Osa's first few months at HOR
- Emily Cristofich
- Aug 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 28
Osa arrived at Heritage Oak Rescue December 24th 2024. She’s now been here 8 months. I wanted to write an update on how things are going with her, but first, I’ll start with the beginning.
I originally went to see Osa thinking she may be a good fit for a family I know with three kids. She was not unfriendly, especially if you had a treat. But she didn't know or trust a person to halter her. I realized she would be too much for the kids, but I really liked her personality and I was worried about where she would end up.
Osa was 11 years old, not halter broke, never had her feet done or other veterinary care. She was not mis treated and in my opinion, actually overfed. She lived with two longhorns that she bossed around. Her whole life she'd never been around other horses after she was weaned from her mother. She was a blank slate. But an older horse that's set in their ways can be a challenge to train.
First Visit
The first time I visited she was in the middle of dinner so I took pictures, but we didn’t work on anything. A little over a week later I came back to work on connection and getting her to turn into me. I was able to get her more comfortable with the lead rope over her neck. The third time we got a halter on! I came back two days later to attempt trailering her home. It took a little over an hour to drive away with her.
Osa was covered in sweat from the stressful drive. It was a huge relief when I finally got her in her separated turnout. I still didn't have much control with the lead rope. She could hear and see the other horses from a distance. But because she had never been around other horses before I knew I had to slowly transition their integration. She ran around bug eyed for a while, but she found comfort in me and eventually enjoyed munching on grass.
Osa settled in well. She would greet you as soon as she heard you coming. Whinnying and running over to the gate. I transitioned her to hay nets but also made sure she had loose hay at first, because that’s what she was used to. I slowly decreased her feed and gave her extra supplements like magnesium and vitamin E.
I worked with her twice a day. We’d start with connection and haltering. Then I would lead her around in her pasture. She wasn’t totally controllable at first so we’d go on a short walk to the round pen, un halter and re halter in the new environment.
She was great with people, very curious and friendly. However she did not understand boundaries and was not totally safe to be around because she would want to stand too close. She was still unsure of her environment at times and would spook at random noises. I would rub her all over and she enjoyed it, except her back legs. She would get jumpy and almost kick out. I wasn’t sure if it was just a new sensation for her or it was actually tender. Her leg muscles were very tight.
Mid January I started taking her on walks closer to the other horses. I was able to pick up a front hoof January 20th! That was exciting for me because I really wanted to trim her hooves. The next day I did a few rasp strokes on each front hoof.
Sancho was the first horse Osa met, one month after her arrival. Osa immediately went to kicking. Sancho smoothly avoided her and didn’t challenge her in any way. By the end of their meeting Osa was resting her head on Sancho. The second meeting was when Sancho had to stand his ground and show Osa not to crowd his space. They were squealing and double shotgunning each other. Osa was the first to stop. She got a cut on her hind end, but otherwise everyone was fine.
I let them out together for a couple supervised hours at a time. Next she met Blackjack, then Whiskey. Finally on February 17th Osa went out with the whole herd and met Maz. All went well, there was some squealing and establishing boundaries, but no one got hurt. The boys have been out with a mare before but Osa definitely needed to ease into being around them. It would appear they picked on her, but she didn’t have the social skills to read their body language asking for space. Osa was used to being out with two longhorns that she could push around. Being out with the herd has improved Osa's respect for boundaries.
I had just put Atlas down February 3rd, so they never met, I had a feeling it wouldn’t go well. Once Osa was settled in the herd I gave her some time off to adjust. I also needed time off to grieve Atlas.
Osa had her teeth floated February 25th, which was her first time having her teeth done. Unfortunately along with the other three horses that were done she had trouble eating for around 5 days after and was spitting out wads of partially chewed hay. I recently had another equine dentist out that confirmed her teeth were over-floated. I'll have to wait another 6 months to a year to rebalance the damage done.
I was very happy with Osa's progress in March. She had noticeably lost weight, her coat shiny and healthy. Osa was just starting to be used in lessons with adults! I was making progress trimming her front hooves. She wasn’t as needy after going out with the herd. She wouldn’t come running to you anymore, which I kind of missed but I was also glad she had a herd.
I'll be posting a follow up to this with a current update on Osa. Stay tuned for more of the success and struggles of Osa!
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