Corbin, Rene and Magic

Meet Corbin.  He is a colt that was rescued from a herd of horses from Crested Butte that were scheduled for slaughter in Mexico.  Corbin came here with a HUGE distrust of humans.  A wonderful lady from Rocky Mountain Horseshoeing, Chelsea, introduced us to Rene, a man who has a very special way with horses.  He gained Corbin's trust in a short time.  Here he gets Corbin to hold  a saddle pad.

 Now Corbin calmly walks with pad.

 Now Corbin gets acquainted with a saddle.

 Now Corbin holds a saddle calmly.

 The purpose is not to ride but to earn Corbin's trust gently.  Corbin can not carry any weight for at least another year.

 Corbin learns to collect body and feet when going carefully over a low obstacle.

 Corbin learns not to be afraid of scary objects above him.  Like later when a rider will be above him.

 Corbin trusts Rene to hold feet in preparation for a hoof trim.

 Front feet, too.

 Rene shows volunteer Diane how to build trust with grooming.

 The weather is finally warm enough for a bath.  Who would have guessed that Corbin is bright white with pink skin.  What a beautiful colt he is.  Now we can see the terrible scar left from the sloppy branding done by a rancher in an effort to claim the abandoned horses to sell at slaughter.  Rene showed Diane how to give Corbin this bath as part of trust building.

 Corbin's reward for learning so much is a big hug from Rene.

These pictures were taken over several weeks.  Rene has worked with Corbin 7 times.  Each time it is marvelous to watch.  No one can believe how much he has accomplished.  We are so glad Rene came around to help us.  If you want to know more, you can contact Rene at  Liztuttle@wildblue.net