Before and After photos and stories

NUDGE .. is a baby who has been starved and neglected in many ways. He has a hernia in need of surgery, which will be repaired once he reaches an ideal weight and there fore becomes a candidate for this surgery. In the 4weeks Nudge has been at Creekside, he has gained over 72 lbs and become a pocket friendly buddy. He is not hard to adore, and has learnt to trust and accept love from humans.
Nudge has recovered from his hernia repair sugery in Oct 09 and has also been gelded. Nudge has now been adopted into a wonderful home.

Brandy Snap is an elderly lady in her early 30's. She was an owner surrender through a local city's Animal Control. Her owner an elderly person herself with major health issues could not take care of Brandy anymore. She loved her horse but knew she could no longer give Brandy Snap what she needed. Brandy was stalled last night when she came in as it was too late to introduce her to any of the horses. She ate every piece of food that was left for her. She because of lack of teeth (due to old age) cannot eat hay and just a very little grass.She will go on the "oldies diet" of senior feed, our favorite One and Only feed and some beet pulp. This will all be very easy for her to eat. We have not had a chance to weigh her yet, but will do later today. She has some kind of huge mass growing under her throat (not like strangles) we will have the vet check that out during her first exam with him. She also seems to have a dent in her left eye socket, maybe an old injury? Today she was introduced to the "old ladies" and is now out sharing their paddock getting to know her new friends. She is in season and is also "flirting" with one of our gelding over the fence! Brandy Snap is in her retirement years and will not be giving any rides or having to work to earn a living anymore.

Last night and this morning she stood perfectly still while I applied fly spray to her, groomed her a little and talked to her. She seems real comfortable in her surroundings. I was told she had never been in a stall, but she did excellent in the one she resided in for the night. She will get supplements in her feed since she is an "older girl" this will help her maintain good bone movement. We started her on "Cosequin" this morning which contains Glucosamine. This will help her joints. We also put electrolites in her water (apple flavor) as she seemed a little dehydrated. And in this hot weather we take no chances. She weighes 821 lbs and is in need of some extra weight.

UPDATE ... 7/4/08 Day 7
Brandy is enjoying herself lots, she goes everywhere at top speed. She is having a problem with adjusting to having other horses about her. She is bonding with some of the horses and panics if they go out of sight. If we are leading them about she gets in the way and it causes some problems, and you have to watch your every step. I think she has been a lonely horse for a long time. She had her hoofs trimmed yesterday and stood perfectly still for the farrier. She has been gaining weight nicely and is now at 863 lbs a gain of 42 lbs in one week. She loves her one and only food. She tries to eat hay but wads it up in balls and has to drop it. She seems to be able to nibble a little grass but we also find lots of it in the water tubs. I doubt she is getting to eat any of it, not uncommon for a horse her age.

UPDATE .... 7/10/08 Day 13
Brandy has a boyfriend, she is smitten by Blitzen who is about 24 years her junior!! We do believe she is part TB and part QH she moves around at top speed and also has the classic high withers of a TB. She is putting on weight nicely and is now at 893, thats a gain of 76 lbs in 13 days, way to go Brandy. You can see the difference (look at her photos taken today). She is a sweet mare, and does hang out with the "old girl crowd" but tends to stand by Blitzen's pen more often than not. She takes naps in the left over from one of the round bales, and makes funny sounds while she dreams. She likes to be groomed, but is not too keen on getting a soaking from the water hose (some of the horses love it). She gets very excited to see you come out of the feed shed with a bucket.

UPDATE .... 8/9/08 Day 43

What a beauty she has turned into (see the two photos above of day 43), put on weight in all the right places and has lots of light in her eyes.She is happy to be alive and loving having other equine friends. She now lives in a herd setting with 3 other horses. She is separated and put in a stall for feeding, or the other horses would steal her food. She takes just over an hour to eat each meal, and though she can chew very fine coastal hay, it can take her up to 5 hours to consume just one flake. She has completely changed color since arriving here. She loves to be sprayed down with the water hose and will stand and let you wet her down all day (who can blame her in 105 degree weather)!
She is now at 969 lbs thats a gain of 150 lbs in 43 days, we would like to see her gain at least another 50 - 75 lbs.
She is a very sweet lady with a cute personality and a love for Blue Berry muffins!

