Just wanted to update you on how Confetti is doing and send you her Christmas pictures. She was auditioning for Santa’s team!

I am very pleased with her attitude and progress. She has learned to trust me and if something different happens, Confetti doesn’t have a melt down but waits for me to tell her what to do. With the cold winter and not having an indoor ring she has had lots of time off. But has not reverted to not liking the girth tightened or getting a hump in her back and refusing to move. When I get on and cluck, confetti just walks off.

Another big hurdle that has been passed is her first hoof trim. No tranquilizer, just patience and understanding on the part of Ron, my farrier. At first Confetti was very mistrustful of a strange man, but he won her over. Her behavior was not ideal, but that wasn’t expected and could have been worse.

As you may remember I have 2 Shetland ponies, mom and ‘baby’; age 41 and 38. In early November Coco started active lethargic. When she didn’t snap out of it I had the vet out. With her age and a heart murmur she has had problems with severe cold bothering her in the past. Unfortunately it was cancer. So we said goodbye Thanksgiving weekend.

It has always been one of my greatest fears that if I lost one pony the other would follow of a broken heart. Sunny was distraught at the loss of his mother. He would roam the pastures searching for Coco and crying.

Thank God for Confetti. She would go to him and give him her company to distract him from his grief. I do believe that with out her I would have lost Sunny also.

PB

When Sherman came to the Hooved Animal Rescue, the poor fellow was miserable. With ribs clearly showing through his dingy hair, you could almost feel his hunger. His head hung low, his eyelids sagged – as you can see in the “before” picture, he was clearly not a happy horse.

Now look at him! He’s alert, full of vim and vigor, and his coat is absolutely gorgeous! You’d almost think we had switched horses on you. (Well, we didn’t.)

It always delights us how, with the proper care and attention, a horse can turn around and look as magnificent as Sherman does today!

Hello MHARF! I thought you’d like an update on Gemini (now Buddy). He has been a great horse.

My family adopted Buddy in December 2008 as a companion (or “buddy”) horse for my other horse. I never thought that I would enjoy riding him so much! I was unable to start working with him in the summer of 2009 due to a wrist surgery, but this April, I was determined to get him ready to show in the Isanti County Fair. I had a lady help me by coming to my house for lessons, and we progressed great. I found out that Buddy has great turns and stops.

The fair was his first show with me (and the first time in a trailer and off our property since getting him). We weren’t quite ready; we did games but mostly trotted, and he was quite stubborn about bringing his head down, opening his mouth from the bit, and other small things. However, for his first time away from home, it was a lot of fun. My friend rode my other horse at the fair, and they were stalled by each other (Buddy also has “separation issues”..but getting better!) He was not scared from anything, and if you remember, he is blind in his right eye, but it hasn’t bothered him at all. I also showed him in the Sunday WSCA open show of the fair in the 17 & Under walk/trot games—we got reserve high point! I also put a poster on his stall at the fair about MHARF and many people stopped to read it and comment. They were very interested in his story and his blind eye.

I have taken it quite slow, but I want to make sure I get things right. I am a freshman in college now, so I don’t get to ride as much, but when I come home I ride him and he keeps progressing. I attached some pictures from the fair, and as you can see, he is wearing a tie-down and a cavesson, but doesn’t need either now. He gives his head nicely when I ask and doesn’t open his mouth much. I always have ridden him in a simple eggbutt snaffle with a copper middle piece, which he goes great in.

When I come home from college, I know I can just go and get on him without really any problems. He has never bucked or reared. We are still working on the separation—he always needs to know where my other horse is, so that is the “problem” now (not a bad one). I hope to ride even more next summer, and perhaps try some new riding styles with him for fun (maybe dressage!). I also enjoy riding him bareback. He and my other horse are in a wonderful pasture (about 2 ½ acres?) and they get it all to themselves, along with hay and a bit of grain. He is a lot of fun, and I always get comments on how “cute” he is! Thanks again for a great horse.

– Anna Smegal

Horses have always been the central passion in my life, from the time I could crawl (the neighbors made my parent buy the rocking horse that I was always crawling over to ride on their porch at age two) until now at age 50 – pursuing a PhD in Veterinary Medicine on muscle diseases in horses. After a 10 year hiatus from Three-day eventing, I had found my “perfect” horse, a half-starved racehorse named Tricky. At seven, he was ready to take on Training level when an unfortunate accident ended his life. I was devastated. Thanks to Dr. Julie Wilson, I learned about the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue, Drew Fitzpatrick, and ultimately, Fred.

Fred is also a racetrack washout, and was brought to MHARF at two as a severely underweight cryptorchid stallion with three other Thoroughbreds. I had been watching the racehorses coming into the rescue for over a year when I spotted Fred on the website. Drew prepared me for what to expect, but it was still shocking how truly neglected these horses were. Fred is not a “garden variety” racehorse – he has impeccable breeding, and is a half-brother to Bellamy Road, a Derby winner. The other horses in his group were equally well-bred. On my first visit, Fred was standing only by leaning against the stall wall for support. I was afraid to lead him out of the stall or even pick up his feet, but I could see the fire in his eyes and the fighting spirit that was still in him, even in this horribly abused condition. I told Drew I was interested in adopting him when he was out of rehabilitative care.

Fred came to me in a few months, when he was strong enough to undergo the relatively complicated surgery needed to geld cryptorchid stallions. He spend a leisurely summer recovering and then settling into his current kingdom at Savehaven Stable, where he is the uncontested leader of the herd. In 2007, Fred started on his career as an event horse by attending a few clinics at places like Pine Meadow and Freedom Farms, training with hometown Olympic hopeful Becky Holder and Eric Dierks, for example.

Fred is now competing at Beginner Novice levels, and scored a respectable 37.4 on his first dressage test and went clean cross country at the formidable Otter Creek course in May of 2008.

This photograph was taken June 21, 2009 at the Fargo Alpha Equus English Riders Eventing Show, where they have a special competition for retired racehorses. Fred won the Novice division, finishing on his dressage score of 23 points. Last year, Fred won the Beginner Novice Horse division at Trott Brook Horse Trials, and finished third in the Area IV Beginner Novice Championship.

I am so thankful to Drew and MHARF for helping Fred and all the other horses in their darkest hours. I hope that everyone who reads this feels the same and helps in whatever way they can to give these horses a second chance.

– Lisa Borgia