Smokey

[KarinUS]

I lost my horse I had for 22 years and it left my mare stressed and on her own. I was also dealing with a lot of heartbreak myself.
I briefly looked into finding a riding horse but became aware that for my budget I couldn't really afford the kind of riding horse I would be interested in.
So I moved to plan B! Find a fat pony to keep Minnie, my mare company.
I had talked to a guy about having him help me evaluate potential horses and trailer whatever horse I bought for a fee for me.
When I reached out to him know I decided to suspend my riding horse search and that I had located a fat pony and needed to get an estimate for trailering the pony here he told me he had lost his job a year ago and of his 8 (!) horses he had hung on to his favorite. But due to financial strain the horse was no longer in good shape. He is a 17 year old Quarter Horse who had been used as a Scout horse for a trail rider club, roping, search and rescue and parades.
I hired a young female trainer to come evaluate the horse with me and ... I bought him. I requested the horse get coggins test and shots before he delivered him to me and it was just so fast after that. I had come out of the bank with the cash when the vet office called to get my info (I had offered to pay for test and vax if he could take him there and he literally loaded him up and took him to the vet as soon as I got into my car after the viewing). So the horse already got registered a mine at the vet's office before I had even bought him officially. He brought him straight from the vet office to my place so when he unloaded I was still kind of in shock that suddenly I have this horse.
My 'test rider" rode him for the purchase evaluation but he will not be ridden again for a couple of months until he has regained his weight.
I have strict instructions for his refeeding schedule because he is so thin.
For the last 20 years I've been trimming my horses myself but I have a regular farrier coming for Smokey tomorrow. His toes are very long.
Next up will be dental.
I'll be starting with his pic from the day I bought him and hopefully there will be lots of changed over the next few weeks and months

 

[Jessey]

Sounds like it was meant to be! He’s very thin bless him, but it sounds like with some TLC and groceries you’ll have got yourself a cracking horse!

 

[Sparky Lily]

Sometimes things happen for a reason. Smokey needed someone to care for him, and you came along. Looking forward to seeing your joint progress x

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

You know I think he's beautiful, and though he looks so skinny and dejected you can see he has a kind, soft eye. Lucky horse to land with you.

 

[KarinUS]

One of our first obstacles besides the weight is his sand burn. Sand burn is what the locals call it but it's really photosensitization in response to eating toxic plants. I have free choice hay which he loves so theoretically this should resolve on its own now that he is here.
Untreated it gets kind of dry and cracking and peeling so I feel better to put something on to keep it pliable while it heals.
But he seems terrified of sprays.
Considering he is a 17 year old 'been there, done that' horse I was surprised he's not used to sprays. Right now we are still working on him just trusting us so we will postpone the spray issue till later. I just spray the treatment onto paper towel and then dab it on with that which seems to be fine.

 

[diplomaticandtactful]

he looks a kind horse and will be lovely to see him looking well again.

 

[KarinUS]

Farrier was out today and he is looking so much better although it will take another trim in five weeks to get him looking really right. He was such a good polite boy for it as well

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Oh my word poor chap, he will be so much more comfortable after that.

 

[KarinUS]

From today looking all perky.
I still think there's a chance his papers didn't match the horse.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Gosh he is looking so much happier.

Why do you think his papers might not match?

 

[Jessey]

I’m sure you are right and the sand burn will resolve now he’s not forced to eat things he shouldn’t. Bet he really appreciated those long toes getting dealt with! He looks lovely, a wise soul.

 

[KarinUS]

Gosh he is looking so much happier.

Why do you think his papers might not match?

He doesn't look like a quarter horse. He's narrow like a TB. I noticed it when we were checking him out and asked if he was an appendix qh. (Appendix means he'd also have thoroughbred in him)
The answer was no. Full qh. Not appendix. The guy later send me a photo of the papers and they also indicated registered as qh not appendix qh

So I thought hmm maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. But when the farrier was out he asked what kind of horse Smokey was. And I said qh. He was surprised and said " oh he must be appendix. He's very narrow." And I laughed because that's exactly what I had set.

The papers just describe a buckskin foal born in 2007. There's no tattoo or anything permanent that would ensure the paper belongs to the horse.
Two years ago the horse was sold through a horse trader and the fearless rider I hired to test ride mentioned that the trader might have matched him up with papers that actually belonged to another horse

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

He does look light so I understand! His age is about right though?

 

[KarinUS]

I'm no equine tooth expert but they don't look particularly old too me so 15 to 20 seems reasonable to me
The equine dentist will come July 8. I'll ask her about her guestimate.

 

[Jessey]

It will be interesting to see how he fills out! I thought his face looked very qh, like the ranch bred lines that we see here.

 

[KarinUS]

Oh I'm not worried about his face (although it is tiny lol). But his structure (chest, barrel, etc ) looks very narrow and more TB like. Especially with his coloring I'm sure there's some QH in there. I just don't think he'll fit a quarter horse tree saddle etc even once he gains weight.
On the plus side I might be able to hang on to my TB's county saddle and it might actually fit
(Jane has the inside scoop since I've been bombarding her with pics via PM lol)

 

[KarinUS]

Today we learned walk.
It was our first time lunging and apparently I bought the wrong horse.
He thinks everything is go. Even just going in the round pen he started snorting.
I didn't even pick up the lunge whip. So today we just focused on calming down enough to walk in a big circle both ways.
He did get it and I praised him lots and he really seemed to like that. He was such a good boy.
Afterwards he seemed so relieved and was just stuck to me. It was just walking in circles but today feels like it was important for seeing his expectations regarding of what we expect of him and what he can expect of us.

 

[KarinUS]

His teeny face is too small for horse halter. Got to look for cob size
We'll buy him bridle and bit after he gets his teeth done

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

When I got Sid, he had obviously been lunged "for fitness" or "for controlling his weight" - he immediately offered a fast trot and I couldn't slow him down. It took ages for him to be able to walk calmly in a circle.

You never know what has been asked of them before, do you?

 

[KarinUS]

When I got Sid, he had obviously been lunged "for fitness" or "for controlling his weight" - he immediately offered a fast trot and I couldn't slow him down. It took ages for him to be able to walk calmly in a circle.

You never know what has been asked of them before, do you?

Yes. People are really into 'wet blanket' theory around here.
Getting to know a new horse is kind of like that Internet meme of "what's that stranger doing in my house?".
There's this grown up horse in my barn and I don't even know him. Lol