A Rocky Start

In late March I finally found someone to trade me my finished jumper for a prospect. She had told me ahead of time that the mare was skinny but did not have any recent pictures of her but sent some old ones. My trainer was busy during the time it was going on so the manager, who is also one of my good friends, went along with me to look at the mare. We took this picture to show my trainer how tall she was.

Apparently the woman who I got her from (the lady holding her halter) sold her to a mother and daughter months before. She went to visit the mare a few months after she was sold to find a bag of bones. She gave them their money back and took her back home. 

She has been off the track 20 months (but it has been suggested from racing records it is longer than that) and had three starts at Charles Down in WV with no earnings. She was trained by her breeders and was born in 2003 but I am not sure what date exactly because some sources say march and the previous owner was told september. She was out of Truculent Schular and Bold Impression. Her racing name is Bold Interest but I have not recorded her tattoo just yet. 

Needless to say she was very wary of us when we first got there because she didn’t want another incident like the one earlier to happen. As soon as she found out we were from a school and that I boarded at a large facility she relaxed and was open to all ideas of the trade. She was looking for a smaller horse that could cart children around and I was looking for a prospect to trade for (because I was having a hard time selling my pony) so it all worked out. 

We were a little concerned for my pony since the mare was still skinny even after months being back on the farm but looking at her other horses (all mustang/qhs) we concluded that she just didn’t know how to feed an underweight thoroughbred. Her other horses were fit and in great shape and my little mustang pony was a very easy keeper so we had no worries. 

I have had her about three months now and she has been gaining weight and progressing beautifully until the 17th of May. I was lunging her with a saddle on because she hadn’t been ridden for the two weeks I was away and wanted to hop on for a few minutes. She was going fine until she reared up (being her sassy pants self) and fell over backwards. While she was rolling over to get back up the stirrup iron snapped in half and the sharp piece that stuck in the ground cut her knee open while she was bringing her legs out from under herself. She had to get 8 stitches in her knee (of course not during office hours) and has been on stall rest until today. 

The barn manager, Ellen, just called me to let me know that she turned Daisy out in the small paddock because she was squealing and bucking in her stall all by herself. So she turned her out (since it has been over 10 days as recommended by the vet) and she trotted around a little but then settled and ate some hay and sniffed some poops. 

Hopefully sometime this week the vet can come out and do a followup to let us know what to do from here. Her wound is healing nicely and she is not off or swollen at all but we are afraid that if she goes out without being wrapped that she will rip her stitches out. 

She is such a beautiful girl and has really developed into a great mare and an awesome friend.