As we launch a new website and a new begin with a new year right around the corner, what better way to tie it all together than a new horse!
Welcome Hope, the first rehab horse for Hope Horsemanship.
Hope is a 14 year old quarter horse mare with experience in barrel racing and riding lesson work. We don’t have a clear picture on her story, I’ve been told she has been passed from rescue to homes and back a few times ending up in South Carolina not thriving in a job as a lesson horse.
She arrived home at our farm December 12 and went seamlessly into my mare field. She isn’t accepted into the inner circle of Khaleesi and Wyoming yet, but she is allowed to graze near them and seems to be accepted into the number three spot vacated in October by Molly the Morgan.
Upon closer inspection she has rain rot scabs on her topline and hindquarters, and I think her mane and tail will show upgrades in her nutrition as we go. Her hoof quality is good though the heels are contracted and the frog is closed up from what looks to me like a long history of metal shoes though she’s barefoot now. She’s been ridden at some point and probably for a while in saddles that didn’t allow for blood flow and created atrophied muscle and her spine is slightly raised above a topline with lack of back muscle development.
She has a kind eye and isn’t completely shut down but has a dullness in her response that makes me wonder what her personality will be like when she begins to trust and open up here. I really like her.
My initial impression is she has learned to do her best to keep her head down and try to do what is expected and not ask too many questions as much as she could tolerate. From the short time I’ve had with her I think she is willing to work with humans but at some point in her past it’s likely a a line would get crossed where she just cannot go, this could mean physically or mentally unable, and that is where the trouble is likely to show up.
Time will reveal what’s in there and what this mare will be capable of. One thing is certain this time for her: I didn’t bring Hope here to find out what she can do for me, I brought her here to see what I, what we, can do for her. I hope that will be a change for her from the outset that will encourage her to give us a chance, and will mean a different outcome for her.
Check back here to see how it goes with her!
Hope Horsemanship 