I will forever be grateful for my wonderful mother-in-law who was kind enough to invite and convince her friends to let me use their beautiful barn. It really is a great set up, 4 pastures of grass, a six stall barn, and heated tack room. This is one happy girl with one happy horse.
Generous people who have opened up their home to my horses. Not too shabby.
My older, 19 year old gelding, Paddy lives out there. At first a friend had her horse with mine and our horses kept each other company. A cheaper option for me because I didn't need to buy another horse and I could keep my younger warmblood, Milo, at the show barn.
Unfortunately, my friend needed to move out East and I found myself scrambling to find a buddy for Paddy. Moving him is not really an option. Boulder County horse boarding prices are in the high $600s. Pasture board alone is usually about $400 or more. Not to mention, with his old age, Paddy is becoming increasingly stressed with each move. He dumps tons of weight and is so passive and always being beat up by the other horses. Moving him was not worth the risk for this older guy. I really just wanted to find a place where he is happy so he can live out his remaining years. I felt like where he was now was the perfect place and I was going to find a way to make it work!
I looked into a donkey or goat as companion, both which were not for me. The difference in feeding schedules would be hard to manage between a donkey and large horse. Donkeys still need their feet trimmed, vaccinations, etc. Costing a pretty penny. Not to mention I couldn't find one for under $500, turns out they are kind of expensive around here. A goat would have climbed out of all the fencing and eaten everything. I decided the only way would be another horse. With the property being so private (they really just let me stay there to help me out), I decided my only option was to find a free horse.
Horse shopping is NOT as fun when you have $0 to spend, you kind of just want to get it over with. A lot of free horses are not coming from a happy places so you see some sad horses. Luckily, the horse you decide to save will resulting in an incredible bond and rewarding experience.
One weekend I looked at probably 50 online free horse ads around the country. Some cute, nice horses that would make good riding horses for hunter jumper. Unfortunately, most of them would need to be shipped across country. Colorado tends to have more quarter horse types, not always suitable for English disciplines. That shipment alone would cancel out the "free" horse in no time.
And then I found Indy. A Connemara/Thoroughbred/Welsh bay gelding living right down the street in Colorado Springs. I wrote the lady and she explained to me that Indy has much potential, but with a busy barn she had to move him to pasture. She sent me some nice pictures of him from over a year ago before pasture, he looked really cute. She warned me that he had been in pasture in the mountains and looked rather rough now. My friend's horse was about to move in a few days and Indy's owner was willing to bring him up that weekend. I figured it was worth a shot.
Indy before being place on a year of pasture in the mountains
I had never seen or ridden the horse, he just showed up. Very cute when he came out of the trailer, but he looked mal-nutritioned. His coat was scabby, he was ribby, you could see his spine and hips, and he had a bloated, wormy appearance. His feet hadn't been trimmed in a year. The reason he was there was because his owner knew that there was something more for him then the pasture life. His condition is no reflection on his owner, who had saved him originally from a poor home. I think she knew he just wasn't the type to live on pasture and after trying it for a year she decided to place him up as a free ad. She thoroughly screened me with many questions, I knew she wanted the horse to go to a wonderful home. She was very professional and so nice, it was very positive experience when she dropped him off.
A vet came out to inspect him the other day. Soundness wise he looks great! She said most horses with many zeros at the end of their price tag do not check out as nice as Indy. Throughout the acupuncture, chiropractor, her pressing on his back and in his mouth he remained totally calm. He could care less about being climbed on by a stranger, a real great sign for a horse that has been left alone in a pasture for a year or so.
She confirmed he did have worms, which is causing that bloated belly with ribby, skinny appearance and poor coat. He is on probiotics, prebiotics, beet pulp, daily dewormer, grass, grass hay, and senior feed. Slowly being introduced to it all, in a few weeks we will also be adding alfalfa pellets and a coat supplement.
Indy the first week I had him, just coming off rough pasture in the mountains. A wormy appearance, we are working on getting him fixed up!
He has a nice floaty trot, the horse has tons of potential and I can't wait to see how he progresses. Paddy approves of him and they bonded fast! Paddy shows him the "ropes" and Indy follows Paddy's every move, too cute.
Paddy on the left, Indy on the right. Enjoying lush grass and getting along perfectly.
Paddy and Indy in their stalls. Indy is Paddy's shadow. Paddy on the left, Indy on the right.
Part of me thought, am I crazy? What have I gotten myself into? A third horse and not only a third horse, but a skinny, wormy, almost wild one? One night I walked out into the pasture to bring the horses in for the night and called their names. Indy looked up and came running! I stood there and he ran up to me and placed his head on my chest very gently. It was that moment I will never forget, he liked people and more importantly liked me. Anyone could see how grateful he was to be taken care of again. I knew that I had made the right decision.
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