reason.
First Touch
Day 1
The sight of this boy had me sick the first time I had seen him. I had trained 7 Neravontiis before him, and I don't think that I had ever seen one as thin as this. His bones jutted from his sides and he looked as if a small breeze would blow him over. The adoption center said that he had come in with his sister and mother, his father euthanized for his own good. He seemed close to starving to death, but I thought that I could give him the change he deserved.
The moment I led him out of the adoption center and into the trailer, he seemed happy to see a kind face. I had brought along one of my kindest Neravontiis to accompany him on his journey to his forever home, Prachi, one of my other geldings. At first, you could tell he was afraid of him. He had a flighty attitude and did not look over his way. I hoped that maybe over the way home, he would soon see that Prachi was harmless.
I opened the trailer as soon as we reached home and walked him and Prachi to their stalls which were side by side. I had decided to call him Willy, after the story of Free Willy, the whale. I set the food in his stall and watched him scarf it down in a few minutes. He came over to me, searching for more but I sighed. "Little by little boy. I promise, I just don't want to get you sick," I said. I gave him a pet along his ribs as he passed me to lay down for a nap. At least he did not shy away from my hand I thought. I began to think that maybe this would be easy, but I knew he still had a long way to go, so it was a bit too soon to tell.
Day 2
I let my new boy rest over night and came back the next morning to see him sleeping peacefully in his stall. His soft breathing rustled the shavings below him, and I walked into the feed room to grab some feed for all of the neras. I filled the wheel barrow with some freshly killed carcasses, which the scent seemed to bring all of them to the front of their stalls. Even little Willy seemed to be excited and ready to go.
I grabbed the bucket, filling it up three quarters full and throwing it into each trough. As I approached Willy's stall, he knew that the bucket was close because he quickly flung his head into the trough to see what I had given him. His bones were still quite large through his skin, but he seemed to be a bit more happy and rested despite it. I would have to start regaining his trust before any of the other training could come because his old owner had let him down.
As soon as Willy finished his meal, I grabbed out his worn nylon halter and entered his stall. I reached to slip the halter over his head, which he jolted upward so high that there was no way I could reach it. Luckily, I had an extra rat carcass in my pocket and showed it to him. The heat waves must have quickly been felt, because he stuck his head through the halter to get to the rat. I quickly secured the buckle and lead him out just for a steady walk around the barn.
He walked with a bit of a limp from the scar I had found on his leg, but kept up pretty well. He was very cautious of his surroundings. His large head swiveled from side to side as he checked for any sign of heat or any other bodies of beings around. I gave him a reassuring pat and together we carried on. Since neras had no eyes, I was showing him that I would be his eyes and that he could trust that I would not lead him into a bad situation.
By the end of the day, I was pretty confident in gaining his trust and he seemed a little bit more trusting of me. I knew that it would be a long time if he ever did heal, but so far, his progress on day two have been amazing. I could not believe how sweet he had been for coming from the background that he came from. I decided that we had done enough walking, so I led him to the pasture and allowed him to graze for a few hours before returning him to his stall for the night.
First Saddle
WIP
First Ride
WIP