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.................................................................BUTTERSCOTCH .... Arrived 6/4/08 local horse who was turned over in lieu of a seizure warrant being served in this neglect case. A line back dun pony (with beautiful Zebra leg markings) mare of around 12.2 hands tall weighing 664 lbs. She has ribs, backbone, hips, and tail bone all showing. She has a very swollen belly and since she has been in with a stud we will be having the vet preform a pregnancy check on her in the morning. She allowed me to halter her in one of our paddocks, she walked with me once encouraged, but we have no idea of what training she may of had.She seems like she has been handled but is very head shy and very timid. We are praying she is not pregnant for her sake in her neglected condition, but if she is we will happily make her pregnancy as comfortable and easy as we can for her.

UPDATE 6/5/08 ...... Great News ...... Butterscotch is OPEN (not pregnant), we are so happy for her, the last thing she needed in her condition was to be PG. She is carrying an extra large load of parasites. She has been abused and is leery of people, she certainly did not want the vet sticking needles in her today and had to be sedated for all procedures for his safety and to make sure all procedures got done. The vet ages her at around 7 years, but we really have no clue as to what breed of pony she is as she is so out of proportion at this time. As she "grows" back into herself maybe a breed will stand out? If you think you can see a breed there, please let us know. It will take time to earn her trust, but she is enjoying knowing that when I appear out of the feed shed it means another meal for her. She is being fed 5 small meals a day of One and Only and a handful of senior feed plus all the coastal hay she wants.

UPDATE 6/11/08 Day 7 ..... Butterscotch has grown used to my daily handling of her, she will only let me touch her and no one else! She is going to meet the farrier tomorrow morning, this could be exciting!!! Her hoofs are a mess with over grown toes and splits all over. Our farrier is a very patient man, if any one will be able to trim her feet it will be Art. This week Butters has gained 49 lbs in weight now making her 713 lbs. A great success for just one week. She loves her food.

UPDATE 6/24/08 Day 20 ....
From the pictures its hard to believe that "Butters" has been here only 20 days, she is packing on the weight and turning into a beauty. We are really happy with her progress. Our farrier did manage to trim her front hoofs, but she would not let him anywhere near her back ones. This will take time, but we will get there too. Butters is very scared of people, you can tell she has been abused especially around her head and back end. She has some sores running down her back and on her hip bones. She is coming round but will "swing round" at you with her back end if she feels you are a threat. Again this will take time to undo what ever it is some body did to her. Getting her to gain trust in us will be the hardest part. She is now weighing in at 744 lbs a gain of 80 lbs in 20 days. She is also showing some signs of "stiffle" problems in both back legs, and her hocks will "lock" and she has to work out the "kinks".

UPDATE .... Day 37

Butterscotch is a stunning beauty, she is now ready for adoption. She needs some one who will be patience and kind with her. She has all the signs of being a former abused pony. She is gaining our trust and lets us handle her more.She is now living in with Jazzlyn and Mudd. She is now on grain twice a day and all the hay she wants, plus grazing. She is kind of getting fat, since she spends most of the day eating. She is now at 779 lbs, a gain of 115 lbs in 37 days, (W O W ).She would make a great child's pony with training. She is stocky and heavy set.

