It was hard losing Freedom. It was very unexpected and sudden. I lost a friend. One of my dearest.
I was so ready for another horse. I kept pointing out the dun filly we would pass by one the way to the farm. Every. Single. Time. Poor parents. We ended up getting her when she was 10 months old. Which was slightly older than when we got Freedom. I was so excited. Beyond excited. I named her Frisky because she was very cute. I wanted her name to start with an "F" in memory of Freedom. I even thought, oh this will be easy because I know so much now! HA!
Little did we all know.
She would be the smallest horse I owned with the biggest resting and active BITCH face ever! She was also a Scorpio like me, born in October and not a social being in general. We are very similar creatures. Yes, I also have a resting bitch face. She is living proof that horses can be introverted too. I was looking through her album. In the majority of the pictures you can barely see her ears they are so far down no matter the occasion.
Frisky and I had a very rough start. Her first day in her new home went nothing like Freedom's. She was neighing until she lost her voice. Pacing constantly. It was funny (hearing a raspy tiny incomplete neigh) and a little sad (she missed her mom).
That girl's metabolism impressed everyone. The pile of poo she was standing on the next morning might have broken some records and where it all came from is beyond me.
I spent a lot of time near her just keeping her company which was underappreciated. She has no clue how many mosquitos I dealt with.
She got over (for the most part) being separated from her mother and being in a new place in about a week. She was content being on her own. She was not interested in anyone or anything. Except for grass. She also would bite, kick out and even charge me. To which I responded by running away as Freedom never did any of these things. I was pretty naive and spoiled with Freedom. What Freedom was totally fine with Frisky was absolutely not. She did not like to be touched anywhere at all. She wanted to keep a 4-foot distance. I did get kicked in the stomach in the first few days of owning Frisky. It did not hurt at all. It was shocking more than anything. However, my feelings were hurt.
I remember thinking at the time "You are not Freedom or anything like her!". Then I was sad as the true loss of Freedom really hit me.
We got a few goats to keep Frisky company. Trying to learn from what might have happened to Freedom. Well, let's just say. Frisky was perfectly fine being alone. Billy the goat ( yes, very original I know) made the mistake of trying to eat a mango in front of Frisky. Frisky wanted that mango and she got that mango by picking up the goat and tossing him. I ran up to her which sort of startled her and diffused the mango situation. He was fine. He just kept his distance after that along with the other goats. The mango was a goner.
Frisky and I did not like each other and eventually, I did not trust her and she definitely did not trust me. I started to even hate her. I am sure she had similar feelings. I wanted to sell her and have a do-over with another horse. Once again my parents replied: You asked for this! I tried reading up on correcting her "behaviors/vices". With my inexperience, I did not know how to handle this tiny monster. Who in all honesty was just afraid/unsure but also fairly brave and bossy.
I didn't know about groundwork. Reading about it was a bit abstract for me. Plus, I did not have a round pen. I think I just thought, well, I'll just do my best in other ways and hope I survive! I would lead her and she would come up and try to bite my shoulder. I would run and she would chase me. I tried bribing her with sugar and salt. Salt is her favorite thing I found out. However, she would demand it from me and threaten me and bite me pretty hard. Which boggled my mind at the time because I was trying to befriend her. She is the reason why I have such good reflexes. I was reading that you have to be the leader when it comes to horses. Even though she was small she was faster and stronger than me. I had a few relatives and my parents tell me to carry a whip and smack her when she tries anything. I didn't like that idea.
I was 14 at the time and by the picture above, I was definitely taller than her yet pretty afraid of her. I have a tiny very faded I can barely find it scar on my forearm from where she nipped me pretty hard. Frisky also had a heart of gold. It was just very very VERY deep under multiple layers of fear and acting tough. Looking back it is just entertaining because now I know she was honestly not scary at all, she was just scared herself and thought being scary would keep her safe. However, at 14 with zero experience, I was very intimidated by her and what she was doing was working out for her and being unintentionally reinforced. That then gave her a really big hed. Chasing all walks of life demanding respect and salt.
I was not handling it well, I missed what Freedom and I had. Frisky and I were definitely two Scorpios that did not get along.