We rescued Brutus a little over a year ago (you can read more about Brutus’ time at Hanaeleh here). He has been progressing well, albeit slowly, partly due to his immaturity and partly due to the fact that was very malnourished. When we first took him in, we were concerned that his growth would be stunted due to his being obviously underfed for a very long time.
Luckily for Brutus, he developed well, and although it took him some time to change from the scrawny colt, he has stopped his extreme growth spurt and is now developing some muscle. He is now approximately 16 hands, and does look like a young horse instead of a growing colt. Although he is a little over four years old, he really only developmentally looks to be about 3 1/2.
Over the past year, we have taught Brutus how to lead, tie, pick up his feet, longe, ground drive and have ponied him around the neighborhood. He is not the easiest horse to train as when we first introduce a new concept to Brutus, he gets frustrated easily. Interestingly enough, he is not spooky, and is a very curious boy, so we do not have to worry about him getting scared. He doesn’t learn very quickly, however, and we had to adjust his lessons to very (VERY) short chunks to prevent him from getting frustrated. With a lot of time and by introducing things to him consistently and a bit at a time, however, he has done very well.
This past week I did get on Brutus’ back- yes, for a very short time. With Emily at his head, we walked around the round pen three times one way, then three times the other way. I was on his back for about five minutes tops, but the good thing was that he was not scared, and nothing bad happened to him. We will eventually begin riding him as he continues to develop, and will increase the time slowly until he is comfortable and physically able to carry a person.
We are very proud of our silly Brutus-boy, and we look forward to continuing to watch him grow and progress!
To inquire about adoption, please email us at: elizabeth@hanaeleh.org
Brutus’ first ride.