UPDATE ... Day 66 .... 8/9/08
Butters is improving everyday, she is still timid but coming along great. She now can be caught out in the pasture and will lead quite willingly. She will stand to be groomed, will allow me to touch her back end and back legs but is yet to allow us to trim her back hoofs. She will stand still to have her front ones done how ever. If she gets scared she will put back her ears and swing her hind end round, but has never kicked. She is living in a herd setting and seems to have no problem with any of the other horses. She is also very good with goats and dogs.
She has filled out very nicely and is now built like a tank with huge feet. After all is she part Fjord and they are small draft horses.She could carry an adult real easy depends on your height. If your over 5 ft your feet are going to be just off the ground (only kidding, but not too far wrong by that statement). She needs a home with daily handling and TLC, she is going to make some one a great pony some day. Are you willing to take that chance and open up your heart as well as your pasture to her? She is now available for adoption, please go to the horses for adoption page for more info.

Arrived 6/4/08 BLITZEN .... A Appaloosa stud (whom will be a gelding within 24 hours of writing this, whom we were told is 4 years old, he is very small only around 13 hands and looks to be younger. He is underweight with ribs showing and in need of good farrier care.He has let me touch him all over and weigh him, he is at 518 lbs. He is very upset about being separated from his mare friend, but if she is not pregnant we certainly don't want him getting her that way. He has a beautiful spotted bum blanket and a very cute face. We were told he is not trained, but he does seem to be halter broke. He is being kept in stall with a turn out area. He has to be kept away from other horses with him being an intact male. He will be gelded in the morning, and will be kept separate from other horses for several weeks till the hormones are gone.

UPDATE 6/5/08 ..... Blitzen became a gelding this morning, the vet sedated him, he went "night night" and when he woke, he was a completely different man!!! We were totally surprised to have the vet reveal that Blitzen is about 9 years old!!!! We didn't see that coming. He looks like a baby. He is just a pony with baby features. He is much easier to handle than his friend Butterscotch. He is far more trusting, and surprising for a "former" stud he is very well mannered too. He is enjoying his 5 meals a day plus hay. Unfortunately he will have to stay in a stall/pen combo for a while till realizes he is now a gelding! He enjoys being kissed on his nose and let me groom him this morning before the vet arrived.

UPDATE 6/11/08 Day 7 ......
Blitz is a very good boy and quite easy to handle. He does not like fly spray but will stand for it after you calm him down and he realizes the " thing in Mommas hand" will not eat him! He is still a tiny bit swollen from his surgery last week. We had several mares come into season this week and Blitz let them know he was around if they desired his company. He can be very very vocal. He likes to pooh in one spots, which makes clean up so much quicker. He does not realize he is a gelding yet. He is hand walked several times a time so he won't get bored having to live in a stall/pen combo. He will also meet the farrier tomorrow, what will happen who knows. His weight gain this week is 37 lbs making him now 551 lbs.

UPDATE .... 6/24/08 day 20
Blitzen is putting on weight nicely and learning to trust us.We do not feel he has been "abused" just ignored, so does not have much of an idea of anything you want him to do. We did manage to get both his front hoofs trimmed, but the farrier felt that was enough for Blit that first time. Next time round we will work on the back if possible also. We did not want to stress him out, we always like to make every experience here a positive one for all the horses. So some times do not "push" for too much too fast. Blit is gaining weight and is now at 671 lbs a gain of 67 lbs in 10 days. Thats great progress. He is hardly showing any ribs or back bone anymore. He is still having to stay "penned" up, he has not realized he is not a stud anymore. Several more weeks and he will begin to understand and then can be introduced into a herd setting, where he will have freedom to run the pastures and frolic and buck. He is hand walked around the front paddock to crib boredom twice a day. He lets us handle him and groom him.

UPDATE ... Day 66 ... 8/9/08
Blitzen is amazing, he has come along way in a short time. He will now stand for grooming, has let us trim his front hoofs twice but is still uncomfortable with his back yet. He does not like you giving him paste wormer right into the mouth, but will eat it up in his bucket in grain. He is very vocal when he knows its feeding time. Will stand still at his hanging bucket and talk to you right until the moment you put his food in then the head goes down and he's away. He is now happily living in a herd setting with both mares and geldings. He enjoys being with the other horses after having to stay in a stall/pen combo for 7 weeks after getting gelded. The first day he was let loose in a paddock, he ran and ran and kicked his heels up and screamed at the top of his voice (I'm sure he was yelling some like like "I'm free").
He has found himself a girlfriend who is also his grooming partner, and they will stand happily grooming each other backs. You can walk right up to him in the paddock and catch him. He now also knows what treats are and is quite happy to accept them. He has put on huge amounts of weight (sorry did not weight him today, but will soon). He is now available for adopt and should make a great riding pony for an experienced child or small lightweight adult with training.

