Post by desperatehorsewife on Oct 15, 2007 0:01:40 GMT -5
I wasn't really thinking in terms of rescue when I picked Sunny up, but she certainly could be classified as such. Certainly a rehab horse.
She's a blm mustang, adopted in June '06 along with a yearling colt. I got a call from a fellow BLM volunteer saying that the owners were relocating and turning their horses back in to the BLM. Both were thin and nothing had been done with them in terms of handling since they'd been adopted six months earlier. The colt was a friendly sort, but the owners had just left him to stand for the most part in his round pen. Sunny had gotten her halter off and no one could touch her. They'd been wormed once...some crumbles had been put into some grain when they got them. Naturally, since halter breaking wasn't done, hoof care wasn't in the cards, either.
When I picked up Sunny, she was covered in lice. Her shoulder was bald and it would only get worse over the next few weeks before we could clear it up. Hard to fight the battle on a horse you can't touch. The volunteer in Arlington who had the horses had managed to get a rope on Sunny then a halter. That was a huge help.
Her before pics:
After a month or so she was finally allowed to go out into the pasture; her first time out of a small pen since her adoption. Still had a lead rope attached to aid in catching, though!
It took me three months before I could touch the right side of her body. The day she gave it to me, she absolutely melted; her mane was so long and she was so danged itchy!
Her current pics:
Working for my daughter.
All drugged up and getting a pedicure. Took three of us to get the job done and there were times when we wondered if we'd just have to lie her down flat!
Her first (and only) rider, Rufus.
I've had her for eight months now. I can handle her from the right side, but only while she's haltered. I can saddle her from that side, too. I'm hoping that at some point over the winter she'll decide that it's okay for me to mount. Right now I can bounce in the stirrup, but that's all she'll allow. I really don't feel comfortable trying to find her a new home until I can get that mind of her's unlocked. Aside from her fear of people, she's a completely awesome little horse, loves the dogs, not afraid of cars or close passing lawn mowers. Totally exceptional in nearly every way.
She's a blm mustang, adopted in June '06 along with a yearling colt. I got a call from a fellow BLM volunteer saying that the owners were relocating and turning their horses back in to the BLM. Both were thin and nothing had been done with them in terms of handling since they'd been adopted six months earlier. The colt was a friendly sort, but the owners had just left him to stand for the most part in his round pen. Sunny had gotten her halter off and no one could touch her. They'd been wormed once...some crumbles had been put into some grain when they got them. Naturally, since halter breaking wasn't done, hoof care wasn't in the cards, either.
When I picked up Sunny, she was covered in lice. Her shoulder was bald and it would only get worse over the next few weeks before we could clear it up. Hard to fight the battle on a horse you can't touch. The volunteer in Arlington who had the horses had managed to get a rope on Sunny then a halter. That was a huge help.
Her before pics:
After a month or so she was finally allowed to go out into the pasture; her first time out of a small pen since her adoption. Still had a lead rope attached to aid in catching, though!
It took me three months before I could touch the right side of her body. The day she gave it to me, she absolutely melted; her mane was so long and she was so danged itchy!
Her current pics:
Working for my daughter.
All drugged up and getting a pedicure. Took three of us to get the job done and there were times when we wondered if we'd just have to lie her down flat!
Her first (and only) rider, Rufus.
I've had her for eight months now. I can handle her from the right side, but only while she's haltered. I can saddle her from that side, too. I'm hoping that at some point over the winter she'll decide that it's okay for me to mount. Right now I can bounce in the stirrup, but that's all she'll allow. I really don't feel comfortable trying to find her a new home until I can get that mind of her's unlocked. Aside from her fear of people, she's a completely awesome little horse, loves the dogs, not afraid of cars or close passing lawn mowers. Totally exceptional in nearly every way.