[RC] rewarding experience/project horse! - Kathie Ford
Hello all! I've been only lurking on RC for a while now as I've been real busy lately with life in general...and...actually getting in some good riding too!! Yes! Finally!
Anyway, though I'd drop a nice note regarding Pops our "project" horse since I haven't in awhile...
Well, the old guy is doing so well it brings tears to our eyes! He is such a sweet animal! So enduring...
The vet came out last week to give all my horses their rabies, a teeth float if necessary and Pops a "look-see" regarding his progress. And...he is doing so great! Vet says he looks like he's gained 200 lbs!! He changed color (again! LOL) and is a true bay roan. Very very neat color with dark points. He is healthy, good appetite, shiny coat and still the sweet guy he's been since we had him. Needless to say the vet was very pleased!
I told him my husband did a lot of the work (ie. walking, feeding (I supervised as sometimes he'd add a little too much "treat" in there), bathing etc. Our vet smiled and said great work, but I told him it was real Pops, cause he has such heart and wanted to get well!
He was also strong enough for us to introduce one of our mares to him as a pal and it just about made us cry seeing him be able to play with her. It was funny when we first put them out together as we watched for awhile to make sure they'd get along safely (for Pops sake more so) and after about 10 minutes both horses walked up to us, Pops to my husband (which was sort of neat in itself) and Tawny to me; as if to say "it's okay we are fine..not worries mates!!!"...and then they walked off together to graze a bit. I swear Pops facial _expression_ said "hey thanks for the friend guys!!" LOL
Anyway, this has been a most rewarding experience with him.
However, there is one difficult part to it. My neighbor who has been so wonderful wanting to keep Pops down there (she had a better area for him and just one horse) is moving to Minnesota and her property just sold. We only have a smaller area for Pops and for his physical health needs more room for self exercise, even though he has a hand walk every day. We feel it would be selfish of us to keep him where we are now (I have all mares and they'd boss him around too much, and their pasture is a little of a slope..and not good for him). So, we have been on a lookout for a permanent place for him to live out his days. Somewhere where he can have a companion and somewhere close where we can keep an eye on his health and have visiting rights. We are hoping for something else in our neighborhood.
So we will see...none the less he is such a good boy and a very loving guy. He has touched our lives in a very special way!