JAZZLYN .... Arrived today 4/24/08 A 7 year old bay colored mare. We think she may be Arabian or at least part. he was rescued, received stabilizing vet care, and then brought her over here to "Creekside". She is very thin, (weighing in at 630lbs) about 300lbs under weight. She has a bad infection in her left eye, she is being treated with 3 different eye creams for this. She is in need of dental care because of sharp points on her molars, but is too weak at this time to go under sedation for this. Catch 22 situation. She arrived around 11.30 this morning, and settled in more or less right away. She was happy to be around other horses. She in being kept in a stall with outside excess of around 40 x 40 feet, she does not need more room than this at this time, as she needs to conserve her energy. She is being fed free choice coastal hay and small amounts of equine senior and "One and Only feed several times a day. This afternoon she was plumb wore out and went for a nap in her stall. The journey over here and all the new happening took its toll on her weak body. She woke refreshed and covered in shavings. She let me groom her and pick her feet out, and take pictures. We have the vet who started her care coming out here on Monday for a follow up, ( we requested a farm call to here as she is too weak to go for another trailer ride, the ride which brought her here nearly wiped her out) then from there out she will be under the care of our vet. We are praying for a great recovery.

UPDATE .... 4/26/08 Day 3 Jazzlyn has settled in well, she learned her meal times very quickly. She will greet you at the stable door or out in her turn out area. She is very easy to work with. She is accepting all that has to be done for her but is now beginning to fight us when having to administer her eye creams (this is a good sign).She is "back to front" potty trained, she will only go "pee pee and poo" in her stall !! She is also a "wind sucker" (or other name known by Cribber). We will treat her with supplements made just for this to see if this will help (a supplement has been ordered for her called "Settelex" made by feedmark. Wind suckers have been known to have too much acid, and wind suck to relieve the pain , Settelex is the only horse acid reducer on the market, price is $60 for a 30 day supply.Horses that wind suck are often difficult to keep weight on, and it can cause other health concerns. She now comes out of her "enclosure" several times a day and nibbles on the grass in the paddock for around 30 minutes each time. This allows her some freedom to exercise without wearing her out, she is still very weak.

UPDATE 4/28/08 The vet who first started to treat Jazz came out today for a follow up. He stained her eye to see how big her ulcer is, it has gotten smaller since last week and that is great news. She has also started to gain weight and is now at 652lbs a gain of 22lbs since last Thursday when she came here to Creekside. She is a lovely horse, some body has spent time working with this horse she seems to know quite a bit, its such a shame she ended up in this condition. She continues to eat most of the day and does wander around a lot more now. She is gaining strength and feeling lots better.

UPDATE .... 5/1/08 Day 7

Jazz is gaining weight now at 664lbs a gain of 34lbs in one week (yeah), she loves her food and is eager and always waiting by her feed bin when I come out of the feed room with buckets. She is now allowed to come and go in her stall and wander the front paddock with our "elderly gang" nobody in that herd can hurt her or run her about. She has made friends with a gelding and they are often together. She loves to be groomed, and will stand and take a nap while you make her look beautiful. Our Vet Dr Garner will be out in the morning (Friday)to stain her eye and check the ulcer to see if its gotten smaller since Monday when it was last checked.Jazz seems happy to be here, and we are glad we could help her.

Update 5/6/08 Day 12 ....

