KENNA: Born of Fire

Kenna: Born of Fire is about the journey of a horse who passes through a troubled past, where humans neglected and mistreated her, to the point where she was mistakenly labeled “dangerous” and “unwanted”  to learning to trust again and become a valued and cherished Equine Partner. Kenna’s story is, sadly, not uncommon. So many horses are failed by their humans and end up in situations where, through little fault of their own, often lead to their lives coming to a sad and ignoble end. In the age of Covid, many people purchased horses without educating and preparing themselves for the changes to their lifestyle that horse ownership brings. These horses are tagged with all sorts of negative labels and lose all sense of consistency and leadership in their lives, which only leads to more heartbreak. Horse rescues and animal shelters all across the nation are filled beyond capacity due to the uneducated and unprepared humans who fail the noble spirit of the horse.

This training journal will highlight her progress and growth. Hope you enjoy it!

10/11/2022 – Day 2: A Short Session

The goal today was to simply interact and do some easy Collaborative Groundwork. There is no rush to “get things done” at this point and giving Kenna more interaction mixed with easy requests seems to be a good idea. When Michael arrived at the barn, having just returned from giving a series of lessons off-site, he noted that Kenna was enjoying some social time and turnout. She and Ronan were having a conversation over the fence. Well, Kenna saw Michael and jogged over to the fence to say hello! It is clear that Kenna wants to connect and wants to have her herd. This is a good thing! They then headed to the arena (our home base has not set up the round pen as of yet) to review the lessons introduced in Day 1. That went well. Introduced some new skills such as the Pass Through and Flex, Flow and Go. Kenna seems to learn quickly, which is also a good thing! Then Kenna was lunged over some logs and low jumps. While she did this nicely, it was apparent that it brought back some memories. We moved on to doing some of the exercises she likes and ended the day on a few wins. Lots of loves and praise.

10/12/2022 – Day 3: Kicking it up a notch

We could tell by the condition of Kenna’s mane, tail and overall levels of embedded dirt that she was not groomed well enough. So today we broke out the detangler and the spray shampoo. Made some headway into her grooming process. It took her a few moments but she started to really enjoy the attention. It will be a little warmer this weekend so a real bath is in order. The goal today was to refine what we worked on in Days 1 and 2. We also wanted to focus more on the quality of movement and the attempts made. The push back was less than expected which was really nice. We got better flexibility and bend in today’s session. We increased the pressure in the desensitizing part of the day. Lateral flexion to the left is still a struggle but it was better than Day 2. Was able to pick up and hold her rear feet for a short period of time. Got some great advice on how to help with this from a good friend and respected horseperson. Kenna still wants to connect and be social which is nice. The activity level of the barn was a bit high today and the exposure was good for Kenna. Still can’t find the “dangerous” aspect of her attitude or personality. Oh well. It was a good day.

10/13/2022 – Day 4: RAIN

This was a “day off” for Kenna. Just got to hang out and be loved on and social. We need the rain here in New York so we took advantage of the time off to hang out, play with her feet and basically observe her settling in to her new reality. Today was a rain-day. Tomorrow it’s back to work we go.