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You are here: Newsletters > Horses for Adoption
by Kate Kase
Last November I asked ERRI if I could foster Fuzzy Dancer (FD) at my farm for 6 months. His life was on the line and my hope was that I could give him a second chance by making him “adoptable.” We decided early on that in order for him to be adoptable, he would have to be able to do some light trail riding.
For most of this time, we have been thrilled with his progress. Then, 2 weeks ago, I called our veterinarian, Dr. Linda Taylor, and asked her to come and take a look at him. After working hard all winter to get more weight on him and to build muscle tone, FD stopped eating. He would pick at a little hay, but he wouldn’t eat a meal. He acted lethargic and kind of depressed. The veterinarian was disturbed by his attitude even though she really thought he looked fine. To be safe, she took a blood sample for testing and told me to keep a close eye on him.
Shortly after Dr. Taylor left, I threw in the towel, decided he was not going to eat his breakfast, and turned him out with his buddies (3 other geldings) so he would have his friends to comfort him. Not 10 minutes later, I was stunned to see FD’s head and entire neck over the top of the run-in shed. He was playing “stallion fight” with another gelding (Chile) and was literally walking around the field on his hind legs. And when he wasn’t walking “like a man,” he was running circles around the gelding, Chile, and harrassing him. Honestly, I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or to go out in the field and kick him in the rump for scaring me silly! As it turns out, FD’s blood levels were perfect. It seems that the poor guy gets sore muscles from his shenanigans in the field, which causes cramping, and then he doesn’t feel well enough to eat.
Another thing about FD is that he can’t remember what the word “walk” means anymore. I stood in the round pen last week saying “walk” over and over and over and over again as I watched him lope and buck and do some of the most fantastic rollbacks. Finally after about 15 minutes I asked some of my barn pals if what FD was doing looked like a “walk.” They said, “No, that’s not a walk.” I thanked them because I thought I was beginning to forget what “walk” meant myself and needed verification. You see, when FD doesn’t want to work, he lopes and bucks. This is a long way from the horse that could hardly walk to the right last November.
FD owes his improvement to chiropractic adjustments, a regime of intensive physical therapy, and nutritional supplements. It is paying off. We are now lunging him with a saddle, getting his muscles ready to begin riding him. Though he had gained weight to a certain point, the final push he needed was a rather aggressive session with the dentist. In the last 6 weeks since that session, he has developed a beautiful layer of bloom. He looks and acts like he feels fantastic.
Four months into his 6-month reprieve, FD looks like any other 8-year old gelding running and playing in the field. He’s getting better and better at his exercises and he’ll soon have a rider to prepare him for his new career of light pleasure work. By the end of May he’ll be ready for adoption and whoever his new family turns out to be will be very lucky to have him. Although he will need some additional training, his sweet disposition and willingness to cooperate will make that task a pleasure. He’s a special guy who needed some special care for a while, and I am very happy to have been able to provide it. I know that he will return the favor by bringing a lot of happiness his new owner. If you’re interested in meeting FD, please contact Kate Kase,
(301) 306-7202.
Fuzzy Dancer -- fostered by Kate and Whitney Kase