We found out today that Jazz loves water. After yesterdays and this mornings rains storms, she decided to splash around in the huge puddles and then to roll in them, results in the filthy horse shown in the latest photo today! She only rolled on one side so she is half dirty, half clean. She had an energy boost also today, and actually ran for the first time since coming to "Creekside", she kicked up her hooves and off she took with her friend "Mudd" beside her all the way. She is putting on weight each day (will update weight later today) and is loving all the attention she gets. Our vet came out last Friday (day 8) and stained her eye, and said the ulcer was smaller and looked like it was healing good. It should be completely healed within a matter of a week or so.She loves to be groomed. She had her hooves trimmed for the first time in a long time last Friday also. They look so small and dainty now, I almost wanted to run in the house and get nail polish and put it on her. She is a very sweet horse and is eating hearty meals and lots of hay with pasture grazing also thrown in.

UPDATE 5/8/08 Day 14

Jazz is enjoying the sunshine today, wandering and grazing with her new friend. She has been here exactly 2 weeks today, and we are so very pleased to let you know she is now weighing in at 692 lbs a gain of 62 lbs in 14 days (that's the weight of a labrador dog)!!!!! way to go Jazz. Of course Jazz did all the hard work, she had to eat the feed! She is being fed 5 small meals a day, plus free choice hay and grazing.We have have gained knowledge over the years that feeding a starved horse "little and often" is the key to keeping the gut moving and helping to digest small amounts is often easier for them.It has worked with us on so many horses, we are NOT about to change our ways.She loves her "One and Only feed plus a little senior feed thrown in for extra taste.I do not know what we would do without "One and Only". Nobody endorses us to say this, we tell the world about it because it W O R K' S.

UPDATE ..... 5/16/08 Day 21

Jazz is doing really good and gaining weight at a steady rate weekly. She is now at 713 lbs thats a gain of 83 lbs in 3 weeks. We are really happy with this. She loves her food. She has almost shed out her old coat and is turning into a sleek bronze color. She is a very pretty lady in deed. Her ulcer in her left eye is almost healed. She loves to be groomed and stands perfectly still and takes a snooze.

She is making friends and enjoying wandering around from place to place. She acts like some one at one time spent a lot of time teaching her things. She is very accepting of all we have done for her. We are unsure whether she is a riding horse (broke) and will have to wait a while yet before she could be tried out for that.
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UPDATE 5/22/08 Day 21

Jazz loves to run around and kick up her legs. She has been doing quite a bit of running this past week, she must be feeling good. She is now out in a paddock 24/7 with other horses. She is now getting 4 meals a day, plus hay and grazing. Her weight gain this week is 26lbs now putting her at 739 lbs, thats a gain of 109 lbs in 4 weeks, can you say " W O W ". Amazing what food will do for a body! We are happy with these results. It won't be long before we start Jazz in training to see what she knows and if she will be suitable as a riding horse. Because of everything she has handled so far, we get the feeling she may have had some under saddle training. Time will tell.

UPDATE .... Day 37 5/31/08
Jazzlyn is now a head turner, what a beauty has come through. She is a stunner, she has almost filled out in all the right places. Her weight gain is slowing down now, with a gain of 23lbs this past week. She still has some backbone showing and a shimmer of ribs. She is running and acting like a fool. She can move at quite the speed.
She was tacked up for the first time yesterday, and seemed to know what it was all about. She took a bit no problem, did not even play with it. And let me saddle and girth her up standing perfectly still the whole time. This leads us to believe again that she is probably broke. We are not going to try her out till her backbone is completely filled in. We do not want to cause any pain or discomfort to her.

UPDATE .... 6/7/08 Day 44
Jazz has bloomed and is a very pretty lady, she is feeling so good she spends her day running and bucking and having a good old time. She is almost to be ridden under saddle and see what training she has had. She has a shine to her coat that is almost enough to see your face in. We are so amazed at her great progress, all it took was good feed and 6 weeks of time. She is now weighing in at 809 lbs thats a gain of 177 lbs in just 6 weeks 2 days.

