Hello! I know, it has been a significant minute here since I last posted. I’m still navigating my depression and the oppressive challenges posed by Jake’s separation anxiety, but I’m now working with a veterinary behaviorist, who assures me that, once we have the meds right, I’ll be able to leave my house at least to go to the barn and run errands without needing a dog sitter. It’s been almost three months since I started working with this vet, so I have to give it some time to be figured out. Hopefully, once the weather is better, so too will be my situation.

In other news, I moved Kiss to a new barn this month. While she was well cared for at the old barn, her herd situation changed after the euthanasia of one of the mares, and, long story short, she had to be isolated in a paddock by herself in a “scary” corner of the property (backed up to the road, with woods all around). Because she is not a confident horse, this just made her more insecure and overwhelmed. She had started rearing in hand with even the slightest, most delicate pressure, a sign that the negative stimuli were simply too much for her. So, I’m hoping to spend a nice, mellow winter with her acclimating to a new property and a new herd.

She did come into major heat shortly after arriving, so of course that made her even more attached to her two herd mates, Willow and Halim, in addition to all of the other horses on the property. She suddenly became so strongly attached that she did not want to be in the barn without them. I’ve had several sessions with her since to try to get her to be in the barn without panicking. She’s not quite there yet, but it’ll come, especially once her hormones calm down.

Overall, we have to take things one day at a time, as usual. I do think my mindset is getting better around all of this, even if I’m still depressed. It has to get better in the end, so if it’s not better, it’s not the end.