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| 17hh TB Gelding Looking for Retirement Home; This is long.... sorry | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 10 2007, 11:38 AM (127 Views) | |
| AL28UVA | Sep 10 2007, 11:38 AM Post #1 |
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Schooling
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I am looking for a retirement home for my best buddy Truman. Truman is a 16 year old Thoroughbred (turned 16 in July). He is 17hh. He is possibly the sweetest horse you’ll ever be around. Truman loves “his people.” You need to “shake his hand” a few times, but once he knows and trusts you, he loves you with his whole heart. Truman nickers every time he hears my voice and some nights he’ll continue to nicker until I get him out of his stall (he nickers when he hears me close the office door, when he hears me open the tack room door or if he hears me talking to my filly). It never ceases to warm my heart when he greets me with a nicker. After getting kicked in the shoulder by an 18hh mare with back shoes on, Truman has never quite been right and can’t compete anymore. He has some stiffness in his lower neck and his back right stifle gets sore. He never gets bobbing-head lame, but does drag his back right from time to time and sometimes is stiff on that front left shoulder. I mainly just walk and trot him (in the ring and out in the fields). On good days I canter him, but I haven’t jumped him since January. He is 100% sound at the walk and LOVES long walks through the fields. I can now open and close all the pasture gates while I’m on him (he even pushes the gates for me once I get them unlatched). He loves to walk and stand in the ring and watch lessons – basically he just loves being included in the action. I’ve never actually taken him in the woods, so I’m not sure how he would do on an actual trail ride since he is kind of spooky at times, but I used to ride him down a gravel road and passed all sorts of exciting things and after he got used to the cars driving by him and all the exciting sites, he was great. Truman loves to be ridden, but he is sensitive and really likes to be ridden by “his people”. My trainer and I can ride him and “thump” on his sides and ask him to work, etc., but you have to have several “shake his hand” rides to get to that point with him. Once he trusts you, he’ll trust you for life, but he can be a bit spooky and hot at times with people he doesn’t know. I started having a 15 year old girl ride him a few months ago and she gets along with him well as she is a quiet, confident rider. I don’t think he is suited for a beginner rider which makes it even harder to find him a good home because most good riders aren’t looking for a walk/trot/leisurely ride horse. Truman is a real character. He is pretty sensitive. He thrives off of routine and attention and becomes depressed if he just gets left in a stall. He is not a horse you can throw out in a field and forget about either because he loves human interaction. He’s the horse that comes running when you call his name and will stand and cuddle with you all day. If he can’t be hanging out with “his people”, he loves to be outside. When I was in VA and the weather was good, we’d often keep him out 24 hours a day, but he’s not always a fan of that. If it’s really cold (like Chicago winter cold), he only likes to go out during the day and will pace the fence if he can’t be in for the night. I say this because there are so many retirement homes that are 24 hour pasture situations and unfortunately I know that just won’t work for Truman – he needs the option of coming inside. Truman LOVES every horse he meets. Since being kicked, he’s learned some boundaries and isn’t as “in your face” as he used to be, which is probably good, but he is still happy to be with any buddy that comes his way. Truman would make a great companion horse for a show horse because he never kicks and he isn’t picky about his friends. I just had his shoes pulled off a couple of weeks ago and he seems to be doing fine without them. I took him off of all of his oral supplements over the winter and started giving him monthly injections of Adequan. While I notice an improvement with each injection, I think he would be fine without them as well. He loves the occasional massage and chiropractic work, but obviously won’t need that to be a pasture buddy. Where I am boarding him now, he gets 4-8 hours of turnout a day and only gets to go in a big grass pasture where he can really move around about once a week. He would benefit from more turnout as it relates to his soundness, which is part of the reason I’m starting to look for a new home for him. Truman loves to be groomed, bathed, have his main pulled (he even pulls against you to help) and to trailer. He’d even load himself if you left an open trailer in front of him. He loves kids and puts his head down for them to pet him and gives them little nudges if they ignore him. While I would love nothing more than to keep Truman near me in Chicago, I know that Truman isn’t a huge fan of the cold and he would probably benefit from a milder winter like those in VA so I am open to sending him to a new location. While I obviously wouldn’t be randomly stopping by, I’d love for him to end up with an owner that wouldn’t mind the occasional call to see how he’s doing or maybe even a visit if I’m ever in the area. Truman and I have been together for a long time and while I feel guilty about finding him a new home, I think he could be in a better situation than I am providing for him right now. I will get an updated picture of him posted, but the picture that goes with my member name on this site is Truman. Thanks! |
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1:38 AM Jul 11