UPDATE .... Day 77
Jazz is all put back together and ready for a new home. She looks stunning. WE think she is by far the prettiest mare we have ever had here at Creekside. She has a very feminine look to her. She is now at 835 lbs thats a weight gain of 220 lbs in 77 days. She has been ridden and responses better to English than western. She stands still for mount and dismount, and will not move off till you ask her too. She would make some one a great riding horse. She has a super sweet personality,and can act goofy just like any Arabian. This is her last update, she will be moved to the adoptions page.

BOOMERANG ...... A male mule came in Sunday afternoon 1/27/08. He seems to as far as we can tell has spent his short life being bounced from home to home. He came to us from a family who had him less than one week before deciding he was not for them. We were able to trace back to the home before that, they told us he had been bought at an auction in September 07. We have no real age on him, and cannot get close enough to tell much more. He has not been handled by humans and is very scared and will require much time and patience as we teach him to become "friends" and earn his trust. His former owners do not know if he is gelded and we cannot get close enough at this time to "actually" get a visual on that! Mules cannot breed because they are a hybrid (momma is a horse, poppa is a donkey), but still need to be gelded because they can be "sexually aggressive" when mature. All we know about Boomerang at this time is he is young and a male, we will learn more as we work with him. Keep tuned in for more info ......

UPDATE .... 2/1/08

What a sweet boy this is, he is so playful, he has certainly enjoyed having the mini geldings around him. He has become good buddies with "Zillion" our miniature donkey. They chase it other around the outsides of the barn playing "tag". They are a hoot. Boomer has still not let us touch him, but he is now sniffing my hands and standing right at my side. He will come round with time.

UPDATE .... 5/31/08 4 months since arriving at the rescue.
Boomer is a gelding. He is around 2 years old and is part miniature. He is standing at around 40 inches tall (10hands). He is a love bug, he loves to have his face petted. He follows me about. He is not halter broke yet, we are still gaining trust (he does have some trust issues)not because of abuse but from not being handled before. He has come along way. He acts far more like the horse part in him than the donkey side. He runs like a horse and whinnies more like a cow!! Strange but very cute.He gets along with ALL our horses and donkeys and is very playful and loves to run at top speed.

FRECKLES ....... Came to the rescue 1/27/08 Is an aged Appaloosa mare, with more than a few liver color "Freckles"! We were told she is 22 years old, we will have our vet confirm age her on her first exam. She has an old injury to her left front knee, it looks like an old fracture that didn't set correctly. She gets around fine on it and does not seem like she is in any pain.Again once our vet has examined her we will know more about her age and health. She is a very sweet mare, easy to catch, groom and halter. She loaded right in the trailer first time, but had difficulty getting out. She had been used to give small children rides on a lead line. She will be a companion (none riding horse) its not fair to ask her to bear weight with that injured leg. So the retirement life she now leads.

UPDATE ..... 2/1/08 .... Freckles is a very gentle and sweet mare. She stands perfectly still for grooming, you don't even have to put a halter on her.She does not like to be wormed, she refused to bring her head down and held it as high as she could. So we just put it in her food instead! She likes the company of the other horses and the donkeys. She calls out for me when I come out of the house, and knows I usually will have a treat or two in my pocket.I think she is enjoying her new "retirement home", where she can wander around doing what ever she wants. When we put her in the front paddock the other day, she caused a few cars to slow down and take another "look", her beautifully market "spots" have caused several heads to turn.

................................................................................................................................... BEFORE and AFTER pictures and stories.

MAJOR BLUE .... Came in at dusk 8/2/06 he is a grey flea bitten Arabian/Paso about 30 years old (vet confirmation). He is very underweight at only 723 lbs, should be around 900lbs for his size. He is in the pony class, standings at 13.3 hands tall(55 inches).
He has 7 melanoma's (cancer) under his tail and around his anus area. He is badly in need of dental care, but because of his weight can't be sedated at this time, he has a heart murmur and we are waiting on results of blood tests to see if there are more underlying issues. We expect to find kidney problems and anemia. He has back hip problems causing some twisting of his foot movements.He had not had his sheath cleaned in over 5 years and thus has created a "bean" (dirt build up) blocking some of the flow of urine. All male (stallions or geldings) should have their sheath area cleaned at least once every 6 months to prevent such as this.
He cannot eat hay, though he has tried, he can however eat grass (small amounts at a time). He does not have much of an appetite at this time, and we are hand feeding him.

He will live on shredded beet pulp, equine senior grain and One and Only. This will be offered to him several times a day, One and Only is availble in a bucket all day long, this is his "grazing food". He is eating his 50lb salt block, and drinking many gallons of water. We feel his body is depleted of certain vitamins, so will supplement him with what he needs.

Update ..... 8/6/06 Major is very head shy and reserved, he would rather not be messed with. He has settled in with Trooper and they have become friends. He is now eating by himself and no longer needs me to hand feed him. He is now at 737 lbs, a gain of 14lbs in 4 days (again we love this one and only food).

UPDATE ....8/9/06 Day 7 Major is showing his true colors and personality. He is an escape artist, he knows how to open gates! He is not much for humans and would rather be left alone, except at meal times (go figure). He is weighing in this evening at 752lbs a gain of 29lbs in 7 days. He now has light back in his eyes, and his coat is turning real soft.

UPDATE ..... 8/16/06

Weighing in today (day 14) at 765lbs a gain of 42lbs in just 2 weeks. Major is feeling so much better, he is moving around a lot and is much more alert to everything. He loves his food and is always ready for meal times.He is not as shy but is still hard to catch.
UPDATE .... 8/23/06 Day 21
Weighing in today at 792lbs a gain of 68lbs in just 3 weeks. He is filling out and beginning to look like the handsome boy we are sure he once was.

The latest pictures of Major do not show the correct light, because he is a grey horse it is difficult to capture the true image. He still has ribs and backbone showing quite a bit. He is putting on weight nicely, but still has a long way to go. Because of having back leg injuries, we need to be careful about not letting him gain too much or this could cause difficulty in walking for him. We will keep and eye on him and work with him.

Major's fave hobby seems to be keeping himself as dirty as possible! He got so muddy from his rolling, that it took over an hour of bathing to get him some what clean from his last roll. His mane had tredlocks, and were so hard to get out even after soaking, we just cut them all off, thus leaving his mane real short (in the pictures he needed to get it leveled off and neat). Between his picking locks and letting himself and Trooper out of their paddock, rolling in the mud,this equine keeps us on our toes.

UPDATE ... 10/26/06

Major has put on weight and moves around much better now, he is now growing in a winter coat. He loves to roll in mud and keep himself dirty! His weight gain is not as much as we would like to see, but he has gained a noticeable amount, though still looks "trim", but he has other health issues that counteract that. When he first came in we found several "melanoma's" under his tail and around his anus area.These we have since found out from a former owner who came forward, that he had these when she gave him away 5 years ago. Upon another inspection and cleaning of his private parts where he has a blockage, we found many many more melenomas on his penis also. This poor horse is riddled with cancer. He is not suffering nor seems to be in any pain, quite the contrary.

He now allows us to catch and love on him, is quite the sweetheart and loves the attention. He knows how to open gates, he can pick a lock, so all gates and locks have to be secure. He will yell at me if he thinks I'm late with his meals, and will bang on the fence to "move it a little quicker please".

UPDATE .... 11/10/06
We found out today that Major has some unusual tastes in food. I was having a picnic lunch with one of our volunteers in the back yard,Major and Trooper had come in to graze the yard for me. Both wanted to know what we had on the table. Both helped themselves to bread rolls, but Major decided he wanted to taste everything we had. So he ate up all the fried okra, the coleslaw and some fried chicken (no bones). He was quite disappointed when there was no more for him. If ever we run out of One and Only, I guess we could always cook him some okra!!!!

UPDATE 11/2/07 One year after the last update, Major lost his battle with cancer, please read his story on the "Rainbow Bridge" page.